MI Golf Journal May 21

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High School Golf

Pro Hockey Player Leads Brighton High Golf Team

By Tom Lang

Brighton High School senior Davis Codd has found himself in a very unique situation for a 17-year-old.

And it’s all good news.

Codd signed a pro contract to play hockey for the Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) at age 15. Now, almost two years later and a cancelled OHL 2020-21 season due to Covid-19, Codd is back at Brighton High playing golf for the Bulldogs and coach Jimmy Dewling.

Codd earned Livingston County Golfer of the Year in 2019 as a sophomore after finishing T6 in the Division 1 state finals. Then he turned pro and came a full season of pro hockey until Covid shut it all down during the playoffs in March, 2020.

While the OHL season remains suspended more than 12 months later and he waits patiently to return,

Codd was able to petition the MHSAA and regain his amateur status for golf.

“It’s allowed me to play a little golf during this time off,” he said. “I’m a hockey

player first, but when I am out on the course, I am a hockey player playing golf.

I don’t put a lot of pressure on myself; I just go out there and enjoy it, and be the athlete that I am.”

Continues on next page >>

Michigan Golf Journal High School Golf

According to Cody Inglis of the MHSAA, an athlete is ineligible once they sign a pro contract, which the OHL is deemed to be by rule. But an athlete can apply for reinstatement, through their school after a year has elapsed since playing. Since it was not in the sport in which they were paid, and it has been more than a year since they last played, the Executive Committee followed the rule and granted him eligibility in golf.

“He’s still dedicated to the Saginaw team and he’s still dedicated to the Brighton High School golf program,” Dewling said. “That’s a lot to manage for a kid that’s 17 years old to be at the top in two sports. We’ve had the conversations about as you become an elite athlete at both sports it becomes harder and harder to stay competitive and at the top of your game in both because you’re pulled in two different

directions – yet somehow as dedicated as he is to both programs and both sports, he’s finding a way.

“He’s very composed on the golf course,” Dewling continued. “That’s likely because he’s been in so many competitive situations in his young life.

The pressure situations just don’t phase him. Whether he is on the ice and making split-second decisions – and if bad things happen he has to overcome them – or getting a double-bogey and having to turn things around, he’s had so many of those experiences he just doesn’t get rattled like the average high school golfer.”

Codd said he fell in love with golf first at an early age, but hockey followed a few years later and that’s become the sport he sees a professional future. Well, sort of.

“I looked at that decision to sign with Saginaw as a pathway to the NHL because that’s where I want to be,” Codd said.

“My dream is to be the first NHL’er to play on the

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

PGA Tour. When I signed that contract, I had no intentions of dropping golf. I will pursue golf for as long as I can. I’m a hockey player first, but when I’m not playing hockey, I go to the golf course and practice. I want to play as long as I can because I think they complement each other.”

two sports work in harmony.

He added that after a pro hockey career ends, he wants to dedicate all his time to golf again and try that sport full-time as a golf pro.

“Golf has been one of my loves since I was a little, tiny kid,” Codd said.

“My dad taught me the game when I was about five and right when I picked up a club I fell in love with the game. He was able to go on golf trips with friends, to many parts of the world, and I got mad because I’m close to my dad and I wasn’t able to go with him,” he said as if still caught in the moment as a youngster.

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“So, he stuck a golf club in my hand before he left and told my mom to take me to the range across the street.

I would just hammer golf balls and my mom would continue to re-tee them and I’d hit it again. I just loved it so much.”

Codd – who said his dream golf foursome would be Wayne Gretzky, Steve Yzerman and Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs – likes the way the

“My dad could see I kind of had a natural swing – which has also helped my hockey.

With golf you’re out there alone, it’s a mental game and you have to stay in the shot – and if you don’t do that you can lose a tournament in one swing. I think that helps in hockey.

In hockey, the slap shot compliments my golf swing. I’m able to hit the ball over 300 yards, and my hockey hands have helped my game around the green.”

Codd hopes those long drives and hockey hands can lead to a high finish in the state tournament in June, ideally 6 places higher than 2019 and the top spot on the scoreboard.

Not even out of high school yet and Codd’s future appears as bright as the red lamp celebrating a goal – just one of many goals in this young man’s striving to. MGJ

Michigan Golf Journal Michigan Golf Journal

What’s Inside: 8

Why Golf Beats Baseball

10

Stalk the Cat: PohlCat

17

Survey: Golf and Covid-19

20

LPGA Tour, Dow and Solheim Cup

24

College Corner

27

The Mowers are Following Me

34

Michigan News and Notes

40

Golf.com Rater Confidential

Michigan Golf Journal Guest Column

Why Golf is Superior to Baseball

Guest Column by Bill Hobson As a sure sign that Hollywood is completely out of ideas, the April box office charts were topped by “Godzilla vs Kong.” That debacle of a “blockbuster” captivated this viewer with the same intensity as listening to Ben Stein read the phone book or watching the 7th pitching change of a 12-0 baseball game.

Somehow, two formerly formidable institutions

like movie production and Major League Baseball have managed to lose an entire generation of fans through a lack of creativity (movies) and common sense (MLB).

In light of this shifting leisure time landscape, I would like to nominate a new national pastime – golf – and offer up these 6 foundational reasons that golf is far superior to baseball.

6

No PGA Tour Commissioner has ever referred to a major championship trophy as

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

9

player also receives daily meal money, free transportation (chartered flights), and stays in the best hotels.

a “piece of metal,” as did clueless MLB Commish Rob Manfred.

5

In baseball, players and managers can be ejected if they argue too forcefully over a call. In golf, players serve as the referee (Patrick Reed notwithstanding).

4

For all the ridicule golfers absorb for their style of dress, at least we don’t wear stirrups and pretend they serve a purpose.

3

Golf has Shot Tracer.

Baseball has multiple umpires huddling under giant headphones solely for the purpose of listening to someone else in New York tell them how to adjudicate a play that was crystal clear 4 minutes ago to everyone watching at home. If there was anyone watching at home.

2

Baseball rewards a .300 hitter with $12 million per year. That same

Golf rewards a .300 hitter with a prime spot in the Thursday afternoon golf league, pushing a cart and trying to take home a trophy worth $31. There are no guaranteed contracts in golf. You perform with excellence or find a new career path.

Either way, you cover your own costs for travel and living. Miss the cut? Too bad. Miss a check.

1

Golf: The Masters. The PGA Championship. The US Open. The Open Championship. Ryder Cup. Baseball: Our championship games will start after 9 p.m. and wrap up around 1 a.m. Enjoy! MGJ

Michigan Stalk theGolf CatJournal

Holes 1 and 2

Stalk the Cat: PohlCat Golf Course

By Tom Lang

Many golfers in Michigan enjoy taking on courses designed by former PGA Tour players such as Nicklaus, Palmer, Weiskopf and Crenshaw. We are fortunate to have a handful of their courses in our state.

design background from playing golf courses all across the globe, then blended the features of those courses with their own personal style of the type of holes they’d like to play.

The layouts are usually fun and interesting because those players got their

We are equally blessed that mid-Michigan has a wonderful 18-hole course

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

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Approach shot to No. 2 green

that falls into the same category – designed by a former PGA Tour winner, but with one special caveat: golfers can actually talk to him, pick his brain and maybe take a golf lesson because he works there every day.

We’re talking about Dan Pohl, a former PGA Tour champion (twice in 1986), Ryder Cup player and past Vardon Trophy winner (both in 1987) and led the Tour twice in Driving Distance – who was born and raised in Mt. Pleasant

and now helps run the PohlCat Golf Course. He designed the course in the early 1990s, and not long after severe back injuries slowed down and eventually ended his playing days on Tour. All totaled he earned 70 top10s on Tour.

There is something special about having a person with Pohl’s background and professional golf experiences working daily at a high-level, awardwinning golf course balanced with reasonable

rates, anchored in a Midwestern community.

For one, the pro shop and grill are littered with genuine, personalized PGA Tour memorabilia that set a really fun mood for golfers before and after their special round.

Almost 40 years since he tied for first at Augusta National in The Masters in 1982, there’s still a passion in his eyes and enthusiasm in his voice when he serves the golfing guests who stop in for a round, or some excellent food in the Den Continues on page 13 >>

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

but said she plays the course at least once a week.

grill room – or to enjoy a cold one from some three dozen beer options and local craft brews, on the very large veranda overlooking the 18th.

And that passion rubs off on the rest of the staff who want to give each golfer a great experience – golfers like 11-handicap Gayle Ruhl, a woman who is not a member

“I think PohlCat is more challenging for my game,” Ruhl said in comparison to other area courses. “I like the yardages, and it’s more fair now that they changed some of the tee boxes. I think the staff is great and they’re very friendly – that’s another reason I come out here.”

Playing the Course: The PohlCat has an intriguing opening four holes and even better closing four holes (aesthetically anyway) in my opinion – and frankly

the other 10 in between are pretty darn good. In fact, if you asked the designer himself, the toughest part of the course is the middle stretch that is much more wide open than the bookend quartet of holes.

“Those last four holes are such a good combination of length (variations), open, little doglegs, things I look at,” Pohl said this spring.

“But really the meat and potatoes of this golf course are right in the middle of the course; 7-12 are good a 6-hole stretch with par 4s and 5s and the toughest par 3. So that area, you really Continues on next page >>

Hole 17 green

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Michigan Stalk theGolf CatJournal

have to play your golf ball.

I look at it like you have to score early and score late; even though the beauty of it in those first four and last four, they are probably the more getable holes for scoring.”

No. 1 gets things started as a par 5 dogleg with no trees in play, but a brook to clear and water to avoid on the edges after the fairway turns left to the green. No. 2 (my favorite) is a par 4 with a drop off at the end of the fairway where golfers must clear the Chippewa River to the green framed by trees in the shallow valley below.

Depending on which tee boxes the grounds crew sets up your day, No. 4 can have a straight shot at the par 4 down the right fairway or when going down the left, golfers must turn a little right to access the green.

“I’ve played golf all over the world, and this golf course flows as well as any that I’ve played,” Pohl said. “You don’t get stagnant with one look, or stagnant with one shot selection (like all draws or cuts). In my estimation, when people come out, they

Hole 16 fairway

could play it over and over and never get stale.”

Jump to Hole 15 and you’ll find an attractive dogleg left that would otherwise be a drivable par 4. Then comes 16, a mid-range par 5 with three massively-tall pine trees splitting the fairway that can cause fits on your way to a 3-tiered green.

“I think that’s the hardest ‘easy’ hole out here (at 455 yards from the white tees),” said GM Dean Paesens. “You can play it in a variety of ways; you could even hit 6-iton, 6-iron, 6-iron and get to the green staying out of trouble.

You can hit driver over the wetlands and it’s getable in two – and it’s getable in six,” he added with a chuckle.

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

The par 3 No. 17 is the course’s signature hole with a carry over the elbow bend of the Chippewa River about 90 feet below, to a bowl-shaped green complex that’s been expanded recently when new tee boxes were also added.

Don’t hurriedly play the par three 17th hole; relish it – because 18 (my second favorite) will come soon enough.

The PohlCat has long been a fan favorite stopping point in Mt. Pleasant for golfers heading Up North. Several times I have placed it on my top10 places to play fall golf with its wide variety of tree colors.

After the Round: The bar and grill area mentioned above is on the quality high-end of what most public courses offer.

The hamburgers, chicken options and various wrap sandwiches are excellent.

All can be enjoyed indoors with a bank of windows along the 100-foot-plus veranda or enjoyed outdoors

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graduations and charity outings.

If you’re not hitting the ball well before or after the round and want a lesson with a Ryder Cupper, that pretty rare opportunity is available in group and corporate outing settings.

where you can heckle your golf league buddies coming up 18 – or just relax with one of the nicer in-land views in Michigan that’s not on a Great Lake.

The clubhouse has a 300-seat banquet hall to compliment the permanent structure outdoors located near the expansive driving range/practice area that seats about half that number.

Both provide the community great options for weddings, proms,

“You are welcome to play out here, we are excited to have you here – and we want you to come back again,” Paesens said.

“The last five years (since an ownership change) we’ve been able to connect better with the community, there’s more local traffic here, people are embracing the PohlCat and it’s becoming home to a lot of people now.”

Are you next? MGJ

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COVID-19 Survey

Survey Shows Little Fear Over Covid-19, Where Golf is Concerned Handicomp, Inc., a Michigan-based handicap provider and league management service since 1968, has done several surveys of golfers in Michigan on the topic of Covid-19 and its personal, as well as golf-related social effects, on the individuals surveyed.

The latest results in February were tabulated from more than 6,000 respondents — 84 percent were men and 16 percent women.

More than 3/4ths are public course players who are not members of a private club.

Only 2.4 percent of respondents tested positive for Covid-19 themselves, while 21 percent said a family member tested positive.

Almost 70 percent said neither they nor a family member had tested positive.

When do you believe the Covid Pandemic will end?

Within the first half of 2021

9.2 %

Within the second half of 2021

48.5 %

Some time in 2022

33.3 %

Do you believe golfers have been responsible and will continue to follow CDC recommendations for social distancing while playing golf?

Yes

85.3 %

No

14.7 %

Do you plan to play more golf than you did in 2020, less, or the same amount in 2021?

More

38.6 %

Less

5.3 %

The Same as last year

56 %

Do you plan to travel to an overnight destination (resort) to play golf in 2021?

Yes

54 %

No

46 %

When will you allow yourself to be in a stadium full of people?

Now or this summer

18.1 %

This Fall

20.2 %

In 2022

42.7 %

After 2022

19 %

TrackMan Range

TrackMan Range Comes To Boyne Highlands Resort Golf resort destination becomes the first in Northern Michigan to add new range technology Boyne Golf is adding the unique new practice range experience, TrackMan Range, to the Ross Golf Center at Boyne Highlands. This powerful and connected 36bay setup enables golfers of all skill levels to practice distance control, shotshaping and more, using Tour-proven swing, ballflight tracking, analysis and entertainment technology from TrackMan. Boyne Highlands is the first Northern Michigan resort to offer the new range technology, which, when using the free TrackMan Range app, allows golfers instant access to eight essential TrackMan data points. Golfers will be able to track carry yardage, total yardage, ball speed, trajectory height, launch angle, launch direction and more.

TrackMan Range also allows golfers to play quick, fun and challenging games, such as Bulls Eye, Hit It, and Capture the Flag - either alone or with friends. They can also play a full virtual round on some of the world’s best and most

historic courses, including five of Boyne’s championshipcaliber courses: Bay Harbor Golf Club’s three routings, Boyne Highlands’ The Heather and Arthur Hills while they’re hitting real balls at physical targets.

The graphics are hyper-real and accurate. Guests can also host tournaments with live leaderboards or invite sponsors, colleagues and clients for great branding, teambuilding and social engagement.

“TrackMan Range will provide another fun resource for our members and guests to play golf - it takes the range experience to quite another level for all ability levels,” said Josh Richter, Director of Golf at Boyne Resorts. “Those looking to improve their game will find this opportunity by utilizing the provided data points that a

standard range does not offer.

TrackMan Range can also be an exciting way to introduce golf to new golfers, as well as an alternative way for novices to come have fun as they learn and improve. Altogether we feel this will be an excellent addition to the amenities of the resort as well as the BOYNE Golf Academy.”

The TrackMan range app is available for both Apple and Android devices. A season pass to the Ross Golf Center TrackMan Range costs $600, an unlimited day pass for $100 per person, or a 60ball bucket pass runs $25.

The connected bays are available on a first-come, first-served basis, but can be reserved in advance for groups of eight or more.

For more information visit https://boynegolf.com/ trackmanrange. MGJ

Michigan Golf Solheim CupJournal Coming Soon

Solheim Cup Coming to Nearby Toledo

By Tom Lang

For fans of women’s pro golf, there are three great local opportunities to see worldclass play from the LPGA Tour and beyond this summer. The Meijer LPGA Classic and Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational for starters – but an added bonus is the Solheim Cup, the world’s premier bi-annual team event pitting Team USA vs. European players.

The three competition rounds will be played at Inverness Club in Toledo, Labor Day weekend, Saturday-Monday, Sept. 4-6.

The golf itself will be huge entertainment for golf fans, as the USA will try to avenge the 14.5-to-13.5-point loss to Europe in 2019. Yet outside the ropes the tournament plans some solid musical entertainment as well.

Gwen Stefani is set to headline the concert following the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, Sept. 3. She is a three-time GRAMMY® Award winner and has achieved global success as a performer, songwriter, frontwoman

for an iconic rock band and multi-platinum solo artist – in addition to being a regular judge on NBC’s The Voice.

Chris Young will perform on Saturday night of the Solheim Celebration. He is a multiplatinum country singer and songwriter. In 2006, he was declared the Season 4 winner of the television program Nashville Star. He’s earned 11 No. 1 singles. His most recent hit is “Famous Friends.”

Pat Hurst – who won six times on the LPGA Tour,

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

including a major, and played on five Solheim Cup teams – has been tagged as the USA Team Captain, after serving as assistant captain the last three Solheim Cups. Michelle Wie and Angela Stanford will be assistant captains this fall.

“I loved being an assistant captain; loved what I’d learned and saw being around captain Juli Inkster and all those great players on the last three American Solheim Cup teams,” Hurst said. “I loved being out on the first tee in that amphitheater setting with sound so loud you could feel it. No cheers in women’s golf match the Solheim Cup. Nothing makes your hair stand up or causes tingles to run down your arms like the drama and intensity of those three days.”

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Double Down on Bucket-List Golf

“I’ve played Inverness Club but haven’t been there since the recent renovations. I can’t wait to see what it’s like now. Of course, there will be more pressure to win on home soil in front of a partisan crowd. But I’m up for it and I know our players will be.”

Tickets are already selling for the competition, ranging from a low of $45 a day for the practice rounds and $75 for competition rounds, with lowering pricing for accompanying youth.

Meijer is sponsoring the Meijer Pavilion, which is set up to offer fans a 300-degree view of golf – where ticket holders will be able to watch golf on Holes 4, 11 and 14 greens, plus the 15th tee and all of holes No. 5 and No. 12. The Meijer Pavilion has both open-air seating and a climate-controlled area, with upgraded food and beverage options available for purchase. The pass includes access to the tournament grounds as well as the Meijer Pavilion hospitality venue all week (Tuesday Monday). Only weekly passes are available for purchase, covering all 7 days, Tuesday through Monday, at $385. MGJ Tickets and more information is at: https:// www.solheimcupusa.com/event-tickets

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Michigan Golf Journal LPGA Qualifiers

Calling Women Amateurs Looking for Shot at LPGA Tournament The LPGA Tour’s Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational is offering for a second time the chance for amateur teams to play their way into the July 14-17 pro tournament at the Midland Country Club.

The qualifying tournament for amateurs only is set for June 2-3 at The Fortress Golf Course in Frankenmuth. Registration has been open a few weeks and continues until Thursday, May 20 or until the field is full.

The 36-hole tournament will kick off on Wednesday, June 2 and will mirror the format of the LPGA event in July. Two-player teams will compete in both better ball and alternate shot formats. After completion of play on Thursday, June 3, the team with the lowest score will receive an exemption into the 2021 Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational. To learn more about the qualifying event, visit www.DowGLBI. com. Or Click here to view and download all rules and guidelines.

Eligible participants include varsity women’s collegiate golfers from the 2020-2021 school year or those who are scheduled to be on a varsity roster in the 20212022 school year. To qualify, the maximum individual and team handicaps cannot exceed a 4.0. The $150 per player/$300 per team entry fee includes

competitive rounds, a welcome reception meal, continental breakfast and lunch on both days of competition, pre and post tournament round range balls and one Nike tournament gift bag per player.

Other potential amateurs who would be exempt into the LPGA Tour’s only team event would come from a special tournament added this year through the combined forces of this LPGA event and the PGA Tour’s Rocket Mortgage Classic called the John Shippen, to be played June 27-28 at the Detroit Golf Club.

The players will be invited from a pool of the best Black male and female golfers from both the professional ranks and collegiate programs and will be competing to earn an exemption into each of the two Michigan pro tournaments.

The tournament is named for the first black professional golfer in U.S. history – John Shippen, Jr. – who played in his first of 6 U.S. Opens in 1896. MGJ

Michigan Corner Golf Journal College

MSU Women Win Big Ten Title, Again

Michigan Ties for Runner Up with Final-Round Rally

By Tom Lang

The MSU Spartans won the Big Ten Women’s Championship for the program’s 6th time in the last 10 years, and the 3rd time since 2017.

The title gives the Spartans an automatic bid into the NCAA regionals, in Louisville.

MSU led from wire-to-wire and finished with a team 11-under par at the course they seem to dominate; TPC River’s Bend. The Spartans have won their last three Big Ten titles at TPC River’s Bend and this year’s 11-under-par 853 was the lowest of their three winning scores at the course.

The University of Michigan shot 4-under par 284 the final two rounds to climb into a 3-way tie for runner up with Maryland and Nebraska, all finishing five strokes behind MSU. Valery Plata of MSU and Ashley Lau of Michigan tied for third place at 5-under par, 211. The pair earned co-

Players of the Week in the Big Ten the week prior to the Big Ten Championship.

Plata also took home the Big Ten’s Mary Fossum Award for lowest stroke average to par (-0.57) in the conference this season.

“We knew there were good things to come for Valery after her first round,” Slobodnik-Stoll said. “To have Valery win the Mary Fossum Award was very special.” Read more

Other College Highlights: • Forest Akers West in East Lansing, home to the MSU men’s and women’s golf teams and host of annual high school state finals and several GAM amateur events, will host

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

the NCAA’s Division 3 women’s national final, May 11-14. Forest Akers has also hosted Big Ten league tournaments and the annual Mary Fossom Invitational, over the years.

• Grand Valley State men’s golf opened play at the 2021 GLIAC Championship with team and individual records at Stoatin Brae Golf Club in Augusta, Michigan. The Lakers shot an opening round 271 (-13), bettering the -12 (276) team score in 2017. Freshman Drew

Coble of Lake Orion set a GVSU and GLIAC individual mark with an opening-round 64 (7-under) that included seven birdies and 11 pars. Coach Gary Bissell won GLIAC Coach of the Year for a 4th time.

• Grand Valley State women’s team won the 2021 GLIAC Women’s Golf Championship with a 4-1 win over Wayne State in Medal Match play.

GVSU, the top seed after stroke play, claimed a 4-1 over Davenport in the semifinals. GVSU has now

25

won three straight GLIAC titles and a GLIAC-best 15 all-time.

• The Michigan State men’s golf team won its first tournament of the season when it took the title at the Hoosier Collegiate Invitational in Bloomington, Indiana in early April; while senior James Piot also took medalist honors to give the Spartans a sweep of the hardware with a seven-shot win. The individual title was Piot’s third of his career. MGJ

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Golf Course Care

Why Do Mowers Follow Me Around the Course?

By Brian Whitlark, agronomist

Golf is the only sport where the field is being maintained while it is in play. As a result, we often see the maintenance staff during our round, especially fairway and rough mowers. While it can feel like mowers are following you around the course the reality is that they are doing their best to avoid interfering with play.

Golf course superintendents and their teams work hard to produce and maintain attractive course conditions and good playability on a daily basis. Producing such

Used with permission of USGA Green Section

conditions requires regular mowing. During the growing season, greens are mowed five to seven days per week, fairways are often mowed two to four times per week and roughs one or two times per week.

While greens mowing is usually completed in advance of play, it is often not possible to mow 25-50 acres of fairways ahead of play. Moreover, mowing fairways when the grass is wet in the morning often produces significant clipping debris. Mowing when the grass is dry in the afternoon yields a Continues on next page >>

Michigan Golf Journal Golf Course Care

cleaner surface and better quality of cut.

If courses are mowing fairways 2-to-4 times per week and mowing rough once or twice per week, you are very likely to see fairway or rough mowers in operation if you are playing Monday through Friday.

In the afternoon, mowing operations often work through the holes backward to avoid encountering a group of players for more than a hole or two. While employees mowing may stop while you are hitting a shot, they often don’t turn off the mowers in order to avoid frequent starting and stopping and because the idling helps to cool the machines. They are doing their best to minimize any disruption to your round, but if mowers are nearby, you may see or hear them working and you may need to wait for a moment while they move out of your way.

Golf course superintendents would much prefer to complete fairway and rough mowing ahead of play because mowing during play can be very inefficient.

Unfortunately, fairway

mowing often requires three to four units mowing for three to four hours to complete the process.

Rough mowing often takes longer. Many courses simply don’t have enough staff or mowing equipment to conduct all the necessary morning setup tasks – e.g., raking bunkers, changing holes, setting tee markers and mowing greens – and at the same time complete fairway or rough mowing operations.

Here are a few tips for when you encounter mowing operations on the course: • Give ‘em a break!

Recognize that these employees are working hard to provide quality playing conditions for you to enjoy.

• Most golf courses do not have the staff or

equipment to complete fairway or rough mowing ahead of play. Therefore, there is a high probability that you will see mowers on the golf course while you are playing.

• Make sure they see you.

The mowers are loud and the operators often have ear protection on. It’s very likely they won’t hear when you yell “fore.” Make sure the operator sees you and give them an opportunity to pull their mower out of the way before you hit in their direction.

• Be friendly and share a wave or say thanks for their hard work – just as you would to someone helping you in a coffee shop or restaurant. The men and women that take care of your course will appreciate it! MGJ

Golf Tips

Golf Tips from the Range From Dave Kendall Academy, Ypsilanti I have been asked at least 100 times: “Why do I perform on the Range better than I perform on the Course.”

On the Range we are relaxed and there are no real consequences to a miss. On the Course we are playing with adrenaline because of a natural competitive desire to succeed. Adrenaline can take a good sequence or rhythm and take it out of sequence. When adrenaline is not present, you create speed with your own effort. Because adrenaline accelerates or super charges your muscles they may over accelerate and cause a timing problem.

Players do not usually have a problem speeding up when they get to the Course, they have trouble slowing down.

For this reason, we should not practice at maximum speed, we should practice getting comfortable at slower rhythm, then when adrenaline is present, it will speed us up into an effective rhythm when we get into a competitive environment.

Most players have trouble slowing down when they get excited because they never practice slowing down.

at a speed that is within my efficiency capability. Over practicing speed simply contributes to getting out of rhythm on the Course.

I do not often practice full out on the Range. When I do, I am practicing speed drills. I will observe how fast can I go before efficiency starts to fall off. I then play

If you will practice at a speed that you can produce high reliability, your results on the course will improve and confidence will soar. MGJ

New skills are best trained slowly and precisely. We then learn to perform only as fast as we can execute the skill reliably. Without question, it is a great deal of fun to swing full out and hit it perfectly. However, even the best in the world have a difficult time producing reliability at full effort, consistently.

New Equipment

Club Review: Mizuno STZ/STX Driver

By Justin Pahl, Miles of Golf Club Fitter

spinning, extremely stable and better feeling.

They have 2 drivers in this lineup, the STZ and the STX. The STZ is the more neutral head. The center of gravity is pulled as far away from the face as possible which makes it Mizuno’s most stable or in other words, the most forgiving driver they have ever created. After hitting it, I can wholeheartedly back up that statement.

Read More. MGJ It’s ShowTime, as Mizuno likes to say!

The new STZ and STX drivers are the culmination of their 3-year rapid-fire development project to create the most widely played drivers its global tour staff has ever seen. Which in turn produces an incredibly good driver for a wide range of golfers. Now, the company known for its high quality, high performance irons, can compete with any of the titans of the 2021 driver category.

Last year’s model, the ST200 lineup was exceptionally good. Fast ball speeds, good launch conditions, forgiving structure and solid feel were a few of the things that the ST200 line excelled at. The new STZ and STX models have improved each of those aspects to make these drivers faster, lower

Tee It Up For Freedom Golf Outing Supports Veterans and Active Duty Military

Aug. 6, Washtenaw Golf Club www.MIFreedomCenter.org/events

Fitting Options

Some Unique Ways Covid-19 Has Changed Golf

By Jeremiah Ritchie, Maple Hill Golf

You’ve probably heard the stats about what a boon Covid has been for golf. If not, you might have at least experienced it without totally realizing it – but did you notice tee times are a little harder to come by or the package deal for your annual golf trip costs a little more or the dates aren’t as available as they were in previous years?

There’s increased traffic through your local pro shop, too. There’s a wait at the driving range, and if you want to be fit for new clubs, you’re looking at 2-3 weeks for an open reservation.

This last example is one that Maple Hill Golf is very familiar with and forced us to take new action. Our Launch Kitchen fitting facility has been booked no less than two weeks out since last summer – longer in some months.

That includes October, typically the slowest month of the year. As a Golf Digest Top 100 fitter, we’re used to high traffic volumes, but we also want to be able to give the most customers the best service and experience possible. In response, we’ve expanded our club fitting facility in two major ways.

First, Maple Hill has upgraded The Kitchen Sync putter fitting studio with the Quintic Ball Roll system. Quintic does for putters what Trackman does for every other club in your bag. Utilizing a high-speed camera to track the putter and golf ball throughout the

impact zone, Quintic automatically measures over 45 parameters regarding the putter and ball, providing instant data to analyze and review with you.

Second, one Launch Kitchen just wasn’t enough, so a second Launch Kitchen Fitting Studio was added this off season. Taking residence in the north room of the retail floor and featuring the same Trackman technology as the original Launch Kitchen, the “LK2” is for club and ball fittings only. Additional certified fitters, sales professionals, and customer fitters have been added to the staff.

Maple Hill Golf is ready to help any golfer from tee to green. MGJ

Michigan Golf Journal Michigan News and Notes

New Name for Forest Dunes Short Course Forest Dunes announced that its new short course will be named Bootlegger. The resort’s latest golf option opened for limited preview play last fall and will open full-time May 6. The 10-hole, 1,135-yard short course was designed by Keith Rhebb and Riley Johns.

The Bootlegger was named in homage to the land where Forest Dunes’ award-winning courses now sit. The property was originally owned by automotive magnate

William Durant, founder of General Motors and an iconic figure in early 20th century America. As legend has it, a significant parcel of the land was sold to a group of mafiosos (The Purple Gang) in the 1930s. Known as the Detroit Partnership these mobsters made their fortunes smuggling alcohol from Windsor into Michigan—among other less innocuous practices.

The Bootlegger’s greens are constructed to funnel

balls toward pin locations, improving the chances of ever-elusive holes-in-one.

In addition, music will also be incorporated into the fun with 16 speakers strategically placed throughout the course. MGJ

PGA Tour Rocket Mortgage Classic Commits Include DeChambeau, Fowler, Watson, Day and Varner III Defending champion Bryson DeChambeau plus Jason Day and Bubba Watson have committed to play in the Rocket Mortgage Classic when it returns to Detroit, June 28July 4. Other early player commitments include fan favorites Rickie Fowler and Harold Varner III. “The Rocket Mortgage Classic has quickly cemented itself as one of the favorite events on TOUR for some of the best players in the world,” said

Jason Langwell, Executive Director of the Rocket Mortgage Classic. “Bryson is smashing records with his powerful drives and, simply put, has been the most fascinating golfer on the PGA TOUR since he won our tournament last year.”

The Rocket Mortgage Classic is doubling down on its charitable focus – aiming to raise more than $1 million through fan activities and returning initiatives at its highlypromoted, three-hole stretch, AREA 313, which

is an epicenter for fans during tournament week.

AREA 313 is named in honor of Detroit’s famed area code and is comprised of the 555-yard par-5 14th hole, the 160-yard par3 15th hole and the 446yard par-4 16th hole. MGJ

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

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Inn at Bay Harbor and BOYNE Golf Academy Earn Golf Digest Editor’s Choice Awards Boyne Golf recently won two awards among the annual Golf Digest Editor’s Choice Awards for 2021.

The Inn at Bay Harbor in Bay Harbor, Mich. earned the honors as one of the Best Resorts in the Americas, while BOYNE Golf Academy in Harbor Springs, was

named in the Best Golf Schools & Academies.

BOYNE Golf Academy has now received the Editor’s Choice Award in both 2018 and 2021. Based at Boyne Mountain and Boyne Highlands, the Academy features nationally

recognized professional instructors who have developed a variety of programs for juniors, adults, and women of all skill levels. MGJ

Season Registration Open For Michigan Women’s Golf Association Membership registration for the nonprofit 501(c)(3) Michigan Women’s Golf Association (MWGA) for the 2021 season is open to amateur female golfers of all levels who love the game and desire to play in flighted competitive events that follow USGA rules. In addition to nine competitive events at premier golf courses in Michigan, members also have access to an optional MWGA Match Play League and receive automatic membership to the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM), including a USGA handicap index.

MWGA competitive events run May through

September. Online membership and event registration, as well as information about MWGA’s well-known Girls Golf Program for Detroitarea youth, can be found at www.mwgolf.org.

The MWGA is designed to help amateur female golfers develop their golf skills and an understanding of USGA rules through competitions, skills clinics, mentorships and opportunities to grow friendships among women who play golf.

“Michigan women who love golf, whether they are aspiring high school athletes or seniors keeping their game sharp during

retirement, are encouraged to play in the MWGA,” said President Cynthia Pinkard said. “We are first and foremost a women’s organization and female golfers will find support, mentorship and friendship in the MWGA.” MGJ

Up North Fun

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa Offers Several Unique 2021 Golf Events

Grand Traverse Resort and Spa had the shortest offseason in its history, just 14 weeks of downtime this year, before opening golf again on April 23. To pack in as much golf as possible, the popular northern Michigan resort is offering more packages and more golf events with fun formats. Here are the ones that caught our eye the most: May 28–31, 2021: Memorial Day Weekend Golf Special $89 The Bear & The Wolverine; $59 Spruce Run Kick-off the summer season with Memorial Day weekend golf specials. Play three championship courses and enjoy a fun-filled holiday weekend in Traverse City in between rounds.

June 20–27, 2021: Golf Your Daylights Out $119 for Resort guests, $149 for non-Resort guests

Play as many holes as you can squeeze into a day and celebrate the summer solstice and extended daylight in northern Michigan.

July 3–11, 2021: National Cherry Festival Golf Special $109 The Bear & The Wolverine, $69 Spruce Run National Cherry Festival week. With dozens of events happening safely on property and around town, you will get the full northern Michigan experience on and off the course.

September 3–6, 2021: Labor Day Weekend Golf Special $89 The Bear & The Wolverine, $59 Spruce Run Say goodbye to the summer season with special pricing all Labor Day weekend.

October 2, 2021: 11th Annual Big Hole Golf Tournament

$180 per team, includes golf, cart, and prizes This three-person scramble on Spruce Run features gigantic, impossible-to-miss 10’ cups!

It might sound easy, but it is a fun challenge.

October 17, 2021: 13th Annual Tuff Enuff Golf Tournament $120 per team, includes golf, cart, and prizes Play one of Michigan’s toughest golf courses, The Bear, at its absolute hardest.

For one day only, they turn The Bear into 7,000+ yards of long-rang tee boxes, aggressive greens, and challenging hole locations.

This is a two-person “best ball” event.

Visit grandtraverseresort. com or call 800-236-1577 to learn more. MGJ

Michigan Golf Journal USGA Four-Ball

Michigan Has Four for the USGA Four-Ball

By Tom Lang

Four Michigan players with intimate ties to both the University of Michigan and Michigan State have qualified as teams to play in the USGA’s Four-Ball National Championship, May 22-26.

Grosse Pointe South graduate Patrick Sullivan and his current U-M teammate, Brent Ito, won the qualifier with a sizzling team score of 61 at Battle Creek Country Club on September 30 to advance to USGA host site Chamber’s Bay near Seattle.

Also qualifying last fall were Dan Ellis of the U.P. and assistant head coach at Michigan State, and former MSU player and current Brighton HS coach, Jimmy Dewling. The pair traveled to Hartland, Wis. to compete the same day.

“Dan wanted to sign up for the qualifier in Wisconsin because he just knew that he plays best when the conditions are bad,” Dewling said. “Being from the U.P.

he’s just a better player than anyone else in the field when the conditions get so poor,” which Dewling described as 38 degrees and pouring rain.

Patrick Sullivan

Unique for this pair is they are both coaching this spring season, and not playing much for that reason.

Sullivan and Ito are playing daily as their U-M season has almost wound down.

“It’s going to be fun being two coaches out there playing against some midAms and college kids,” Dewling added. “I just hope to keep up with Dan. After his college playing days, Dan has continued to improve.

He is arguably one of the smartest golfers in the state of Michigan. He hits the ball a long way and that’s a

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

pretty lethal combination, when you’re as smart as he is on the golf course.

medalist in the Michigan Jr. State Am qualifier.

He led the U-M team this year at the Mobile Bay Intercollegiate in Feb. with a 3-day 1-under par.

“Knowing this is at Chambers Bay, a U.S. Open course, and playing with one of my best friends in life in a team event, I’m just not going to get many chances to do that moving forward. I can’t wait to get out there.”

Sullivan was dominant in the state during high school. A few years ago, he won the MHSAA Division 1 individual state championship in a playoff, before heading to U-M. He was also Mr. Golf

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Ito is using up his final year of eligibility as a graduate student due to the NCAA canceling last spring season.

Brent Ito

that season of 2018 and led his team to the team championship after two seasons as runners up. In 2017 he was stroke play

Stroke play will contest the first two rounds, at Chambers Bay and co-host The Home Couse in Dupont, Wash. The top 32 qualifying teams will then proceed on to match play to determine the winning team. MGJ

MichiganRater Golf Journal Course Confidential

Course Rater Confidential:

The Best Private, Public and Sleeper Courses in Michigan

The following excerpts come from selected panelists of GOLF Magazine golf course evaluators, from 2020.

Stoatin Brae

Used with permission of GOLF.com

After Crystal Downs and Oakland Hills, the highestrated Michigan courses in GOLF Magazine’s rankings, what’s the best course in the state and why?

Ran Morrissett (Architecture Editor): Michigan is stacked with great golf, both from the Golden Age and from the Modern Age. Narrowing it down to one is brutal, but when in doubt, I tend to side with the course that promotes ‘bouncy-bounce’

golf, which would be The Kingsley Club and its fescue playing surfaces. The ball releases more across its fairways and greens than the great parkland courses around Detroit. (Note: two more panelists also listed Kingsley Club for this question.)

What’s the best public course in Michigan and why?

Morrissett: Stoatin Brae is just west of Battle Creek,

Mich., but because of its openness, you might think you are playing a heathland course outside of London.

The stretch of holes from 10-15 is crazy good, and the course costs well under $100 to play. The quiet, relaxed vibe is a real plus too.

Steve Lapper (Panelist since 2009; has played 84 of the Top 100): I’ll stick my neck out and nominate Arcadia Bluffs. Blessed with an

May 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com

abundance of quality holes and aesthetics, it commands a hefty price, but few would deny its memorability.

Public golfers of all skill sets are usually thrilled to experience it and are rarely disappointed.

Thomas Brown (Panelist since 2015; has played 95 of the Top 100): The University of Michigan Golf Course.

Have a problem getting on Augusta National? The University of Michigan Golf Course was built the year before Augusta by the same Alister MacKenzie and his Midwest associate, Perry Maxwell. The 1st tee sits across the street from the stadium used for football.

It won’t take you long into your round to appreciate the intricacies of what makes MacKenzie/Maxwell greens so renowned. U of M students are lucky.

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Kingsley Club

What’s the course in Michigan you’ve not played that you’re most eager to see and why?

Morrissett: The two-yearold South Course at Arcadia Bluffs is at the top of my list. I love the Macdonald/ Raynor school, so to see how Dana Fry interpreted their design elements into the South Course is bound to be fascinating. Without doubt, the course will be hugely strategic, which is my No. 1 must-have criteria.

Lapper: I have three tied at the top of that list: Stoatin Brae, The Reversible Course at Forest Dunes, and Meadowbrook GC (Northville). Stoatin Brae for all the reasons Ran cited, and to see what the talented team at Renaissance Design (Doak, Slawnick,

U-M Golf Course

Schenider, Placek and Iverson) produced. Who could possibly be interested in quality design and fun and not want to play a wholly reversible course?

Finally, I’ve heard great things about the Andy Staples renovation of a classic Willie Park Jr. design.

Thomas Brown: The Dunes Club. Long before his success in Oregon, golf’s Robert Moses, Mike Keiser, built The Dunes Club in 1995 in the southwest corner of Michigan. The Dunes Club is a private nine-hole golf club designed by golf architect Dick Nugent. The pictures available online are envious.

Comparisons are made to No. 1 Pine Valley. Is it really as good as everybody tells me? Hopefully I will be able to find out on my own someday. MGJ

Boy neRe s or t s , Ba yHa r borGol fCl ub

A l l R i g h t s R e s e r v e d ; C o p y r i g h t 2 0 2 1 Web:www. mi c hi g a ng olour na l . c om E ma i l :mi c hi g a ng olour na l @g ma i l . c om T wier :@MI g olour na l