Entry Deadline For 101st Michigan Open Is May 16

Entry Deadline For 101st Michigan Open Is May 16

  ACME —  In 2018 it’s back to The Bear for the 101st Michigan Open Championship June 11-14, but the entry deadline for the state’s elite golfers is next week.

  Entry details and information are at michiganpgagolf.com, and the deadline to be part of the return to The Bear is Wednesday, May 16, at 5 p.m.

  A field of 156 starting golfers will be determined after entrants not in the exempt categories play in one of seven qualifiers presented around the state between May 22 and June 3. A special three-spot qualifier will also be held on June 9 at Traverse City Golf & Country Club, which can be used as a first or second attempt.

   Grand Traverse Resort and Spa hosted the state’s best golfers in the storied Michigan Open Championship 28 times between 1981 and 2008, and in the last 25 of those years The Bear course helped identify the champion.

  The 2018 championship is being presented by Yamaha Golf Cars Plus and MercyElite Sports Performance with additional support from Pepsi and Traverse City Tourism.

  Matt Thompson, the head golf professional at Marshall Country Club, is the defending champion. The Battle Creek native and former University of Michigan golfer made five birdies on the back nine at Prestwick Village Golf Club in Highland last year to win the historic 100th Michigan Open by six shots over 2013 champion Tom Werkmeister of Grandville.

  The field is traditionally made up of the top Michigan PGA professionals, touring professionals who maintain residency in the state and the top amateur players.

   Many of the state’s top golfers are excited about returning to The Bear for the first time in 10 years.

    “I think it goes back to all the great memories they have from when the tournament was played up there for all those years,” Justin Phillips, tournament director for the Michigan PGA said. “They took their families there and made it a vacation in Traverse City. It’s a great championship venue.”

   Tom McGee, the director of golf at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, said the resort is excited the best golfers in Michigan are coming back, too.

  “Everybody at the resort is excited to have the Michigan Open coming back, and I’ve heard from a lot of the PGA professionals and other very good golfers who are excited it is back as well,” he said.

  “The great challenge of The Bear is one thing, but also a lot of people feel it is really the home of the Michigan Open. To have it back here is exciting for them, and they remember making it a vacation for their families while they are playing in a great tournament.”

  The Michigan Open was first played in 1916 and won by Leo Diegel, who also played in the inaugural Ryder Cup matches and the first Masters Tournament in Augusta, Ga. Many of golf’s most famous have their names listed on the Michigan Open’s James Standish Trophy including Walter Hagen, Chuck Kocsis, Al Watrous, Horton Smith, Walter Burkemo and John Barnum.

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Learn more about Grand Traverse Resort at grandtraverseresort.com.

Learn more about the Michigan PGA and the championship at michiganpgagolf.com.

via Greg Johnson