Oakland Hills and the Detroit Golf Club will host 184 two-man teams of golfers on Monday, May 11 for the sixth Golf Association of Michigan Senior/Mid-Am Team Championships. Each team will play 19 holes of four-ball (best-ball) and 18 holes of foursomes (alternate shot) in an effort to make the championship finals in late August at Red Run Golf Club in Royal Oak.
Both the North and South courses at Oakland and the North and South at Detroit Golf Club will be used for the event. All four courses are Donald Ross designs.
The event is presented by OmniKinetics
Greg Reynolds and Casey Baker, the winners of three consecutive championships are in the field. Reynolds is a former U.S. Senior Amateur champion, and Baker, a vice-president at Carl’s Golfland. Last year, the team won with a four-ball score of 6-under 66 on the North Course at Detroit Golf Club in the morning, and shot even-par 68 on the South Course in the afternoon foursomes round for a 6-under 134 total. Jim Lewis of Novi and Bryan Carpenter of Allen Park shot 67 in foursomes and 71 in four-ball for 137 and second place.
Storied Oakland Hills has hosted sixteen major championships, including six US Opens. The club opened in 1916. Walter Hagen was Oakland Hills’ first head professional. Oakland Hills’ staff currently is headed by General Manager Chris Berlin, PGA Professional Pat Croswell, Superintendent Steve Cook and Golf Services Manager Bob Byerlein.
Detroit Golf Club is less well known on the national scene, but is no secret to area golfers. It’s the only club in Detroit city limits, and features two Ross-designed courses that roll across 219 wooded acres around the traditional Old-English style clubhouse.
The club was founded in 1899 on 45 rented acres of what was then farmland at Woodward Ave., and Six Mile Rd. A six-hole course soon became nine, and in 1913 Ross was commissioned to build the two existing golf courses that have been host to many GAM events and other championships over the years.
DGC’s staff is headed by PGA Professional Jon Gates, Golf Services Manager Bill Cloven, Club Manager Todd Beals and Superintendent Kevin Welp.
I wish I had the game to play in an event like this. Both Oakland Hills and Detroit Golf Club are on my “How can I figure out a way to play these courses?” list.
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