GolfBlogger - A Daily Golf Blog Live From Michigan

Rocket Mortgage Classic Winners and HistoryJune 24, 2019The Rocket Mortgage Classic debuts June 27 – 30 at the Detroit Golf Club.Detroit Golf Club, which dates to 1899, is located in the heart of the Motor City. It features not one, but two Donald Ross courses, as well as an Albert Kahn designed clubhouse.The tournament is played on the longer North Course, with the exception of the first hole, which is the first hole of the South Course.Rocket Mortgage is a subsidiary of Quicken Loans, which is based in Detroit.The complete list of Rocket Mortgage Classic Winners Follows:2019 – TBD...
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American Eagle Putter CoverJune 24, 2019American Eagle Putter CoverShow your patriotic side with this American Eagle putter cover.It’s made of PU leather with a magnetic closure....
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Smith Wins 108th Michigan AmateurJune 22, 2019Ben Smith Wins 108th Michigan Amateur Championship.Novi’s Smith Holds Off Patrick Sullivan to Win 2 and 1 BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Ben Smith of Novi met golf legend Jack Nicklaus on Monday and held the historic Staghorn Trophy Saturday after turning back Patrick Sullivan of Grosse Pointe in the final match of the 108th Michigan Amateur Championship. The 19-year-old Georgia Tech Golfer, who topped Sullivan, a 19-year-old University of Michigan golfer, 2 and 1, called the entire week awesome. The state championship was presented by Carl’s Golfland and hosted by Oakland Hills Country Club’s North Course. “Me and one of my buddies got to meet (Jack Nicklaus) on the putting green,” he said. “That was an amazing experience, meeting a great man. That was really awesome. I was definitely in a good move to start the week. And then this. My dad (Dave Smith) has always wanted me to win a Michigan Amateur, and my (swing) coach (Dave VanLoozen, director of instruction at OHCC) works here and he won it in 1988. “I look at it as a great stepping-stone for the future,” he said. “If you can win the Michigan Amateur then you can go on to bigger things.” Smith birdied three of the first five holes and won the sixth hole with a par for an early 3-up lead, but he could never shake Sullivan who churned out pars and an occasional birdie to tie the match on the short par 4 No. 15 hole. Smith drove the ball left of the green and down a steep hill, but his second shot failed to make it to the green and ended up in a bunker. Sullivan made a clutch par putt and the match was tied. “At 15 for that chip, I had a bad lie,” Smith said. “The rough was long and going against me. I tried to do something good with it, and just bit off more than I could chew. That was definitely when it me that I have to hunker down here and make some moves.” He made smart moves, with careful two-putt pars on 16 and 17 while Sullivan made bogeys to close out the match. “All day long I wasn’t going to get upset with myself making pars,” Sullivan said. “With those birdies Ben got the lead, but I kept making pars and he made some mistakes. Pars go a long way. I wish I did it at 16 and 17. I missed the green at 16 and hit a bad drive on 17 and had to hit a good shot just to get it up to the green.” Smith said he thought he had a secure lead after going 3-up through 12 holes. “I made a couple of mistakes to let him back in and he made good pars” he said. “I was still confident though with the way my game has been all week. I knew I just needed to make a few good swings, stay mellow, let him make some mistakes and I would still be able to pull it out.” Smith reached the final match with a morning semifinal win over defending champion Beau Breault of Hartland by the same score, 2 and 1. Breault, a former Eastern Michigan University golfer was runner-up, champion and a semifinalist in the last three years. He plans to turn professional later this summer. Sullivan made the final with a 3 and 1 win over Coalter Smith, a former high school teammate at Grosse Pointe South who is headed to play college golf at the University of Wisconsin in the fall. Sullivan had a vocal and sizable group of supporters in the gallery who offered up a Go Blue plaudit or two. He thanked them for their support and said the tournament was great. He plans to return next year. “This is an event you think about all winter when you practice,” he said. “It keeps you going. I hope to put myself in this position again next year with a chance to win. This is a great field, and it was a great experience.”RESULTS: Scores and match play bracket at gam.orgvia Greg Johnson...
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DeWitt’s Liz Nagel Defends as Crystal Mountain Hosts 26th Michigan Women’s Open Starting MondayJune 22, 2019Defending Champion Liz Nagel In action last year.DeWitt’s Liz Nagel Defends as Crystal Mountain Hosts 26th Michigan Women’s Open Starting Monday THOMPSONVILLE – Liz Nagel of DeWitt will defend her championship in the 26th Michigan Women’s Open Championship starting Monday on the Mountain Ridge Course at Crystal Mountain Resort with a bit of a rusty game and a heavy heart. The 27-year-old LPGA Symetra Tour player has missed the last month of golf to be at home with her grandmother Carolee Sanford, who passed away just recently after a battle with cancer. She was 74. “She was my biggest fan and she would come to the Michigan Open with me,” Nagel said. “She was from the Upper Peninsula, so normally I would have been in Harris with the tour there this week (Island Resort Championship), but this all just happened, and it was kind of sudden and now I’m getting back to golf. It’s tough when life and golf collide.” Nagel, a fifth-year pro, dramatically shot a 4-under 68 and came from six shots behind to win the 2018 Michigan Open by three shots. It was her first professional win. “It was great to win and after it I had a decent finish to the season,” she said. “I have good memories of the last hole. I got up and down from that bunker at 18, and had an 11-footer, left to right, above the hole and it broke a lot. It was the best putt I made all day and it felt really good just to finish with a birdie. Then they told me I won. I don’t look at scoreboards. It was stunned. It was great to win.” Nagel said she played in the early events on the Symetra Tour this season before missing four in a row. “I was playing good before I came home to be with my grandmother,” she said. “Not sure what to expect now. I’m on the range right now hitting balls. I’ll be as ready to go as I can be. It’s strange. I’m not hesitant to get back to golf. I miss it. I love it. I just have to face this new reality.” Crystal Mountain is hosting the championship for the 17th consecutive time, and Nagel is one of three former champions in the field. Lindsey McPherson, the 2017 champion now living and working in Findlay, Ohio, is returning to what she calls her favorite golf tournament. Also back is 2011 champion Laura Kueny, who now lives in Asheville, N.C., and no longer plays tour golf. The 26th edition of the championship, which does not require Michigan residency, will feature an international field of 89 golfers, including mini-tour professionals and amateurs representing multiple states and countries. The field will play 54 holes of stroke play over three days to determine the champion with a cut after the first two rounds to the low 70 scorers and ties. The professionals will play for a share of a $40,000 purse. The championship is administered by the Michigan Section of the PGA of America, and the field typically includes the top professionals and amateurs with Michigan ties as well as LPGA Symetra Tour players and mini-tour professionals from around the world. In addition to the former champions, many of Michigan’s top golfers are also lined up to play, including the reigning Michigan Women’s Amateur champion Kerri Parks of Flushing and Marshall University, Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, who recently graduated from Loyola University of Chicago and was the runner-up to Parks in the 2018 Amateur, and University of Arkansas golfer Julia Dean of Brighton. Flint’s Shasta Averyhardt, Rochester’s Christine Meier, who are making the rounds on the professional circuit, are entered, as are the Shipley sisters from Hastings — Gabrielle, who is a professional, and Sarah, an amateur who plays at the University of Kentucky. Michigan State women’s golf coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll, a Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member, is also in the field with several of her current, former or incoming Spartan golfers. Grand Rapids native Sue Ertl, a former LPGA Tour player, another Hall of Fame member and another former Spartan, is home from Florida to play in the championship. Crystal Mountain Resort was established in 1956, and is a family-owned, four-season resort that is nationally recognized for its skiing, golf and award-winning spa. Located in northwest-lower-Michigan, a short drive from Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, the resort features downhill and cross-country skiing, Michigan Legacy Art Park, 36 holes of championship golf, Michigan’s only alpine slide, an outdoor water playground, a variety of lodging and dining options, countless year-round activities and kids programs, an IACC-approved conference center, weddings, real estate and Crystal Spa. See www.crystalmountain.com . As always, the Michigan Women’s Open offers free parking and admission. Spectators are welcome and can be shuttled to various spots on the course.INFORMATION: Tee times and results through the week can be found at www.michiganpgagolf.com. ...
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Forest Akers West Hosting 41st Michigan Girls Junior State AmateurJune 22, 2019Forest Akers West Hosting 41st Michigan Girls Junior State AmateurForest Akers West Hosting 41st Michigan Girls Junior State Amateur EAST LANSING – Forest Akers Golf Club’s West Course is hosting host the Michigan Girls’ Junior State Amateur for the sixth time in its history. The 41st edition of the tournament, presented by Pepsi Sunday through Wednesday, will included the top girl junior golfers in the state playing two rounds of stroke play to determine the low 36 scorers who will then play four rounds of match play over two more days to determine a champion. A 15-and-under division is also being presented. A total of 90 junior golfers are in the field. Forest Akers West is home to the successful Michigan State University golf teams. It is one of two courses at the facility (East and West), both of which were redesigned by Michigan State alumnus and highly regarded golf course designer Arthur Hills in 1992. The West plays from 5,278 yards to 7,013 yards with five tee positions and hosts the Big Ten home competition for the Spartans. The players in the field are familiar with the Forest Akers properties, which have hosted several GAM junior events as well as high school state championship tournaments over the years. Learn more at golf.msu.edu. The top golfers on the GAM Honor Roll in 2018 are in the field including Danielle Staskowski of Clarkston, Jasmine Ly of Madison Heights, Allison Cui of Okemos, Ariel Chang of Macomb, Lilia Henkel of Grand Rapids, Jolie Brochu of Goodrich, Anci Dy of Traverse City, Savannah Haque of Rochester Hills, Shannon Kennedy of Beverly Hills, Kay Zubkus of Ada, Nicole Whatley of Northville, Rachel Hu of Northville, Alissa Fish of Clark Lake and Hillary Ziemba of Jackson. The championship has a storied past with winners like Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member and LPGA Tour player Suzy Green-Roebuck, LPGA Tour player Stacy Snider, and recent Michigan Women’s Amateur champions Aya Johnson and Kerri Parks....
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Attention Runners: The Rocket Mortgage Classic 5k Run and Walk Is Sunday, June 23June 22, 2019A Rocket Mortgage Classic 5K Run and OptiShot Golf Simulator In Downtown Detroit will kick off the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic. These are the first of eight days worth of events centered around the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic — the first PGA TOUR event within the city of Detroit.ROCKET MORTGAGE CLASSIC 5KDowntown Detroit hosts the inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic 5K Run and Walk on Sunday, June 23. The 5K will give local runners and walkers the chance to pound the pavement in downtown Detroit with a fast 3.1-mile round trip along the Detroit International River Walk, starting and finishing at the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority. The race, which starts at 8 a.m., will be open to runners and walkers who register in advance.Complete race info is available at: www.raceroster.com/events/2019/23632/rocket-mortgage-classic-5kWHO: Runners and walkers of all ages are welcome.WHERE: Start/Finish line is at the Detroit/Wayne County Port Authority on the Detroit International Riverwalk. WHEN: Sunday, June 23, Starting at 8 a.m.—————————ROCKET MORTGAGE CLASSIC CADILLAC DETROIT CITY SERIESWHAT: ROCKET MORTGAGE CLASSIC CADILLAC DETROIT CITY SERIESThe Cadillac Detroit City Series will give golfers and those simply passing by the chance to virtually play the Detroit Golf Club’s 15th hole just like the pros will later that week. Fans passing by Campus Martius will get to test their golf swings in an OptiShot Golf Simulator and see if they can make or even break par on the challenging 160-yard, par-3 hole. Six-time PGA TOUR winner and 2009 British Open winner Stewart Cink will make an appearance from 1-2 p.m. Cadillac is the Official Vehicle of the Rocket Mortgage Classic Cadillac City Series.WHO: PGA TOUR veteran and 2009 British Open champion Stewart CinkFans and casual golfers testing their golf swings. WHERE: Cadillac Square, Detroit, MI 48226WHEN: Sunday, June 23, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m....
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Inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic Field SetJune 22, 2019Inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic Field SetThe inaugural Rocket Mortgage Classic field should be exciting to any golf fan. It features nine major champions and 77 PGA TOUR winners. Fifteen of those have won in the 2018-1019 season. Ten are currently ranked in the top thirty in FedEx Cup Standings. One is a World Golf Hall of Famer.Top current players in the Rocket Mortgage Classic field include:No. 2 Dustin Johnson – 2016 U.S. Open champion and 20-time PGA TOUR winnerNo. 12 Gary Woodland – 2019 U.S. Open winnerNo. 14 Rickie Fowler – Five-time PGA TOUR winner; 2015 THE PLAYERS champNo. 22 Bubba Watson – 2012 & 2014 Masters champion; 12-time PGA TOUR winnerNo. 25 Patrick Reed – 2018 Masters champion and six-time PGA TOUR winnerNo. 27 Kevin Kisner – 2019 WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play championNo. 28 Hideki Matsuyama – Five-time PGA TOUR champ; 2017 WGC-HSBC winnerNo. 36 Cameron Smith – 2017 Zurich Classic winnerNo. 38 Billy Horschel – 2015 FedExCup championNo. 44 Brandt Snedeker – 2012 FedExCup champ, 2007 PGA TOUR Rookie of the YearNo. 48 Chez Reavie – 2008 RBC Canadian Open winner; T3 at the 2019 U.S. OpenThe World Golf Hall of Famer is the Big Easy, Ernie Els. It might be worth a ticket just to take an up close look at his beautiful swing.Mike Weir, the 2003 Masters’ champion will play on a sponsor’s exemption. It’s a nice gesture to invite a player from just over the river.Other notable players include:Luke Donald – Former No. 1 player in the worldJason Dufner – 2013 PGA Championship winnerJ.B. Holmes – 2019 Genesis Open winnerCharles Howell III – 2001 PGA TOUR Rookie of the YearBilly Hurley III – 2016 Quicken Loans National winnerCurtis Luck – 2016 U.S. Amateur champion (played at Oakland Hills CC)Keith Mitchell – 2019 Honda Classic winnerJimmy Walker – 2016 PGA Championship winnerThe Rocket Mortgage Classic will be played June 27-30 at the historic, Donald Ross-designed Detroit Golf Club, with the inaugural winner set to earn the $1,314,000 top prize and 500 FedExCup points.In addition to the more recognizable names, there are three players with Michgian ties:Joey Garber – Born in Petoskey, Mich.Lee Houtteman – Michigan PGA section championBrian Stuard – Born and raised in Jackson, Mich. Graduated from Napoleon High School in 2001. Played collegiately at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich.The Rocket Mortgage Classic also awarded sponsor exemptions to three players who will make their second professional start on the PGA TOUR – 2019 Masters and 2019 U.S. Open low amateur Viktor Hovland (the world’s top-ranked amateur before turning pro earlier this week), 2019 NCAA Division I Individual champion Matthew Wolff and Zach Bauchou – and Justin Suh, the world’s No. 2-ranked amateur in May who is set to make his third pro start....
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Four Remain in Michigan Amateur – Beau Breault, Ben Smith, Patrick Sullivan and Coalter SmithJune 22, 2019Patrick Sullivan In Action Friday At The Michigan AmateurFour Remain in Michigan Amateur – Beau Breault, Ben Smith, Patrick Sullivan and Coalter Smith BLOOMFIELD HILLS – The 108th Michigan Amateur Championship is down to four golfers and two compelling semifinal matches. It will be the defending champion Beau Breault of Highland against this year’s top seed and qualifying medalist Ben Smith of Novi in the first one at 8 a.m. Saturday, and two former Grosse Pointe South High School teammates and fellow Country Club of Detroit junior club champions, Patrick Sullivan and Coalter Smith, in the second at 8:15. The four golfers each won round of 16 and quarterfinal matches Friday in the state championship being presented by Carl’s Golfland at Oakland Hills Country Club’s North Course. The two winners Saturday morning will square off in the afternoon for the championship and a spot for their name on the historic Staghorn Trophy. “It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said Coalter Smith, who is not related to Ben Smith, just graduated from high school and was high school teammates for three years with Sullivan, who just finished his freshman year as a University of Michigan golfer. “We were talking earlier when we both made it to match play about how far we needed to make it to play each other. We realized pretty far.” Coalter Smith earned the pretty far final spot in the semifinals by turning back Scott Strickland, an Oakland Hills Country Club member and former GAM champion and GAM Mid-Amateur champion, 3 and 1 in their afternoon quarterfinal match. Strickland was 3-up in the match at one point, but Smith birdied four consecutive holes (Nos. 11-14) to turn the match in his favor. “I started hitting the pretty close and giving myself good looks at birdies, and then making them,” he said. “I was a little surprised because I really haven’t been making many birdies. Scott was playing well and I wasn’t making birdies on the front nine, and I needed to make something happen.” Smith’s birdie stretch included a 10-foot putt on No. 11, a 3-foot putt on 12, a 15-foot putt on No. 13 and a 25-footer on No. 14. “I finally started playing like I was earlier in the year,” said Smith, who had to go 19 holes in his morning round of 16 match to turn back Cal Wollack of Saline. “I hope to keep it going. (Sullivan) and I are really good friends. We are at the same club; we were on the same team for three years and we played junior golf together.” Sullivan, who played No. 1 while Smith played No. 2 at Grosse Pointe South, said it will be great to play Smith. “It makes it even more fun,” he said. “It will also make it harder in a way. I just want to stick with my game plan, and hopefully it works out.” Sullivan, a former Michigan Junior Amateur champion and now a Michigan Wolverine, toppled two Michigan State Spartans to get to the final four. He turned back Dan Ellis of Lansing, the assistant men’s golf coach at MSU in the morning, 3 and 2, and then traded birdies with MSU standout Andrew Walker of Battle Creek before winning the last two holes for a 2-up win in the quarterfinal match. “It was an awesome match with Andrew,” he said. “I played well, hit it really well and made some good putts, and Andrew played great. I had to match some birdies, which was tough. I think I bogeyed 11 and that was the last bogey either of us made until we got to 17.” At 17 and the match tied, Walker’s approach shot landed near the hole location, but spun off the downhill front edge of the green. Walker’s first attempt from about 20 yards off the green and 30 yards from the pin with a putter came up short and rolled back as well. Sullivan, who had missed the fairway wide left and hit his approach into a greenside bunker, ended up winning the hole with a bogey-5. Then he made a 12-foot birdie putt to win the 18th hole as well. “Andrew messed up at 17 and you hate to see that,” Sullivan said. “He had the momentum and somehow that first shot spun off the green.” Ben Smith, a Georgia Tech golfer, is in the semifinals for the second consecutive year. He topped Ian Martin, a University of Michigan golfer 4 and 2 in the round of 16 and then held off 43-year-old Tom Stevens of Northville 3 and 2 in the afternoon quarterfinal. “This afternoon’s match was a really good match,” Smith said. “Tom and I were trading birdies and in position to make birdies on most holes. I hit it by him like 60 or 70 yards most holes, but he hits his long irons great and he hit a hybrid into a couple holes on a rope right at the stick. He was pretty impressive. On the first hole of the day I hit 3-wood in front of the green and putted it up there to about a foot, and he hit his tee shot to about 60 yards from the green and then hit it to about 30 feet and drained the putt. We birdied the hole in two very different ways, so I figured out from that it wasn’t going to be easy to beat him.” Smith, a two-time Michigan Junior Amateur champion, lost in last year’s semifinals to eventual runner-up Anthony Sorentino and didn’t get the chance to meet Breault, who went on to win the championship. He said he has never played against Breault in match play, but knows he is a great player. “The goal is to win, and I’m sure it is his, too,” he said. “I didn’t have as good a day ball-striking today as I did yesterday so I’m headed to the range to work on some things. I’ll try to get ready, and just keep taking it one match at a time.” Breault, who recently graduated from Eastern Michigan University, said was a little disappointed with losing a big lead in his 2 and 1 quarterfinal win over Mike Busse of Rochester Hills and Austin Peay University, but excited for the Saturday and the semifinals. “I played really solid for the first 14 holes, and then when I was trying to close Mike out, I made some bogeys and he put the pressure on me,” he said. “He drove the green on 15 and made a really good birdie on 16. He made it tough on me.” Breault, who topped University of Detroit Mercy golfer Scott Sparks of Shelby Township 5 and 4 in the round of 16, said he is feeling better about his putting. “I was not putting well at the start of the week, but today I made a few putts,” he said. He also noted Baker Stevenson, his best friend and the golfer he had to beat in the round of 32 Thursday, is back as his caddie. Stevenson carried his clubs a year ago when Breault claimed the championship at Country Club of Detroit. “Everyone, if they made it this far, is a good player,” he said. “I haven’t played Ben, but I’ve heard about him and know he is really good. I will try to reset tonight, get rest and be fresh for tomorrow. It’s going to be another big day.”RESULTS: Match play brackets and scores can be found at gam.org...
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RIP Web.Com Tour; Long Live Korn FerryJune 21, 2019Korn Ferry, a Los Angeles-based consulting firm has replaced Web.Com as the sponsor of the PGA TOUR’s developmental league.The deal takes place immediately and runs through 2028.Korn Ferry is the tour’s sixth title sponsor.In its initial incarnation in 1990, the developmental tour was known as the Ben Hogan Tour and was sponsored by the clubmaker. It was the Nike Tour from 1993 – 1999, the Buy.Com Tour from 2000 – 2002, the Nationwide tour from 2003 – 20012. Web.Com took over in June 2002.Korn Ferry was founded in 1969 by Lester Korn and Richard Ferry. The firm had 2018 revenues of $1.819 billion and a net income of $133,779 million. Korn Ferry has 7, 643 employees. The company has three business segments: Korn Ferry Executive Search, Korn Ferry Advisory and Korn Ferry RPO and Professional Search....
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Swiss Army Golf KnifeJune 21, 2019Swiss Army Golf KnifeSwiss Army Golf KnifeRidiculous Golf Item of the Week...
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Final 16 Determined in Rain-Soaked 2019 Michigan Amateur ChampionshipJune 20, 2019Beau Breault playing in the rain at the 2019 Michigan Amateur ChampionshipFinal 16 Determined in Rain-Soaked 2019 Michigan Amateur Championship BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Two former champions, including the defending champion, two 40-somethings, one Oakland Hills Country Club member, a college golf coach, six college golfers, an 18-year-old home-schooled student and a former Drive, Chip and Putt finalist who just graduated from high school are part of the celebrated “Sweet 16” in the 108th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland at Oakland Hills Country Club’s North Course. They emerged from a rain-filled Thursday of two rounds of match play with the round of 16 and quarterfinals scheduled for Friday and the semifinals and finals on Saturday. Beau Breault of Hartland, the defending champion, had to play Baker Stevenson of Hartland in the afternoon round of 32. Stevenson caddied for him last year when he won at Country Club of Detroit. Breault said it was fun, but hard to focus on beating his best friend, especially because their former high school coach, Nathan Oake, caddied for Stevenson. “You want your best friend to play as well as he can and beat him, but he didn’t play as well as he can,” he said after winning the afternoon round of 32 match 4 and 3. “It turned into a pillow fight and I had the lead.” Breault recently graduated from Eastern Michigan University and said his plan is to turn professional after a last summer as an amateur. He changed putters and switched grips between the first two days of qualifying and the start of match play and said he is focusing on one match at a time. “It was a long day today in the rain, and tomorrow is another long day,” he said. “I’m excited about being in the Sweet 16 and excited to try and play better golf.” Henry Do, the 2014 Michigan Amateur champion, won the Michigan Amateur the first time he played in it. He said he has found out how difficult it is to win since then. “As I’ve played in it since I’ve grown in appreciation for how great it was that I won, and how hard it was to do it,” he said. “It was a long day today in the rain. I had a couple of good matches, but at the end of the day I had made the putts I need to make.” Do, 24 and the director of business development for Hall Financial, made the decision to use his economics degree from the University of North Carolina and admitted he surprised people by not turning professional. “It wasn’t what I wanted,” he said. “I play golf for fun now instead of trying to grind out a score and grind on getting better all the time. I’m having fun, and that’s how I’m approaching this. I’m going to try and have more fun tomorrow.” Scott Strickland, who topped Brian Hayward of Grand Rapids 3 and 2 in the afternoon, is the lone Oakland Hills Country Club member remaining from 10 who started in the field on Tuesday. The 36-year-old former GAM and Michigan Mid-Amateur Champion has played in the Amateur many times, but this is his first time in the Sweet 16. He said he feels more pride than pressure regarding his membership. “I’m proud to be a member of Oakland Hills,” he said. “We hoped to have a better showing by a bunch of us, but it didn’t happen. The great thing about Oakland Hills is that whether it hosts a Michigan Amateur or a U.S. Amateur, they do it professionally and it is always fantastic. It’s great I’m still playing and I will try my best to keep it going.” Top seed Ben Smith of Novi and Georgia Tech made his second consecutive Sweet 16. He heads the usual group of college golfers moving on. Anthony Sorentino, a Rochester Hills attorney and the runner-up to Breault a year ago, and Tom Stevens of Northville, the chief financial officer of RS Energy, are the 40-somethings remaining in the field. Sorentino is 41 and in the Sweet 16 for the fifth time. Stevens is 43 and made it to the final 16 for the first time in he estimates 15 Michigan Amateur attempts over the years. Dan Ellis, 29, is an assistant golf coach at Michigan State. He is in the Sweet 16 for the second time. Cal Wollack of Saline is the home-schooled student, and a surprise in the Sweet 16. He is playing in his first competition in two years after what he called taking a break from the game because he lost passion for it. Coalter Smith, 18, just graduated from Grosse Pointe South High School and is headed to the University of Wisconsin to play college golf. His name might be familiar because he is the former Drive, Chip and Putt star in the field. The Sweet 16 is as follows:Ben Smith, 19, Novi – golfer at Georgia TechIan Martin, 23, Saline – recent graduate of MichiganAnthony Sorentino, 41, Rochester Hills – attorneyTom Stevens, 43, Northville – CFO for RS Energy of CalgaryJimmy Dales, 18, Northville – golfer at Univ. of WyomingMichael Busse, 21, Rochester Hills – golfer at Austin Peay StateScott Sparks, 21, Shelby Township – golfer at UD MercyBeau Breault, 22, Highland – recent graduate Eastern MichiganAndrew Walker, 20, Battle Creek – golfer at Michigan StateHenry Do, 24, Auburn Hills – director at Hall FinancialPatrick Sullivan, 19, Grosse Pointe – golfer at MichiganDan Ellis, 29, Lansing – asst. golf coach at Michigan StateRyan Kauppila, 20, Rochester Hills – golfer at Davenport UniversityScott Strickland, 36, Bloomfield Hills – vice-president Morgan StanleyCal Wollack, 18, Saline – home-school studentCoalter Smith, 18, Grosse Pointe – recent high school graduateRESULTS: Scores, brackets and pairings for the 2019 Michigan Amateur can be found at gam.orgvia Greg Johnson...
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Ted Kroll Wins First Travelers Championship/ Insurance City Open in Driving Rain – 1952June 20, 2019Ted Kroll Wins First Travelers Championship/ Insurance City Open in Driving Rain – 1952The first round of the 2019 Travelers Championship is being played under lift-clean-and-place rules, but at least they’re not playing in the tail end of a hurricane.At the first Travelers Championship (then known as the Insurance City Open), Ted Kroll won in a driving rain from tail end of category 2 Hurricane Baker.Thus the big golf festival is would up and the crowd yesterday, estimated at about 6,000 which boosted the total for the five days to nearly 20,000 saw golf played uner the worst possible conditions. A rain and wind storm, part of a hurricane, threatened to call off the tournament, but players kept coming in while Harvey Raynor, PGA tournament director inspected the course — but decided the affair could be finished. Many of the greens were water covered and numerous players took shelter.Hartford Courant, Sept. 2, 1952Umbrellas are out on the final day of the Insurance City Open.The greens became so bad that Bill Markham had to use his wedge on the putting surface of the 16th with the result that he needed three strokes to get down.Hartford Courant, Sept 2, 1952Players weren’t the only ones to suffer from the rain storm.The terrific rain storm put the parking lots in a quagmire and 1,000 automobiles were mired … farmers had to be called in to haul the vehicles out and where the charge was two dollars each, the owners paid half the cost with the Jaycees “kicking” in with the other dollar.Hartford Courant, Sept. 2, 19521952 Travelers Championship / Insurance City Open Final ScoresTed Kroll 69-70-67-67 = 273 $2,400Skee Riegel 66-67-71-73 = 277 $1,466.66Lawson Little 68-72-68-69 = 277 $1, 466.66Earl Stewart 68-71-69-69 = 277 $1,466.66Ed Oliver 74-67-67-70 = 278 $1,000Doug Ford 71-70-71-68 = 280 $750John Palmer 67-70-72-71 = 280 $750Marty Furgol 70-71-72-69 = 281 $513.33Billy Markham 68-70-71-73 = 282 ineligibleJulius Boros 70-71-68-73 = 282 $400Ed Burke 73-6971-70 = 283 $360Dow Finsterwald 73-73-71-67 = 284 $264...
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Detroit’s First Pro Golf Tour Event – The Motor City OpenJune 20, 2019The Detroit Area’s First Pro Golf Tour Event Was The Motor City Open.Detroit’s First Pro Golf Tour Event – The Motor City OpenThe PGA Tour returns to Michigan in 2019 for the Rocket Mortgage Classic. While it is the first PGA TOUR tournament within Detroit city limits, it is not the first tour event in the Detroit area. That honor belongs to the Motor City Open, which ran off-and-on from 1948 to 1962. In addition, Oakland Hills had previously hosted the 1924 and 1937 US Opens. The 1947 PGA Championship had been held at Plum Hollow Country Club in Southfield.It is also important to note that the event was actually a part of the PGA of America’s tournament schedule. What we now know as the PGA TOUR did not split from the PGA of America until 1968. (What is the difference between the PGA of America and the PGA TOUR?)The first Motor City Open was held July 1 – 4, 1948. It featured 121 (other sources record 130) professionals and amateurs playing 72 holes over four days. The purse was $15,000, with a $2,600 first prize. In 2018 dollars, that translates to a $155,000 purse and a $26,000 first prize.Meadowbrook served as the host course. Located in Northville, Michigan, it is about 27 miles northwest of downtown Detroit. A Willie Park design, Meadowbrook played at 6, 616 yards and played as a par 71 for the event. Ben Hogan noted that “Meadowbrook is in wonderful shape.”Free Press columnist Mark Beltaire, however, noted that officials had narrowed the fairways “by letting the clover grow. ” That, he later speculated, may explain why the pros were having trouble scoring at Meadowbrook during the Motor City Open.An aerial shot of Meadowbrook Country Club.Interest in hosting a professional tournament in the Detroit area was high in 1948. A year earlier, the National PGA Championship was played at Plum Hollow in Southfield. In the days of the match play version of the PGA Championship, Jim Ferrier won over Chick Harbert. Harbert was the professional at Meadowbrook and would go on to win the PGA Championship in 1954.Aside from Harbert, other local favorites in the field were Jimmy Demaret, the former pro at Plum Hollow, Ed Furgol, Horton Smith of Detroit Golf Club, Al Watrous of Oakland Hills and Sam Byrd who also had been at Plum Hollow.A participant of the Motor City Open, who was not well known as the time, but of historical interest, was Pete Dye, the (now) noted golf architect. Dye shot 73-76 on the first two days.The real star of the show, however was Ben Hogan, who earlier that year had won the PGA Championship and the US Open.Admission was $1.20 on the weekdays, and $2.40 for the weekend. A week-long pass was $6.The Motor City Open pro-am, held on Wednesday, featured 46 pros paired with 46 Detroit auto dealers. First prize for the pros was a $3,600 Lincoln Convertible. A golf clinic also was scheduled for that Wednesday.The winner of the Lincoln was Marty Furgol, a 30-year-old Albuquerque professional.Vic Ghezzi, who eventually won the 1941 PGA Championship and accumulated 11 wins on the PGA TOUR, had his clubs stolen on Wednesday after the pro-am. He played the first round of the tournament with borrowed clubs and shot a 74. To ward off more larceny, uniformed special policy patrolled the locker room.Ghezzi’s clubs were returned by a cab driver, who said “I was given the clubs by a man in downtown Detroit. He paid the full fare to Meadowbrook and said for me to bring them out here.”Ghezzi shot a 71 in the second round with his own sticks.Thursday, July 1, 1948 – The First Round Of The Motor City OpenJohnny Palmer, Marty Furgol, Joe Kirkwood and Gene Dahlbender led with rounds of 68 after the first day of the Motor City Open. Newspaper clip from the Windsor Daily Star.Under fair skies and cool temperatures, crowds on Thursday were a disappointing 4, 500. Temperatures topped out at 73 degrees.Amateur Gene Dahlbender of Atlanta, Georgia drew attention for his ability to drive Meadowbook’s greens. Dahlbender was in Detroit for the previous week’s Red Run Invitational with this wife of one week. When he decided to stay for the Motor City Open, he sent his wife home.Bobby Locke, known for his putting skills, needed 34 putts to complete the round. One miscue came on the 507 yard 17th. After reaching the green in two, he missed from twelve feet. His two footer coming back also missed and he settled for a par when he had Eagle in sight. All told, Locke missed from less than eight feet no less than eight times. Ben Hogan also had putter troubles, not making a putt longer than eighteen inches.Hogan, however, partially redeemed himself with an eagle 2 on the eighteenth from 75 yards.Joe Kirkwood, Sr. was one of the leaders at the end of the first day. He was 51 at the time, and had long since given up a tour player’s lifestyle for work as an exhibition trick shot artist. In his career, Kirkwood had 17 professional wins. Kirkwood also owns the dubious record of being (probably) the first to hit a shot off a howdah on the back of an elephant at the Calcutta Golf Club in India. The trick shot artist’s last win was the Canadian Open and the North and South Open, both in 1933.Gene Sarazen in 1922.Another aging legend, Gene Sarazen (age 46), was a stoke off the lead, having shot a 34-35=69. In a daily column he wrote for the Detroit Free Press while in Detroit, Hogan wrote:One of the finest things in this Motor City open was the way that Gene Sarazen and Joe Kirkwood, Sr. stole the show on opening day … I honestly believe that Sarazen is hitting the ball better and farther than he did in the day of his any championships … The reason why they don’t keep on winning is that they have lost their zest for golf. The sharpness and keenness is gone, but they can still come up with those snappy rounds while playing for fun.After the first round of play at the Motor City Open, the leaderboard looked like this:Johnny Palmer – 68Marty Furgol – 68Joe Kirkwood – 68Gene Dalhbender (a) – 68Gene Sarazen – 69Chick Harbert – 69EJ Harrison – 70C. Heafner – 70Ben Hogan – 70Elmer Reed – 70Cary Middlecoff – 70Bobby Locke – 70Friday, July 2, 1948 – The Second Round Of The Motor City OpenAt the end of two rounds of the Motor City Open, E.J. “Dutch” Harrison lead. Clip from Detroit Free Press.Rain plagued the inaugural Motor City Open on Friday. A crowd of 4, 500 braved the weather and in spite of cloudbursts continued to follow their favorites. Temperatures were in the low 80s. Most of the players played through some four holes of inclement weather.In a column he wrote for the Free Press, Ben Hogan noted that“Rain like we had for a while in Friday’s second round can be a good break for the regular tournament pros. We can play better in the rain than the club pros and the amateurs because we have to play in the rain more and get used to it. But it still costs us an average of two or three strokes on the round and we don’t’ like to play in it any better than the next fellow.”EJ “Dutch” Harrison rose to the top of the leaderboard in the rain. Harrison made five birdies on the first 16 holes for a 67 and a 137 overall. His scorecard on Friday was marred only by a three putt bogey on the 17th. The 38-year-old was recovering from a bout of what newspapers at time called “Virus X.” A Google search turned up no information on Virus X, so it likely was some sort of influenza.Matching Harrison’s 67 was Jim Turnesa, who turned in a two-round score of 138. Turnesa made six birdies on the round.Bobby Locke in Australia in 1938. Locke was in contention throughout the weekend in Detroit.South African Bobby Locke also finished the first two rounds at 138 and in the four-way tie for second. A 40 foot chip for an Eagle and a 32 on the back nine kept him in contention.Local favorite Chick Harbert finished Friday as a part of the quartet at 138. Meadowbrook club members must have been pleased to see their pro do so well. He had four birdies and two bogeys on the front nine and ended with a 69.Johnny Palmer finished the first nine on Friday with a 33, but then limped in with a 37. That 70 was possible only with birdies on 17 and 18.Elmer Reed, who was tied for third at 139 offered an interesting story angle. A pilot for Eastern Airlines on the Atlanta-to-Detroit route, Reed only played between regular flights and on vacations. Nevertheless, his working schedule helped him in the case of the Motor City Open. Three times prior to the tournament, he made the journey from Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan to Meadowbrook to practice.The other player at 129 was Skip Alexander, who in the second round had eagles on the two par fives. One came on a two foot putt after a 230 yard fairway wood shot. The other was from holing out on a 25 yard chip shot.Ben Hogan made history of a sort by again holing out for an eagle on the 18th. His drive was said to have landed in the same spot as on the previous day, with the same result from 75 yards. In both cases, the approach bounced three times before dropping into the hole. The legend that Hogan’s biggest problem was landing in his own divots from previous rounds was seemingly true. Hogan, however, shot a 73 and was six shots off the lead at 143.Embed from Getty ImagesOther than that, Hogan struggled, at one point going six over on a seven hole stretch. His card showed a 34-39.Joe Kirkwood, the surprise of Thursday, was out of the picture by the end of Friday. The 51-year-old, however, salvaged the weekend by booking one of his trick shot shows on Saturday.On the same day, another Detroiter, Joe Louis, was teeing up at the Forest City Golf Association in Cleveland. Heavyweight boxing champion Louis would become the first African American to play in a PGA TOUR Tournament in 1952.After two rounds of play at the Motor City Open, the leaderboard was:E.J. Harrison – 137Johnny Palmer – 138Chick Harbert – 138Bobby Locke – 138Jim Turnesa – 138Elmer Reed – 139Skip Alexander – 139Ky Laffoon – 140Marty Furgol – 141Gene Dahlbender – 141Saturday, July 3, 1948 – The Third Round Of The Motor City OpenBen Hogan played himself into contention on the third day of the Motor City Open with a 66. The lead, however, was still held by Dutch Harrison and Bobby Locke. Clip from Waco, Texas Herald.On Saturday, the crowds grew to 12,000, attracted by good weather and the holiday weekend. The temperature reached 90 — a twenty degree change from when the tournament started on Thursday.Scores were low on Saturday, aided perhaps by softened greens from Friday’s rains. More than half — 31 — of the 60 players in the field shot even par or better. At the end of 54 holes, 14 players were under par for the tournament.Ben Hogan provided the day’s fireworks, shooting a 66. It was the tournament record, but to be fair, the tournament was only three days old. That score brought Hogan from six back to within one of the lead. Hogan’s Card:Par Out45444343435Hogan Out34444343332Par In43534445436Hogan In42434454434 Total66 To Par-5A crowd of 3, 500 was said to have gathered around the eighteenth to see if Hogan could eagle the hole for the third consecutive day. He did not. Hogan’s 90 yard approach shot was off by 20 feet. Then, he missed the birdie putt by two inches, settling for a par and a 65.The lead was held by Bobby Locke and E.J. (Dutch) Harrison. Both players were at 208 after 54 holes. Locke shot a one-under 70. Harrison shot even par.Locke found himself in the lead after recording birdies on the first two holes, but then ran into trouble. He missed six fairways in the third round, and had bogeys on four, five and ten. The tenth was particularly bad, for his shot landed against a tree. His recovery shot travelled just five feet.Harrison kept Locke in the game, though, with a two over 39 on the front. He opened the back nine with a birdie, however, and finished even par 71.Playing together, both Locke and Harrison had a chance for the solo lead on the eighteenth. Locke was two feet short on a try from just off the green. Harrison missed his first putt by an inch. Both miscues resulted in pars and a tie.Tied with Hogan for second was Skip Alexander, a former Duke University star, who shot 70 on the day. Alexander wowed the crowd by driving within four feet of the green on the 340 yard par 4 tenth. The 70 was his second straight sub-par round.MEadowbrook Pro Chick Harbert in 1949.Meadowbrook Pro Chick Harbert was two back at 210. Harbert shot a disappointing one over, with his sole birdie on the seventh. That left him tied for third at 210 and leading the 22 Michigan natives in the tournament. Horton Smith, the Detroit Golf Club pro who won the first and third Masters, shot 68 for a 54-hole-total of 212.Seven amateurs were still in the tournament on the weekend, led by Gene Dahlbender. The player from Atlanta shot a 70 on Saturday to finish in tie for third.Fans were disappointed to see Jimmy Demaret quit midway through his round on Saturday. Demaret, an early favorite, complained of being too tired to play. The heat and humidity apparently did him in. Demaret shot 76-71 the first two days and was enroute to an even worse Saturday with a 37 on the front nine. Later, he said that he planned to take a ten day rest in Pittsburgh.Hogan and Demaret would team up a week later in Michigan at the Battle Creek Country Club for an exhibition match. Hogan played with Eldon Briggs, pro at the the Marywood Country Club, while Demaret played with Buck White, pro at the Country Club. Demaret carded a 72, while Hogan shot a 66,After 54 holes of the Motor City Open, the leaderboard was:E.J. (Dutch) Harrison – 208Bobby Locke – 208Ben Hogan – 209Skip Alexander – 209Jim Turnesa – 210Chick Harbert – 210Elmer Reed – 211Bob Hamilton – 211Marty Furgol – 211Ky Laffoon – 212Horton Smith – 212Cary Middlecoff – 212Lloyd Mangrum – 212Sunday, July 4, 1948 – The Fourth Round Of The Motor City OpenBen Hogan played his way into a tie for first with EJ “Dutch” Harrison in the final round of the Motor City Open. A playoff was scheduled for the following day. Clip from the Detroit Free PressSunday reached a high of 91, under a threat of scattered thundershowers in later afternoon. The crowd was estimated at 15,000.Embed from Getty ImagesHarrison began the day as co-leader with Bobby Locke, while Ben Hogan was just one shot off the lead.A hot day putting netted Harrison a final round 67. He one putted each of the last six holes. Four were for birdie. In all, Harrison took just 26 putts for the round.Harrison’s 67 put him as the leader in the clubhouse by three strokes. Hogan, however was still on the course.Hogan’s final round consisted of thirteen pars and five birdies for a 32-34. Newspaper reports said he played sharply and was “never in trouble.” A report in the Nashville Tennessean called him “Mister Ice Water.”On the eighteenth, Hogan had a chance to win the tournament outright with a 35 foot putt. He came up 18 inches short.“I wanted that first putt — I wanted to win right there, or else be second,” Hogan said later. “I’m tired and wanted to rest Monday.Low round of the day belonged to Johnny Palmer. He shot a 31-34 with nine birdies, six pars and three bogeys. The North Carolina native used only twelve putts on the front nine and ended up with just 26. Thanks to the effort, Palmer squeezed into a tie for third.Locke, the co-leader after three, faltered in the final round, shooting an even par 71. The legendary putter three putted from 30 feet on the final green.Embed from Getty ImagesCary Middlecoff, who would go on to win three Motor City Opens, finished sixth with a 280 total.At the end of four days of the Motor City Open, the leaderboard looked like this:PlayerR1R2R3R4FinalEJ Harrison70677167275Ben Hogan70736666275Marty Furgol68737067278John Palmer68707565278Lloyd Mangrum72716967279Bobby Locke70687071279Cary Middlecoff70746868280Dick Metz72717068281Jim Turnesa71677271281Chick Harbert69697271281Skip Alexander71687073282Horton Smith71736870282Gene Dahlbender (a)68727072282Gene Webb71766869284John Barnum (a)71717270284Al Watrous76707069285Clayton Heafner70747170285Gene Sarazen69737173286Elmer Reed70697275286Al Smith75687271286Otey Crisman75736870286Sam Byrd73717072286Jim Milward75716971286Ellsworth Vines73747169287Bob Hamilton71736776287Bill Nary72707273287Walter Burkemo71717272287Fred Haas, Jr.75717272287Ralph Blomquist72737072287Ky Lafoon71697275287Ed Furgol77687171287Eric Monti75737168287Vic Ghezzi74717073288Eldon Briggs77737069289Craig Wood76727072290Joe Kirkwood, St.68776976290Otto Greiner75707174290Buck White71727572290Rudy Horvath (a)74737173291Bob Gadja73717572291Fred Hawkins74737274293Gib Sellers71757474294Joe Belfore75747075294Jimmy Johnson74747275294George Schoux73737079295Charles Harmon75767074295Tommy Shannon75757373296Ben Smith (a)79727273296Ed Meister (a)71767675298Frank Walsh81707276299Dick Talbot75737478300Lee Mackey73777476300Ed Ervastl (a)74777477302Jack Winney76757579305Scorecards for Hogan and Harrison on Sunday looked like this:Par Out45444343435Hogan Out44444233432Harrison Out45464242435Par In43534445436Hogan In43434444434Harrison In34523444332 Hogan66 Harrison67Monday, July 5, 1948 – Playoff At The Motor City OpenDetroit’s First Professional Golf Tournament – The Motor City OpenMonday found Hogan and Harrison in a playoff in front of 321 spectators. Admission was $2.50, and organizers decided not to honor the weeklong passes sold in advance of the tournament. It started at 2 pm.In a column on July 5, Hogan noted thatIt’s a funny thing about playoffs — scoring is usually close, but not usually as low as in other tournament rounds. They are anti-climatic affairs and it’s hard to build up the tension and pressure that you’ve felt for the tournament proper. I guess that comes from knowing that you already have a good-sized check sewed up.Hogan’s words were prophetic. He took a two-stroke lead on the first hole that he never relinquished. But newspaper accounts noted that neither Hogan nor Harrison played well. A reporter from the Benton Harbor News-Palladium called the playoff an “anti-climax to the four-day meet from the standpoints of both fan interest and links finesse.”The day’s highlight was from Hogan on the seventeenth. His drive clipped a tree and found rough. Hogan then hit a shot onto the green from 250 yards to get within three feet. A short putt gave him a birdie 4, while Harrison settled for a par.On the same hole, Harrison sent his five iron approach thirty yards to the right of the green. He chipped to fifteen feet, missed the putt then finished with a par.For Hogan, the seventeenth was redemption for his three putt on the sixteenth.Both men parred the final hole. Harrison had a 25-foot for birdie to extend the match, but missed wide by ten inches.The final resultPar Out45444343435Hogan Out35464253436Harrison Out55455344439Par In43534445436Hogan In53534454437Harrison In42534445435 Hogan73 Harrison74Hogan’s share of the purse was $2,600, while Harrison won $1,900. The players also received a cut of Monday’s gate: $321 ($160.50 each) of the $802.50 collected.After the tournament, Harrison went on to Columbus for another tournament.Hogan declared that he was “dead tired” after the match, and skippped the the Columbus tournament– and the subsequent event in Pittsburgh. Instead, he participated in several exhibitions, including the one in Battle Creek.Hogan was at that point the money leader for the season, having won $27,000.Embed from Getty ImagesLess than a year later, Hogan was nearly killed in an auto accident in Texas.In all, the Motor City Open would be contested eight times. Dr. Cary Middlecoff won three times. Lloyd Mangrum won twice.Motor City Open Winners1962 Bruce Crampton1960-61 No tournament1959 Mike Souchak1957-58 No tournament1956 Bob Rosburg1955 No tournament1954 Cary Middlecoff1953 No tournament1952 Cary Middlecoff1951 No tournament1950 Lloyd Mangrum1949 Cary Middlecoff, Lloyd Mangrum (co-winners)1948 Ben HoganIn 1949, Middlecoff and Mangrum were declared co-winners after an eleven hole, sudden-death playoff was called on account of darkness.Motor City Open Tournament Hosts1948, 1949, 1954, 1959 Meadowbrook Country Club (Northville, Michigan) 1950, 1952 Red Run Golf Club (Royal Oak, Michigan) 1956 Western Golf and Country Club (Redford, Michigan) 1962 Knollwood Country Club (West Bloomfield, Michigan)Sources:Detroit Free PressCoshocton, Ohio TribuneLansing State JournalBattle Creek EnquirerBaltimore SunPort Huron Times HeraldBoston GlobePhiladelphia InquirerEscanaba Daily PressBenton Harbor News-PalladiumTraverse City Record-EagleDetroit’s First Pro Golf Tour Event – The Motor City Open was first published on GolfBlogger.Com...
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Novi’s Ben Smith Earns Top Seed for Match Play in the Michigan AmateurJune 19, 2019Novi’s Ben Smith Earns Top Seed for Match Play in the Michigan Amateur BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Novi’s Ben Smith feels all the parts of his golf game are coming together this week. The Georgia Tech golfer will have the No. 1 seed going forward after shooting a 5-under 65 Wednesday for medalist honors in the 108th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland at Oakland Hills Country Club’s North Course. Smith, with a two-round total of 7-under 133, will top a match play bracket of 64 golfers pared down from a starting field of 156. Six rounds of matches over three days will determine a champion by Saturday afternoon. Thursday play will determine a celebrated “Sweet 16.” “Match play is nothing new for me – I’ve played a lot of it,” said Smith, a two-time Michigan Junior Amateur Champion. “I’m looking forward to it. Being the No. 1 seed or the No. 64 seed doesn’t mean that much really when you start a match. It’s nice to play well for two days, but we have a lot of golf left to play.” Smith, who will have his name engraved on the Chuck Kocsis Trophy as medalist, will play in the first match Thursday morning at 7:15 a.m. against Carter Housler of Lansing, who was the last golfer in via a nine-golfer playoff at 11-over 151 for that one final spot in the bracket. The Country Club of Lansing golfer was one of two players who made birdie on the first playoff hole, and then he won the playoff with a par on the second playoff hole. James Piot of Canton, another former Michigan Junior Amateur champion and a Michigan State University golfer, took the No. 2 seed after shooting 68 for 3-under 137, and Bryce Messner of Howell, who recently graduated from Grand Valley State University, was next with a 70 for 138. Four golfers tied at 139 including first-round leader Logan Price of Grand Blanc and Florida Gulf Coast University, who shot 75 on the heels of his record tying 64 from the first round, Benjamin Balen of Freeland and Concordia University, who shot 68, Allendale High School golfer August Meekhof of Eastmanville, who shot 68, and Scott Sparks of Shelby Township and University of Detroit Mercy, who shot 70. Nick Gunthorpe of East Lansing, who shot 71, Cameron Lippoldt of Midland and Northwood University, who shot 72, and Dan Ellis of East Lansing, the assistant men’s golf coach at Michigan State, who shot 70, each finished at even-par 140, and 2014 Michigan Amateur Champion Henry Do of Auburn Hills shot 69 and was among the group at 141. Defending champion Beau Breault of Highland, who just graduated from Eastern Michigan University, made it into the bracket easily with a 71 for 143. The 19-year-old Smith was on pace to better the amateur course record of 64 before making bogeys on his two final holes – Nos. 8 and 9. “I played really well for the first 16 holes,” he said. “I started hot on my front nine, the back nine, with three birdies pretty quick, and then started hot again on the back nine with three more birdies.” He said the last two bogeys were the result of two drives that missed the fairway right. “I had a hard lip-out on 8 and then had to get up and down for bogey on 9,” he said. “I just put myself in spots off the tee that were hard to recover from.” Smith said he struggled some during his college season, but for the last couple of weeks has started to play very well. “This week it has started to come together,” he said. “I started hitting the ball well yesterday and today I hit it really well and the putter started to roll, too.” Smith likes the North Course and has been a student of Oakland Hills’ Director of Instruction David VanLoozen for over 10 years. “This course sets up for my game and I know it fairly well,” he said. “It would be awesome to make a run for the W, but you have to go match by match. That’s what match play is all about.” Piot, 20, said he had a round of extremely consistent ball-striking, and he was pleased to see his putts rolling well despite not falling as much as he would have liked. “I had rough week last week in a tournament putting so I wanted to get out this week with a positive mindset and watch some putts roll end over end,” he said. “I felt I accomplished that. I’m looking forward to match play. I’m a big fan of it. It’s a completely different game. You play one guys instead of the field. It takes some stress off at times, and then adds some on at times. It’s fun. You just have to focus on one match at a time.”RESULTS, MATCH PLAY BRACKET: Find complete scoring and the bracket at gam.org...
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2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship PreviewJune 19, 20192019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Preview2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship PreviewDates: June 20 – 23, 2019Where: Chaska, MinnesotaCourse: Hazeltine National Golf Club, 36-36–72, 6,807 yards Field size: 1562018 champion: Sung Hyung ParkPurse: $3.85 Million ($577,500/winner) Format: 72-hole stroke playKMPG Women’s PGA Championship TV TimesTV TIMES (all times Eastern)Thursday, June 20 – 6-9 p.m. on Golf ChannelFriday, June 21 – 6-9 p.m. on Golf ChannelSaturday, June 22 – 3-6 p.m. on NBCSunday, June 23 – 3-6 p.m. on NBCThe KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Celebrates Five YearsThe partnership between the LPGA, the PGA of America and KPMG launched in 2014 and has significantly elevated the status of the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. In addition, the partnership focuses on developing, advancing and empowering women on and off the golf course. to develop, advance and empower women on and off the golf course with events such as the KPMG Women’s Leadership Summit and the KPMG Future Leaders Program.How The 2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Was WonIn 2018, Sung Hyun Park outlasted a three-person playoff, defeating So Yeon Ryu and Nasa Hataoka on the second extra hole to win her second major title and fourth career victory on the LPGA Tour. Park rolled in birdie putts on both playoff holes, the second one dropping in at the par 4, 16th hole.Hazeltine Sets The Stage For Major Championship MomentsMajor championship golf returns to Minnesota this week at Hazeltine National Golf Club for the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. Hazeltine’s championships include2016 Ryder Cup2002, 2009 PGA Championships1970, 1991 US Open1966, 1977 US Women’s Open1983 US Senior Open2006 US Amateur1999 NCAA Division 1 Men’s ChampionshipKPMG Women’s PGA Championship Boasts Impressive FieldThe 2019 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship will again deliver one of the strongest fields in women’s golf, with 99 of the top 100 active members on the LPGA Official Money List.Defending Champion Sung Hyun Park is joined by eight past Women’s PGA Champions: Laura Davies (1994, 1996); Karrie Webb (2001); Anna Nordqvist (2009); Cristie Kerr (2010); Shanshan Feng (2012); Inbee Park (2013, ’14, ’15); Brooke Henderson (2016) and Danielle Kang (2017). Henderson captured last weekend’s Meijer LPGA Classic, which was her ninth career Tour victory. It made her the winningest Canadian golfer on either the PGA or LPGA Tours. There are 29 Major Champions, who own a combined 52 major titles, in the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship field: Na Yeon Choi; In Gee Chun; Paula Creamer; Laura Davies; Shanshan Feng; Georgia Hall; Brooke Henderson; Eun Hee Ji; Ariya Jutanugarn; Danielle Kang; Cristie Kerr; Hyo Joo Kim; In-Kyung Kim; Jin Young Ko; Lydia Ko; Brittany Lang; Stacy Lewis; Pernilla Lindberg; Jeongeun Lee6; Catriona Matthew; Anna Nordqvist; Inbee Park; Sung Hyun Park; Morgan Pressel; So Yeon Ryu; Angela Stanford; Lexi Thompson; Karrie Webb and Michelle Wie.Women’s Majors Are Highly CompetitiveDating to the 2017 Ricoh British Women’s Open, nine different players have won the LPGA’s nine major championships played. Six of the nine were first-time major champions. ChampionMajor1Jeongeun Lee62019 U.S. Women’s Open2Jin Young Ko2019 ANA Inspiration3Angela Stanford2018 The Evian Championship4Georgia Hall2018 Ricoh Women’s British Open5Sung Hyun Park2018 KPMG Women’s PGA Championship6Ariya Jutanugarn2018 U.S. Women’s Open7Pernilla Lindberg2018 ANA Inspiration8Anna Nordqvist2017 The Evian Championship9In-Kyung Kim2017 Ricoh Women’s British OpenLast Five Champions and Runners Up2018: Sung Hyun Park, 278 (-10); defeated So Yeon Ryu with birdie on the second extra hole, Nasa Hataoka eliminated with par on the first playoff hole2017: Danielle Kang, 271 (-13); Brooke Henderson, 272 (-12)2016: Brooke Henderson, 278 (-6); defeated Lydia Ko with birdie on first playoff hole2015: Inbee Park, 273 (-19); Sei Young Kim, 278 (-14)2014: Inbee Park, 277 (-11); defeated Brittany Lincicome with par on first playoff holeKPMG Women’s PGA Championship Tournament Records18 holes: 63, Patty Sheehan, third round, 1984; Meg Mallon, third round, 1999; Kelly Shon, second round, 201736 holes: 131, Karrie Webb, 200154 holes: 199, Annika Sorenstam, 200472 holes: 267 (-17), Betsy King, 1992The KPMG Future Leaders Program“It’s so hard to believe this is the fifth year,” Lynne Doughtie, U.S. Chairman and CEO, KPMG, said during a ‘Celebrating 5 Years’ press conference at Hazeltine National on Tuesday. “For KPMG, this was really all about our desire to develop and advance and empower women, and to be able to use the platform of golf to do that where we could elevate women on and off the golf course. It was just a perfect combination and this has definitely been a team effort with the PGA of America and the LPGA to bring together something that is an amazing championship but also so much more than that.“Tomorrow we’re transforming the pavilion into the Women’s Leadership Summit where we bring together 300 women who have been hand-picked by their CEOs from some of the leading organizations in the world to help them get to the C-suite, and also do it as part of golf. And then the most special part of all of what we do, and I’m looking at them right now, these amazing young women who are part of the KPMG Future Leaders Program where we’re able to pay it forwards and use the proceeds of everything we’re doing here to give these amazing young women the opportunity with college scholarships … so, putting all of that together I think we have a lot, all of us, to be proud of when we look back at some of those initial conversations five years ago.”The Women’s Leadership Summit brings together leaders in business, politics, sports and the media to inspire the next generation of women leaders.KPMG U.S. Chairman and CEO Lynne DoughtieFormer Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza RiceFIFA Women’s World Cup Champion Mia HammCathy Bessant – Chief Operations and Technology Officer, Bank of AmericaBrian Cornell – Chairman & CEO, TargetPeter Grauer – Chairman, BloombergAlison Levine – New York Times Bestselling Author & Leadership AdvisorSuzy Whaley – President, PGA of America. Net proceeds from the Championship and Summit fund the KPMG Future Leaders Program. This Program affords top female high school seniors across the country the opportunity to enhance their personal growth through college scholarships, a leadership development retreat at Stanford University, a mentoring relationship with a woman business leader, and an introduction to golf.For PGA of America President Suzy Whaley, the KPMG Women’s PGA Championship is all about giving the game’s best female players the opportunity to shine on the grandest stage possible – classic U.S. courses such as Hazeltine this week, Aronimink in 2020 and Congressional in 2022. “We all wanted to showcase the best females athletes in the world in a way that they deserve on network television, on championship venues that typically only hosted male championships,” Whaley said. “We wanted to deliver an experience to them that was tremendous but also to showcase women’s golf in a way that compelled others to play the game. We wanted to invite others to play the game and do it through watching amazing worldly role models on the LPGA Tour, and we’re thrilled to be part of that. When I lift that trophy on Sunday in honor of the 2019 champion, it’s really in honor of all the women that play on this Tour that represent the game of golf in such an incredible way.”The KPMG Women’s PGA Championship Preview is via LPGA and PGA of America...
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PRICE IS RIGHT: Grand Blanc’s Logan Price Shoots 64 to Lead Michigan AmateurJune 18, 2019Logan Price Shoots 64 To Lead Michigan AmateurPRICE IS RIGHT: Grand Blanc’s Logan Price Shoots 64 to Lead Michigan Amateur BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Grand Blanc’s Logan Price had his best start to a round ever, shot his lowest score ever, tied the best score ever recorded by an amateur on the course he was playing and led the 108th Michigan Amateur Championship through one round Tuesday. Price, 21 and a Florida Gulf Coast University golfer, shot 6-under 64 on the North Course at Oakland Hills Country Club and led Austin Carter of Port Sanilac by two shots in the state championship presented by Carl’s Golfland. Price tied the competitive course record for amateurs held by Oakland Hills members Jim Graham and Scott Strickland and was one off the best score previously recorded on the North – a 63 by the PGA Tour’s Matt Kuchar in a 2007 British Open qualifier hosted by the club. For starters, Price chipped in for a birdie from just off the back of the green on the par 3 No. 10, his starting hole in the morning wave. Next, from the middle of the fairway and 195 yards out on the 460-yard par 4 No. 11, his 5-iron second shot bounced once on the green and went in the hole for an eagle-2. He wasn’t done yet. On the next hole, No. 12, a 516-yard par 5, he made another birdie and was 4-under through three holes. He finished the round with the eagle, five birdies and just one bogey. “I’ve been 4-under through four before, but this was the best start yet,” he said. “I was in the fairway all day and missed only two greens. I think of myself as a good ball-striker and I had a good day. I missed two short putts, but the putter was warm most of the day and I figure the eagle cancelled one of those missed ones out.” Carter, a recent graduate of Saginaw Valley State University with plans to turn professional next month, had four birdies in what he called a stress-free 66. “I’m coming off a tie for 22nd at the Michigan Open and I’ve been working to get my game to peak at the right time,” he said. “I’ve put in a lot of work, and I want to keep mistakes off the card. I normally make enough birdies to have a good round. I want to keep bogeys off the card like today.” Four golfers shot 68 to land four off the lead, including Ben Smith of Novi, a Georgia Tech golfer, Cameron Lippoldt of Midland, a Northwood University golfer, Baker Stevenson of Hartland, a Nichols State golfer, and Bryce Messner of Howell, a Grand Valley State University golfer. Six golfers were at 69 including last year’s runner-up, Anthony Sorentino of Shelby Township and 2018 GAM Champion James Piot of Canton and Michigan State’s golf team. Andrew Walker of Battle Creek and MSU, last year’s record-setting stroke play medalist, opened with a 70 and defending champion Beau Breault of Hartland, a recent graduate of Eastern Michigan, shot 72. The field of 156 golfers play 18 more holes of stroke play Wednesday to determine a cut to the low 64 golfers to seed the match play bracket. Three days of match play with two rounds of matches each day through Saturday will determine a champion. Price, who transferred last year from Tiffin University in Ohio to Gulf Coast where he will have junior eligibility in the fall, was confused when he watched his approach shot from the fairway on the eagle at 11. “It disappeared and I thought it must have gone off the back of the green,” he said. “But it was in and I feel pretty good about how I played the rest of the way. ” The recent winner of the Genesee All-Star Golf Classic, a Flint area amateur championship, Price said the 6-under relationship to par tied his best round ever, but the 64 number was a best score. “I was 11-under for three rounds in the Genesee All-Star so my game is moving in the right direction,” he said. “Being in Florida for school and playing year around has helped me dial in my game.” Carter, 23, said his game went away during his college years. “I had success in high school, won a D2 individual state title, and I’m trying to get the game back,” he said. “I’m going to turn pro after playing what I call the Michigan majors, the Open and this and my goal is to have my game ready for (Web.com qualifying). I’m going to give it three years, maybe more depending on how it goes and the support I have. If professional golf doesn’t work out, I have my degree (business administration) to fall back on.”RESULTS: Complete scores at gam.org...
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