Michigan Golfer ON-LINE: Michigan Golf News

Michigan Golf News

March 26, 2004 VOL. 4, No. 13

Sponsored by:

Bay Mills Resort and Casino/Wild Bluff-Brimley
Web: http://www.4baymills.com
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2003shows/show11/index.html

The Walter Hagen Story, by Walter Hagen
Web: http://vintagepublishing.com/walterhagen.htm
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv

Dundee Internet Services
Web: http://dundee.net

Edited by Art McCafferty-Publisher-Michigan Golfer

__/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/ __/__/__/

__/ MGN ON THE ROAD
Lansing
__/ TURNING POINTS
__/ GOLF SHOW WRAPUP
__/ FOX RUN RECEIVES AMERICAN PATRIOT AWARD
__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION
South Africa
Greenville
__/ CLOCK TOWER PRESS DRAWN TO GOLF
__/ BYRON NELSON INTERVIEW BY THE WIRE
__/ RESORT & GOLF MARKETING TO REPRESENT THE HOMESTEAD ON LEELANAU PENINSULA
__/ MGL ANNOUNCES MAJOR WEBSITE REVISION
__/ MICHIGAN GOLF NEWS ASSOCIATION SUBSCRIBERS
__/ QUOTE OF THE WEEK -DAVE BARRY
__/ CALENDAR OF GOLF EVENTS

MGN ON THE ROAD
Lansing
This past week, Miichigan vendors had two high profile golf shows to attend, The Chicago and The Lansing Golf Shows. A number of vendors chose both.

The Otsego Club was pushing its signature 54 Hole Blowout special again this year. This has long been one of the signature marketing features of the north. Mark Hogan and Trisha Chandler were boothing it. The also have had almost 120 people sign up for their Test Drive The Otsegon Club program.

Michaywe's new director of golf, Judy Mason, is no stranger to the property. Judy learned the game of golf from her father there when she was a kid. Judy also has her Treetops Women's Golf School during the summer. Judy was promoting their Double Play program which combines golf at Michaywe's Lake and Pines course.

Sandra Snook has just about taken over the Gaylord golf lodging business. This is her third year and her bookings have grown enormously. She primarily books for The Loon, The Natural at Beaver Creek and Michaywe Pines and Lake properties.

Mike Husby, is gearing up for his second year at The Loon, after spending about five years at Wild Bluff. Mike is also the Director of the Bay Mills Open again this year.

Mike and Scott White, grandsons of owner Jack Bott are runnning both Bott properties, Marsh Ridge Resort in Gaylord and Fenton Farms. Marsh Ridge has opened up 24 of their rooms for golf lodging this year.

Dick Loring, Executive Director of the Michigan State Amateur Golf Association, stopped by the booth to chat about his Dream Swing teaching aid and also to talk about his upcoming 2004 Great Lakes Junior Masters Golf Championship that will be held at Shanty Creek June 27-July 2.

Mary Carter, of Virtual Reality Golf also stopped by to chat about her interactive 18-hole games.

TURNING POINTS
The 50th anniversary of Arnold Palmer capturing the most prestigious prize in amateur golf, The U.S. Amateur, will be celebrated with 24 of his fellow U.S. Amateur champions this summer. the inaugural Arnold Palmer Turning Point Invitational, a two-day event at the Country Club of Detroit, is scheduled to begin with a gala fundraising dinner Aug. 29. This will be followed by a one-day pro-am Aug. 30. The CC of Detroit, was the site of Palmer's come-from-behind, 1-up victory over Robert Sweeny. The victory was a Turning Point for Arnold, who turned pro shortly after that win. A number of the former U.S. Amateur champions, volunteered their Turning Point.

Ricky Barnes
"I succeeded at a lot of levels but what actually turned the tables was when I won the U.S. Amateur. I wasn't the biggest name in junior golf coming into college, but once you win the U.S. Amateur it seems like everybody knows who you are and starts gunning for you."

Craig Stadler
Probably when I quit baseball as a 12-year-old. I moved up to Pony League and they stuck me in right field and nobody ever hit it to right field, so I sat there and picked my nose for three hours. After two weeks of that, I quit and played golf.

Phil Mickelson
"The turning point in my career was winning the Tucson Open as an amateur because it allowed me to join the Tour with full status right out of college."

http://turningpointinvitational.org

GOLF SHOW WRAP UP
Generally speaking attendance increased at most shows this year. The Grand Rapids Show was a hit with its new venue, The Michigan Golf Show at Novi, was again killer, The Midland Show, seems to have found its niche with a one day show and the Lansing Show, while a little quieter than last year, had to face the competition from the Chicago Golf Show.

New this year was the jackson Golf Show at the Jackson Golf Dome. The show was attended well enough that it will be in the mix next year, along with a new show at Muskegon.

The London Golf & Travel Show http://michigangolfer.tv/2004shows/show3/index.html attracts those Michigan properties nearest its border. They put on a very nice show.

FOX RUN RECEIVES AMERICAN PATRIOT AWARD
Fox Run Country Club in Grayling, a long time member of the Gaylord Golf Mecca, was selected to receive the "American Patriot Award for 2003" from the Camp Grayling Military Maneuver Training Center. Fox Run received the award for outstanding business and soldier support. Fox Run offers National Guard soldiers special discounted rates during the season as well as a "military membership" during their annual two-week training.

"For Fox Run to receive this award from Camp Grayling is truly an honor. We have enjoyed a special relationship with the commanders and men and women that serve in the Guard at Camp Grayling over the years," stated Bob Koutnick, owner of Fox Run. "They are outstanding men and women, many of whom are currently on active duty all around the world serving our country and we just try to say 'thanks' by making their down time at training a little more enjoyable," Koutnick said.

Submitted by Kevin Frisch of Resort and Golf Marketing

*Ed. Note-Things certainly have changed at Camp Grayling. When I was there wasting away in a foxhole in the mid day sun for two weeks each summer, the best our company could do was get an occasional case of cold ones from town.

MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION
Vanessa Bell, one of the host-reporters for the Michigan Golfer Television Show, picked up a small check at the Acer Women's South Africa Open at Royal Johannesbury and Kensington GC. Vanessa started strong, holding 8th place on the opening round, but slipped back to 45th place and a check of 1600 Rand. This week she moves on to the Pam Golding Ladies International.

Bill Shelton, host of MGTV, can relax a little more now and get back to his golf game. Bill has been Interim Chancellor of East Carolina University for the past six months and now can resume his regular duties as the University selected Dr. Steve Ballard from the University of Missouri-Kansas City to head it up. Shelton, show was not a candidate for the position, did have some support to throw his hat into the mix.

Michigan Golfer Television
Upcoming Shows

April
02 The Ryder Cup Series: The 40's
09 Ken Devine and the Ryder Cup
16 The Ryder Cup: Marketing Michigan Golf to the World
23 Arthur Hills Michigan Golf Trail
30 Ireland: The Destination of the 2006 Ryder Cup

May
07 The Ryder Cup Series: The 50's
14 Upper Peninsula Golf-Michigan's Other Golf Mecca
21 Bay Mills Open Preview
28 Boyne Golf

June
04 The Ryder Cup Series: The 60's
11 2004 Bank of Ann Arbor Futures Golf Classic*
18 Jack Nicklaus and Tony Jacklin-"The Concession"
25 Dick Weber Memorial Golf Tournament
http://michigangolfer.tv
*Tentative

BYRON NELSON INTERVIEW BY THE WIRE
EDITOR'S NOTE: On Monday, the World Golf Hall of Fame unveiled a new exhibit, Byron Nelson: A Champion...A Gentleman, that traces the story of the golfer's life and will be open through December. On display at the exhibit are the 18 medals Nelson won for tournament victories during the year of "The Streak," as well as the original Iron Byron, a machine developed in 1966 by True Temper that replicated Nelson's swing and is still used world-wide to test golf equipment. Nelson met with the media and talked of the exhibit and his career.

BYRON NELSON: I will say that at this stage of my life, at 92 years of age, I never dreamed in my wildest imagination of anything like this ever happening. And also I never dreamed that I did as many things or there's this much stuff about me as there was. And naturally I'm extremely honored and pleased, but, and I'll admit that I've still been busy in 92 years, so I think it kind of shows out there.

Q.: Was there anything in the exhibit that pleased you the most, Mr. Nelson?

BYRON NELSON: Well, actually there are so many things. One thing was the letter from my minister. Now that is something. If a man knows you like he knows me and is willing to put it down like that and the n also the fact of seeing the wonderful people that I considered friends of mine. So many of them ... Denny Shute, Henry Picard and all the old people. And then to be honored, to be on the Ryder Cup in 1937 and we were the winners the first time we had ever won in England. And to be on that team and I look now and see that I'm the only one left. That's hard, but I'm proud of it. I'm proud of the fact that my record is good enough.

And as far as my golf game is concerned, the thing that I'm most proud of about the way I played was the degree of consistency in which I played. Because from 1936 when I won the Metropolitan Open at Quaker Ridge, from then on I did not have, I didn't play well, I didn't win all the time, but I did not have a down [time] with my game. I didn't have to go behind the woodpile and start working on my game. It gradually got better.

And then in '44, I was still working on my game some, keeping track of it in the little black book and in my other piece of papers. What I found, the thing that showed up most of the days, was "carried the shot" or "poor chipping." Those are the only two things in there that I felt I needed to change. So I made a resolution in '44, when I started out in '45 at the L.A. Open. The thing was, I had set the scoring record at that time, lowest it had ever been, 69.67 for the year. So in just doing those two things, when I worked on carrying the shot and worked on my chipping some, I got a streak going. I went out and shot 68.33, and my fourth rounds were a lot better than that. But that shows how important just one stroke is in golf. ... The one stroke don't sound like much, to a round of golf, 71, 72, one stroke. But I won eight tournaments in '44 and then took one-and-a-third strokes off per round the next year and won 18. And I was thinking of how little one stroke is, but yet how much it is. And then four strokes. Well, a man finishes about eighth and he takes four strokes off , well he's going to be second or third or might even win. So doing that is the thing I'm proud of, because I didn't have a down year. And I tried hard, I kept myself in good physical shape, I didn't dissipate, I didn't drink, I didn't smoke. Got plenty of rest and plenty of exercise playing golf. And my health stayed good.

Q.: What do you think of today's game, it's such a power game with guys hitting the ball 350 yards. Courses being lengthened. What do you think of the state of the game today?

BYRON NELSON: I think everybody is more faster, cars run faster, planes go faster, you go to the moon now. So it's kind of along with the times. I don't think any time in the engineering and the abilities of this country that they're going to say "Well we're going to go backwards, we're going to play the golf ball so it will only go 200 yards" or whatever. Or even any change back. I don't criticize it, because I think that the whole scheme of the way we live and what we do any more is kind of built that way. I was talking to some of the people where the tournament's going to be, and they talk about the clubs and the golf ball and that's all very true, but I don't think there's enough said about the fact of how the b oys have learned to hit the ball hard. You know Jeff Sluman, smart man and he's a little older, I talked to him and he said I learned to hit the ball 18 yards further than I used to. Well he adds 18 to it and you add another 18 to it for equipment and that's 36 yards more. So it's a whole thing. The whole scheme of club, ball, shaft, the actually the way I see it, I swung just kind of this way, just kind of back and through. I called it an old rocking chair swing. Just back and through. It's very repetitive and I think that's why I was consistent with it. But the boys today, they go hard from way out here and way out here, and they use feet and legs. See I was the first player to ever use feet and legs because they couldn't use the feet and legs in the pronation era. The hickory, you had to hit against a stiff left side. Well now they go through. So they learned to do that and add some length to it, because even when I was playing I could come to a hole that was a little bit open, if I wanted to let it out I could swing the club back further and pick up 10 yards.

Q.: What about this equipment and new golf balls now with your swing? Do you ever dream about that? That, boy, this would be fun?

BYRON NELSON: Well, I don't know. I can't hardly believe it would be any fun, because I tell you, it's amazing how straight they hit the ball considering the fact if it's off to the right a little bit by the time you get to 300 yards, you're going to be out in the rough. So to see a man, I believe it was Daly, put the ball in the fairway 12 times out of 14 or something, and hit the ball as far as he does, it's remarkable. It really is ... how straight that they have learned to hit it and hit it hard.

Of course, I think that the equipment has a lot to do with that, because you can hit a little bit on the toe or heel or the side of the face and you still can get the ball out there. When we played, to hit it that way you had to hit it right dead in the sweet spot center. I never criticized it because we're learning to do ... automobiles are faster, horses run faster, everything is running faster. So I think golf is just doing that. And I think that it's great that golf is being supported the way it is. I'm so proud of the boys that play golf now because you know we don't have any trouble of dope and that stuff. I'm not saying somebody hasn't had a marijuana stick or something or other, but we have no problem. And the boys you know the boys come, the two players will come to the last hole and there will be winner and second place, and one of them will win and the other one loses. And they pat each other on the back and shake hands and stuff. And there's nothing else like that anywhere.

Q.: Would you talk a little bit about the 1945 season for the 4,000th time, I'm sure, but that was quite a run and no one's come close to sniffing that since.

BYRON NELSON: W ell, I think that they could now if they played like I did. Not the way I played, but today the fine players, they play all over the world. They go to Australia, they go to South Africa. I don't know how many places that the top players don't play. Well, the only way that you could ever get a momentum going like I had in '44 and '45 because I played in 32 tournament, 30 tournaments in 1945. And the players play tournaments as that's all the top players will play in this country. Other places they play and the championships, they go to Australia and Japan and play and you can't keep the continuity going like I did, like I was able to because I won here in San Antonio, I won in Miami, I won in Charlotte and Durham and stuff and then you go and go. And it's more of just a plain every day routine. And that doesn't happen now.

Q.: You mentioned that you thought you had more fun in your day playing golf than they do now. Does it look like guys today are having f un playing for so much money?

BYRON NELSON: I think the money has a lot to do with it, but I don't think the money is the main thing. The ones who are champions and want to be champions it's what they do, how they play, how they win or how they lose. That's what is important.

I'm sure that where the money means something to a player is when he knows he can't win. He's in the last two or three holes and he knows if he's in fifth place and if he don't play those holes well he's going to drop to 10th because there is so many good players. I think that's where the money comes in. But I think the actual winning money as they do, I think sure, a million dollars, I guess, would be good. I don't know.

Q.: I don't know either.

BYRON NELSON: I tell you, just one quick thing. My wonderful friend John Bradley is here and some time back a few months ago, I told him I said, "John, I know I won the Metropolitan Open, the first import ant tournament I ever won and it started my career. From then to '42, I don't know much of anything." I know I won four majors, I don't know anything else because of ... I won the Masters, I won the Masters the second time in '42. I said, "I need to know what happened during that period of time." So he checked back with the records and stuff of the PGA and found that in that seven years -- from '36 to '42 -- I won ... he laughed when he called, he said "Wait until I tell you some of this stuff." He said you won 19 tournaments including four majors in seven years. And course I was pro at a club all that time and going to one tournament or another. And he said your total prize money was $25,295. So that's why I say, that I don't know where the ... I'm still eating, I'm still breathing, I got a home paid for, a car, I got a ranch to live on, I don't owe anybody any money.

Taken and edited from The Wire
March 25, 2004 � Volume 6, No. 59
a publication of the Golf Press Association
http://gpa.com

CLOCK TOWER PRESS DRAWN TO GOLF
Clock Tower Press recently announced the publication of Drawn to Golf, a hardcover collection of the golf themed cartoons of Roger Schillerstrom.

In 1995, Golfweek magazine asked veteran editorial cartoonist Roger Schillerstrom to turn his creative eye toward the game of golf with cartoons to complement its weekly "commentary" pages. The pairing was an immediate success. Drawn to Golf is a carefully selected collection of the best of Roger's Golfweek cartoons. From the stunning emergence of Tiger Woods to the tragic loss of fan-favorite Payne Stewart...From Jean Van de Velde's collapse at Carnoustie to David Duval's breakthrough at the British Open...And from hot balls heading down the fairway to hot tempers at the Solheim Cup, few, if any, of golf's most controversial, comical or sad moments have been overlooked.

The best of those creations will be available in Drawn to Golf this April.
http://clocktowerpress.com

RESORT & GOLF MARKETING TO REPRESENT THE HOMESTEAD ON LEELANAU PENINSULA
Resort & Golf Marketing has been retained to provide all marketing and promotional services to The Homestead resort in Glen Arbor, MI,

Known as "America's Freshwater Resort," The Homestead is a year around resort with a superb location, right on the shores of Lake Michigan, next to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Park. As such, it offers a full range of family activities, including skiing in the winter and golf in the summer. It is also the Michigan home of the Dave Pelz Scoring Game School, which focuses on the short game in golf.

We are excited about working with The Homestead because it is such a unique property and offers such wonderful vacation experiences. From its beaches to its beautiful homes, The Homestead is a place that every vacationer should visit several times a year. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to work with such a fine property," said Dave Richards, founder and CEO of Resort & Golf Marketing.

"Resort & Golf Marketing, with its knowledge and contacts in the golf and travel industry, will allow us to effectively promote our new Dave Pelz golf school and the Homestead Resort as one of the top vacation destinations in the Midwest," commented Robert Kuras, owner of The Homestead.

For media contacts at Resort & Golf Marketing, contact Dave Richards at 248- 642- 6420 (motodrive@aol.com) or Kevin Frisch�989-614-0241 (golfrisch@aol.com)

MGL ANNOUNCES MAJOR WEBSITE REVISION
Michigan Golf Live (MGL) Radio/TV recently announced the revision of its website - http://www.michigangolflive.com .

2004 marks MGL's 5th Anniversary and they plan a multitude of special promotions, live remote broadcasts, and exclusive guest interviews to celebrate.

MICHIGAN GOLF NEWS ASSOCIATION SUBSCRIBERS
Golf Association of Michigan
http://www.gam.org
Michigan Golf Course Owners Association
http://mgcoa.org
Michigan PGA
http://michigan.pga.com
Michigan Women's Golf Association, MWGA
http://www.mwgolf.org
Michigan State Amateur Golf Association
Dick Loring-skillplay@aol.com

Upper Peninsula Golf Association
http://upga.org

GOLF QUOTE OF THE WEEK-DAVE BARRY
Although golf was originally restricted to wealthy, overweight Protestants, today it's open to anybody who owns hideous clothing.
Dave Barry (1947 - )

GOLF CALENDAR 2004

APRIL
04/15 MGCOA Educational Support Foundation "Work then Play" Phil Immordino of
the Champion Group presents
"HOW TO SELL TO GOLF TOURNAMENT DIRECTORS" "TAKE YOUR EVENT TO THE NEXT http://www.mgcoa.org/events.html
04/21 Club Car Tournament, Boulder Point,
http://www.clubcar.com

MAY
05/02 Paul Dicenzo Memorial Golf Outing, Pine Knob
http://pauliegolf.com
05/16 Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Outing-Indianwood
http://michigan-golf-foundation.com
05/22 Play Golf America-Carl's Golfland in Plymouth
05/22-24 Girls Golf MHSAA Regionals -- L.P. -- May 20, 21, 22 or 24 U.P.
05/24 Jeff Daniels Comedy Golf Jam
05/31-06/06 Farmers Charity Classic, Egypt Valley CC, Ada
http://www.farmerscharityclassic.com

JUNE
06/04-6 Bank of Ann Arbor FUTURES Golf Classic, Ann Arbor
http://futurestour.com/2004/AnnArbor.html
06/04-5 Girls Golf MHSAA Finals -- L.P. -- June 4-5; U.P.
http://www.mhsaa.com/
06/22-26 Michigan Amateur-Grosse Ile G&CC
http://gam.org
06/24-25 Izzo Mariucci Golf Classic, Timberstone and Pine Grove Golf Courses
http://imclassic.org
06/25-26 3rd Annual Hickory Open, Kingsley Club, Traverse City
http://www.hickorygolf.com
06/25-27 2004 Michigan Open-Pro Am-Grand Traverse Resort and Spa
http://michigangolftour.com
06/28-07/01 Detroit Newspapers Michigan Open Championship, Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.
http://michigangolftour.com
06/28-30 Michigan Girls Jr. Amateur-Midland CC
06/27- 5th Annual Great Lakes Junior Masters Golf Championship, Shanty
07/02 Creek Resort

JULY
07/05-11 Ford Senior Players Championship TPC of Michigan Dearborn
http://www.fordseniorplayerschamp.pgatour.com
07/15-18 Detroit Newspapers Tournament of Champions-Pro Am-Boyne Mountain and Bay Harbor
http://michigangolftour.com
07/23-28 Michigan PGA Womens's Open Pro-Am and Tournament 2004, Crystal Mountain Resort
http://crystalmountain.com
07/26-08/01 Buick Open, Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc,

AUGUST
08/2-8 Jamie Farr LPGA Owens Corning Classic presented by Kroger, Highland Meadows GC, Sylvania, OH
http://jamiefarrowenscorning.com
08/9-10 GAM Championship,Plum Hollow CC
http://gam.org
08/16-17 GAM Women's Championship, Owosso CC
http://gam.org
08/19 MGCOA Summer Meeting and Outing, Gull Lake View, Augusta
http://mgcoa.org
08/20-23 PGA Championship Pro Am-Shanty Creek
http://michigangolftour.com
08/23-29 Bay Mills Open Player Championship,Wild Bluff GC - Brimley
http://baymillsopen.com
08/3-0 Turning Point Invitational, Country Club of Detroit,
http://turningpointinvitational.com
08/30-31 GAM Women's Senior Amateur, Mt. Pleasant CC
http://gam.org

SEPTEMBER
09/8-9 GAM Senior Amateur, Belvedere GC
http://gam.org
09/11-12 Michigan Net Amateur, The Loon
09/14-19 The Ryder Cup -Oakland Hills CC
http://rydercup.com
09/15 The Ryder Cup Captains Challenge, Detroit Golf Club
09/16 The Ryder Cup Champions Invitational, Oakland University
09/25-26 Atlas Trophy Matches (Men & Women), Yarrow GC
09/28 GAM Tournament of Champions Egypt Valley CC
http://gam.org

OCTOBER
10/07-9 Boys Golf Regionals -- October 7, 8 or 9
10/15-16 Boys Gol MHSAA Finals -- October 15-16
http://www.mhsaa.com/

NOVEMBER
11/28-30.MGCOA Annual Meeting at the Somerset Inn in Troy.

Ryder Cup
2006 36th Ryder Cup Matches The Kildare Hotel & Straffan, Ireland
2008 37th Ryder Cup Matches Valhalla GC, Louisville, Kentucky
2010 38th Ryder Cup Matches The Celtic Manor Resortm Newport, Wales
2012 39th Ryder Cup Matches Medinah CC, Medinah, Illinois

Tour and Association Links

Associations
American Association of Golf Course Architects
http://asgca.org
Golf Association of Michigan
http://www.gam.org/champ/schedule.cgi
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
http://www.gcsaa.org
Michigan Section PGA
http://www.Michigan.PGA.com
Michigan Golf Course Owners Association
http://mgcoa.org
Michigan High School Athletic Association
http://www.mhsaa.com/
Hichigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association
http://migca.com
National Golf Course Owners Association
http://ngcoa.org
National Golf Foundation
http://ngf.org

Tours
Canadian Tour-
http://www.cantour.com/schedule.php
European Tour-
http://www.europeantour.com
Hooters Tour-
http://www.ngahooterstour.com
Futures Tour
http://www.futurestour.com/Schedules.html
PGA
http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/pgatour.html

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GLSP family of Websites:

Michigan Runner http://michiganrunner.net
Michigan Runner Archives http://michiganrunner.com
Michigan Runner TV http://michiganrunner.tv
Running Network: http://runningnetwork.com
Michigan Golfer http://michigangolfer.com
Michigan Golfer TV http://michigangolfer.tv
Michigan Skier http://michiganskier.com
Michigan Skier TV http://michiganskier.tv
Michigan Travel TV http://michigantravel.tv
GLSP http://www.glsp.com

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