PLAY THE OPEN: Deadline to Enter Hall Financial Michigan Open is May 11

PLAY THE OPEN: Deadline to Enter Hall Financial Michigan Open is May 11

TRAVERSE CITY – Those planning to test themselves against the state’s top golfers in the Hall Financial Michigan Open Championship presented by Turtle Creek Casino and Caesars Sportsbook take note: The deadline to enter is Wednesday, May 11, at 5 p.m.

  The championship will be played June 13-16 on The Bear course at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa.

  Registration for the nine qualifiers is on the Michigan Section PGA website (michiganpga.com). The entry fees are $180 for amateur golfers, $205 for a Michigan PGA Professional and $355 for a non-PGA professional.

  The 105th edition of the Michigan Open Championship in March welcomed Hall Financial as a new title sponsor with Turtle Creek Casino and Caesars Sportsbook signing on as presenting sports.

   Eligibility for the championship is open to all male golfers who have established and maintained a domicile in the state of Michigan 30 days prior to the championship, or any Michigan Section member in good standing having been employed for no less than thirty 30 days at a recognized golf facility prior to the championship 

 The qualifiers by date and site: May 16 – Thornapple Pointe, Grand Rapids May 17 – Country Club of Lansing; May 17 – Pheasant Run, Canton; May 19 – PGA Member Only Qualifier at Country Club of Jackson;  May 24 – Forest Lake Country Club, Bloomfield Hills; May 25 – Forest Akers West, East Lansing; May 26 – Atlas Valley, Grand Blanc;  June 5 – Black Lake Golf Club; June 11 – (3) Spot Qualifier, Traverse City Golf & CC (may be used as a first or second attempt).

 The Michigan Section PGA annually conducts the state golf championship, which this year is being hosted by Grand Traverse Resort and Spa for the 33rd time and contested for the 30th time on The Bear course, a celebrated Jack Nicklaus design.

  Last June on The Bear, Bradley Smithson of Grand Rapids, a Michigan State University golfer, used playoff dramatics and three consecutive birdies to win the 104th Open. He was just the sixth amateur in history to win the state championship, and Ann Arbor teaching pro Patrick Wilkes-Krier, the runner-up, received the first-place money of $12,000 from the $80,000 purse for professionals. This year’s purse has not been announced.

  First played in 1916, the Michigan Open annually attracts the top professional and amateur golfers in the state and its list of winners includes golf legends Walter Hagen, Al Watrous, Chuck Kocsis, Horton Smith and Dave Hill, and more recent Michigan Golf Hall of Fame inductees Randy Erskine, Buddy Whitten, Lynn Janson, Jeff Roth, Tom Gillis and Scott Hebert. Recent PGA Tour winner Ryan Brehm is also a three-time winner of the historic James D. Standish Jr. trophy.