April 4, 2003, Vol. 3, No. 14

Sponsored by:
Bay Mills Resort and Casino/Wild Bluff-Brimley
http://www.4baymills.com
Crusecom Technology Consultants, LLC -
Your Strategic Internet Solutions Partner!
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Grand Traverse Resort-Traverse City
http://grandtraverseresort.com

Quail Chase Golf Course, Louisville, Kentucky
http://quailchase.com ---
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 Publinx Golf Association
http://www.mwpga.com
Edited by Art McCafferty
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__/ JOHN BEBOW IN IRAQ
__/ MGN ON THE ROAD
__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER TV-MICHIGAN GOLF HALL OF FAME
__/ MICHIGAN WOMEN'S PUBLINX GOLF ASSOCIATION-UPDATE
__/ PEOPLE ON THE MOVE
__/ BEST SCORECARD OF THE YEAR
__/ 8TH ANNUAL JEFF DANIELS COMEDY GOLF JAM DATE SET
__/ TREETOPS HIRES GOLF MARKETING SERVICES
__/ POWER-BILT AND MEIJER JUNIOR GOLF TOURNAMENTS SET DATES
__/ ANNUAL DETROIT PAL GOLF FUNDRAISER SET
__/ FROM CADDYSHACK TO CADDYWACK, THE LATEST FROM CLOCK TOWER PRESS
__/ QUOTE OF THE WEEK
__/ GOLF CALENDAR

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JOHN BEBOW IN IRAQ

(Monica Bebow has allows us to publish email updates that she has been sending to family and friends. Besides his duties with the Detroit News and Channel 4 in Detroit, John has graced the pages of the Michigan Golfer as one of our fine writers. Ed.)

"Hello everyone,

John has gone from sleeping in a dug-out trench on the desert floor to sleeping on a cot in a tent with several other journalists (one of whom is Dexter Filkins from the New York Times).

Last week was rough, as we all know from reading the papers and watching what John aptly calls the "fear channels." I may have some of the details wrong, but my understanding is that John made his way along the supply convoy, moving from unit to unit, with the intention of hooking up with a Colonel John Pomfrett. The reporters are not really supposed to move from unit to unit, but since John had the Colonel's blessing, he was able to do so.

On Saturday, he wrote:

"I'm resting, sort of, in a camp today. I move forward about 15 miles tomorrow to a camp with Colonel John Pomfrett, from Pontiac, Michigan. He's taken a liking to me and is squeezing me in. There are already a bunch of reporters up there. In the meantime, I've written two long stories today - one while sitting in the sun between two deisel generators and the other while sitting in the shade with the computer propped up on a cardboard box. But I'm plugged in! It's wonderful to have internet access."

"In camp today, I took care of basic human needs. I saw soap for the first time in 10 days and took a makeshift shower using cold water and a bucket. When I tell you such details, it's not a complaint. And it's really not misery to live this way. I'm too busy to feel miserable. Really, so much of the world works so hard for basic necessities. In some odd Zen way, it's a priviledge to experience it."

On Monday, John arrived to Colonel Pomfrett's camp. "I'm in the marshlands of Iraq now and it looks like Southeast Asia -- big palm groves and crops and such. It's actually getting pretty. We're close to the front lines, but no firing tonight except for our outgoing artillery. I'm probably within 70 miles of Baghdad."

John says that this Colonel is very cool, and is really going out of his way to show the journalists all that they want to see. In fact, John is so busy accompanying the Colonel from the sight of one skirmish to the next, he warned me that he probably wouldn't have time to write much in the coming days: "It's going to get hectic -- maybe not so much from fighting, but from lots of movement."

Here's some more from Monday's email:

"I saw a stray dog sitting on a dirt hill today, happy as can be, as a truck convoy rolled by. The dog reminded me how there is always opportunity in everything, how we all need to 'grow where we are planted,' and how much I miss Jeni."

Well, there you have the latest update. Keep the prayers and good thoughts coming for John's safe return home - whenever that will be.

Had a nice chat with Mike Johnson, superintendent of Brookside GC in Saline. He has been at the club for 17 years. Brookside has been a Saline staple for years.

Michigan Golf Hall of Fame committee members; Sare Wold, Betty Richart and Thad Gutowski stopped buy our studio to chat with host, Bill Shelton. Join Bill as finds out what the status is of this organization.

Sara Wold, of the MWPGA, wanted everyone to know of three upcoming dates to put on their calendar; 07/07-11 87th Annual Michigan Women's Amateur Championship, Black Lake GC, Onaway 07/07-11 2nd Annual Michigan Women's Senior Amateur Championship, Black Lake GC, Onaway 08/16-17 Michigan Women's Publinx State Championship, Forest Akers West GC, East Lansing.

To keep on top of all the latest, you can visit their website at http://www.mwpga.com We also want to welcome them to our list of Association Subscribers. Welcome Aboard ladies.

The Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians announced the purchase of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa from KSL Recreation, Inc. Representatives from both entities signed closing papers today that completed the transaction. The purchase price was not disclosed.

A series of facility improvements will begin at the Resort immediately, including new health club equipment, Tower suite renovations, golf course and grounds upgrades, information technology infrastructure improvements, and all-new laundry equipment.

Management is also planning changes to the Trillium Restaurant, as well as facelifts to several areas of the building complex. Capital expenditures through the balance of this fiscal year will exceed $1.5 million, and most of the 2003 work will be completed prior to the start of the summer season. Planning continues for additional facility improvements in 2004.

Already among the largest employers in northern Michigan, the purchase of Grand Traverse Resort and Spa is expected to move the Grand Traverse Band into a leadership position among Indian gaming operations nationally, as well as among Michigan tourist destinations. It is believed to be the first time an Indian tribe has purchased a full-service resort in lieu of building its own. Tribal officials said the facility will retain the name Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.

Tribal officials hailed the purchase as an excellent opportunity that will be good for the Tribe and Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.

"Our EDC Board and management worked diligently over the course of more than a year to bring this moment to reality," said Economic Development Corporation Chairman John Concannon. "Now our real work begins in finding ways to maximize this investment and other properties in our portfolio."

"On behalf of all the members of the Grand Traverse Band, I am thankful, proud and enthused about the future," said Tribal Chairman Bob Kewaygoshkum. "As one of the first tribes in the United States to open a casino back in 1984, we are again breaking new ground in Native American business with the acquisition of this world-class property."

n addition to the ownership of the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians has been in the casino gaming business since 1984 and also operates other economic development ventures. The Band's gaming operations include Leelanau Sands Casino in Peshawbestown and Turtle Creek Casino in Williamsburg. The Tribe also owns and operates one small hotel, several restaurants, a conference center and a convenience store.

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa is located along the sandy shores of Lake Michigan's Grand Traverse Bay. The Midwest's largest full-service, year-round, resort and conference destination offers 660 luxurious accommodations, 85,000 square feet of versatile meeting space, 54 holes of championship golf The Bear, designed by Jack Nicklaus, and The Wolverine - a Gary Player signature golf course.

Additional features include a full-service spa, variety of seasonal recreation, indoor and outdoor tennis courts, indoor and outdoor swimming pools, children's center, shopping gallery, and diverse restaurants and lounges.

Dick Held, VP of Marketing for Bavarian Village and then served in an administrative capacity when BV was merged with Boyne USA, has left Boyne to start up a new organization, Players Next

Treetops Resort changed ownership last season as Rick Smith and a group of investors acquired the resort from the Melling family.

Thirteen-year-old Drew Murray becomes golf's youngest author when his book Caddywhack! A Kid's-Eye View Of Golf, hits the shelves in April in bookstores across the country.

Drew, the son of Andy and Liz Murray, has loved golf since the day he took his first swing at the age of four. The book's dedication reads, "For dad, who taught me the game," and grew out of a Father's Day card Drew made for his dad, owner of the Murray Bros. Caddyshack' chain of restaurants, when he was eight.

"Every year he kept adding to the card," says Andy Murray who is often found on the course with one of his five brothers, who are all golf nuts. Soon after he turned 12, Drew found the computer file with the Father's Day card text and decided that he had the beginning of a book. He started writing and filling in chapters and also began his search for a publisher.

"The way kids see the game of golf is different than grown-ups," says Drew. "I wanted to talk about golf from the kid point of view. And I wanted it to be a book that everyone can enjoy not just kids or just golfers." Drew started playing on the Junior PGA circuit in California and now plays in the Metropolitan Section of the Junior PGA in the New York City area.

The book, which will be published in hardcover, retails for $14.95 and will be available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Borders and independent bookstores across the country. http://www.clocktowerpress.com

While there has been no toll taken, I really have to give a Tip of the Tam to Bill Fountain and his team at the Majestic. Long considered one of the shinning lights in golf marketing (two mentions in the Wall Street Journal over the years), the management of the golf course has their 48 staffmembers on the cover of the card. They are all dressed up in their blue and white outfits and look like they capable of bringing over a million smiles to golfers this year.

On Tuesday, June 24, you can get some yuks on the tee or in the gallery, as the 8th Annual Jeff Daniels Comedy Golf Jam takes place at The Polo Fields. Not since Alex Karras was blowing up greens at the old Torrey Pines has there been such fun on a golf course.

JOHN DALY ANNOUNCED FOR 2003 TELUS SKINS GAME AT ROYAL NIAGARA GC John Daly has been announced as the 3rd player confirmed for the 2003 TELUS Skins Game presented by Ericsson, June 22 to 24 at the Royal Niagara Golf Club in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Daly joins Sergio Garcia and Ian Leggatt in the 11th annual edition of the popular golf exhibition. An overwhelming favourite of golf fans everywhere, Daly again ranks 1st on the PGA Tour in driving this year with an average drive of 309.1 yards. His longest drive to date in 2003 is 358 yards.

"This is one of my all-time favourite special events," said Daly. "They get great fields at TELUS Skins so the competition is great but I also appreciate how knowledgeable Canadian golf fans are. The galleries are huge and they really love their golf."

Matt Gieger of The Game of Your Life Foundation, indicated that the Power-Bilt Jr. Golf Championship will be held at Eagle Crest Resort in Ypsilanti on August 6 and 7 and the Meijer Jr. Golf Championship will be held at the U of M McKenzie Course in Ann Arbor the same dates. For further information you can contact Matt at jrgolf@cbpu.com

Tour and Association Calendars

Associations
Golf Association of Michigan http://www.gam.org/champ/schedule.cgi
Michigan Section PGA http://www.Michigan.PGA.com
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America http://www.gcsaa.org

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

• 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