in this issue - michigan golfermichigangolfer.com/summer06/summer06.pdf · park. or arnold palmer,...

3 Chuck Kocsis– The Best There Ever Wasby Jack Berry

6 Michigan Golf Hall of Fame- Class of 2006by Jack Berry

9 Beeches Golf Club by Kelly Hill

10 Small Budgets, Big Coursesby Bernice Phillips

13 Windsor’s Ambassador GC Raises the Barby Thad Gutowski

17 Michigan Golfer Television– Five Years and 250 Shows Laterby Art McCafferty

22 Youth Does Not Necessarily Have To Be Served: Davies Beats Brehm at Michigan Am by Jack Berry

24 Slice of Lifeby Terry Moore

25 GLSP Television Schedule

MICHIGAN GOLFER

Publisher/EditorArt McCafferty

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Editor EmeritusTerry Moore

Managing EditorKelly Hill

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Services, Inc.

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WritersSusan BairleyL’anse BannonMike BeckmanVanessa BellJack BerryCraig BrassRick Coates

Jason DeeganTom DoakMike Duff

Thad GutowskiMarty HenwoodGreg Johnson

Bradley S. Klein

Vartan KupelianBrian Manning

Jim NeffNorm Sinclair

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Gary HolawayJanina Parrott Jacobs

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In This IssueV O L U M E 24 • S U M M E R 2 0 0 6 • N U M B E R 2

Cover: Chuck Kocsis. Photo from Michigan Golfer archives.

Windsor’s Ambassador GC, Hole No. 15 – p. 13

2 S P R I N G 2 0 0 6 • M I C H I G A N G O L F E R M A G A Z I N E

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Sure, we knew he was regarded asthe greatest golfer in Michigan histo-ry and the Golf Association ofMichigan affirmed that by naminghim Golfer of the Century. AndKocsis, who died May 30 at the ageof 93, played just about the entirecentury.

Not only did Kocsis win morethan anyone, he did it over thegreatest span. He was 17 in 1930when he crushed three-time cham-pion James D. Standish Jr., 9 and7, in the 36-hole final for the firstof his record six MichiganAmateur championships and thenhe shocked the national golf worldwhen he knocked off “GreatestGame Ever Played” FrancisOuimet in the first round of theU.S. Amateur at Merion Golf Club.

Kocsis nailed his second giantof the game when he was 18. Hedefeated 1927 U.S. Open and 1931British Open champion TommyArmour in the 1931 MichiganOpen playoff, the first of his threeMichigan Open titles.

He played on Walker Cup teamsin three different decades, 1938,1949 and 1957, was low amateurin the 1934 and 1937 U.S. Opensand competed in nine Masters tour-

naments. He was runnerup toHarvie Ward in the 1956 U.S.Amateur.

And he was 60 years old whenhe decided to enter the 1973United States Amateur at theInverness Club in Toledo. Sixty. Ina championship dominated by col-legiate stars on their way to thePGA Tour. Gary Koch, BillKratzert, Danny Edwards, AndyBean, John Fought and CraigStadler were in the field.

But Kocsis, who didn’t reallylike match play, won his first twomatches, 4-2 and 6-4, and lost toStewart Alexander (who’d elimi-nated Bean), 1-up, when Alexanderholed a long putt on the 18thgreen. It was an incredible per-formance by the Red Run GolfClub super senior.

When I think of Kocsis I thinkof the title of a John Wayne movie,The Quiet Man. Or an advertisingline, The Quiet Assassin. As wellas being Michigan’s greatest golferhe also was Michigan’s MostUnassuming Champion.

Actually, he was something of aboring golfer. He wasn’t a TigerWoods or Phil Mickelson, hittingshots out of the woods. Or Seve

Ballesteros, hitting from the carpark. Or Arnold Palmer, slashingand crashing.

Chuck played a game unfamil-iar to most folks, and one we’d sellour souls for — fairways andgreens, like a metronome.

Interestingly, Byron Nelson,relating the tale of his 11 straightvictories in 1945, wrote “I hadpeople tell me it was boring towatch me play…people get tired ofthat. They want to see you hit it inthe woods, a bunker or water, andthen knock it out and make bunch-es of birdies. My way was fair-ways and greens. Keep it straight,keep it safe and capitalize on asmany birdie putts as possible.”

The two great fairways andgreens proponents met in a roundat Red Run and Kocsis shot 32 onthe front to Nelson’s 34. Nelsonput his arm around Kocsis as theywent to the 10th tee and said “Noamateur’s going to beat me.”Kocsis responded with a 34 backnine for 66. Nelson shot 30 for 64.

Bob McMasters joined the RedRun caddie ranks in 1943 andstarted caddying for Kocsis in thelate 1940s.

“He won the Michigan Open in

Chuck Kocsis – Chuck Kocsis – The Best There Ever WThe Best There Ever Wasas

By Jack Berry

Looking back over Chuck Kocsis’scareer, his record is staggering.

5 S P R I N G 2 0 0 6 • M I C H I G A N G O L F E R M A G A Z I N E

1945 and he was a legend,” saidMcMasters who grew up tobecome one of Kocsis’s closestfriends. “But he’d play with any-body at the club, choppers andgood players.

“He won the club invitational10 times and no time did he havea partner who was better than a 10handicap. I did like to caddie forthe guests in the invitational –they usually were big tippers.

“Chuck was thrifty, he wasn’t abig tipper and caddies were think-ing about buying cars and takingout girls and they were lookingfor big tips. But I liked caddyingfor him. It was easy. He’d hit 15,16 greens and never asked whatclub to use. He wasn’t really com-municative. You followed the threerules of caddying: show up, keepup and shut up.

“I was getting into playing andwatching him was like getting a les-son, especially bunker shots. He’dget his shag bag and we’d go out to16 as long as no one was there andevery shot was around the cup. Itwas easy to pick them up.”

Red Run’s roster was filled withlow handicappers and it wasknown for big money games butMcMasters said Kocsis neverplayed for money although othersbet on him.

Red Run members, includingKocsis, started the 72-holeMichigan Medal Play tournamentin the late 1950s. Kocsis enteredsix times. He won each time andsome grumbled why bother toenter if Kocsis was going to winall the time.

But Kocsis didn’t play a lot oforganized senior golf. He won theInternational Seniors atGleneagles, Scotland, three timesand once used the same ball the

whole way, just for the kick of it.“I’m mad he didn’t play senior

golf,” said Glenn Johnson, five-time Michigan Amateur championand a Michigan Golf Hall of Famemember as is Kocsis. “He had suchan amazing record that he could’vewon a lot more in senior golf andthere are a lot of stroke play tour-naments.

“I beat Chuck twice in teamevents. Bill Prew and I were part-ners and Chuck was playing a 27-handicapper. I was just gettinginto golf and he looked at me onthe first tee and I think hethought he’d give me a lesson.He birdied the first five holes.But we combined for eight underpar and they were seven under,all on Kocsis birdies.

“The other time he was playingwith Jimmy Nick who hadn’t donea thing all day but he holed a bigbirdie on 17 and they were cele-brating. But then I holed a 20-foot-er on top of him and we eventuallywon on the first extra hole.

“I was second to him in theMichigan Medal Play at Western –he won by eight shots,” Johnsonsaid, laughing.

Kocsis kept playing, though,right up to the end and was a lunchregular at Pine Trace and Red Run.McMasters frequently got him toplay at top courses out of town.

“Charlie was quiet if there weremore than six people around but ifit was just a few of you he’d regaleyou with stories. One time wewere set to go to Columbus andplay Muirfield Village. The weath-er seemed iffy but I called ClaytonHoskins, a director of the WesternGolf Association (McMasters is apast WGA president), and he said‘C’mon, we don’t baby thiscourse.’ We got there and it saidCourse Closed. I told the pro I’dbrought my friend Chuck Kocsisand we were told you don’t babythe course. The pro said ‘We don’t.But Jack Nicklaus just called andsaid ‘Close it.’

“Just then a guy sitting in achair said “I know that name(Kocsis). It was Phil Rodgerswho’d been working with Nicklauson his short game. Chuck andRodgers talked for an hour,”McMasters said.

The Quiet Man’s record spokevolumes. MG

Bill Shelton, Chuck Kocsis and Jack Berry in the Michigan Golfer Television Studio

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6 S U M M E R 2 0 0 6 • M I C H I G A N G O L F E R M A G A Z I N E

The 2006 class of theMichigan Golf Hall of Fameraised hall membership to

74 and covered a wide spectrum ofthe game, from the professionaltour to the highest rank of amateurgolf to a dedicated club profession-al and an administrator and awoman trailblazer.

The inductees at the May 21 din-ner at Indianwood Golf and CountryClub in Lake Orion were Ray Bolo,Tom Chisholm, John Grace, JohnMorse and Jeanne Myers.

Myers was the fifthinductee and left thelarge audience in the

club’s Great Hall leaving withlaughs and smiles as she relatedstories of her earliest times as arules official.

“The time is 99 percent bore-dom and 1 percent fear,” saidMyers who scored a 97 in the first3-1/2 hour rules examination.

She was one of the first womento officiate a men’s tournament andwhen she got a radio call for adecision she headed in her golf cartto the spot and when the playerssaw her coming “He said blankety-blank they sent me a blankety-blank woman,” Myers recalled,

laughing now.“He wanted relief,” she said. “I

looked, said ‘No relief,’ and gotback in the cart and got out ofthere.”

Myers since has been a Rulesofficial in more than 60 nationalchampionships including themen’s and women’s U.S. Opensand she has worked numerousMichigan PGA and GolfAssociation of Michigan tourna-ments.

“Now I’m known as MeanJeanne,” she said, laughing.

A former women’s champion atOakland Hills, Myers is the firstwoman to become president of theGAM and was on the USGAWomen’s Committee for 13 years,chairing it for two years. She willcaptain the American team in theWorld Amateur Championship inSouth Africa this fall and waswith the winning American CurtisCup team in England in 2004.

Myers authored the USGA’sEquitable Stroke Control proce-dure and helped set up the Slopecourse rating system. She hasrated more than 100 Michigancourses.

Michigan Golf Michigan Golf Hall of Fame –Hall of Fame –Class of 2006Class of 2006

By Jack Berry

Jeanne Myers

Tom Chisholm

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Chisholm also is a past GAMpresident who has devotedyears of volunteer service

on USGA and GAM committeesand was a member of the USGAExecutive Committee. He has beenespecially dedicated to workingwith the Golf Course Superinten-dents Association of America tocombat criticism that golf coursesjeopardize the environment. Heworked on funding turfgrassresearch at Michigan StateUniversity and MSU now has thelargest turfgrass information file inthe world.

Chisholm served on both theUSGA Green Committee (as chair-man) and the Museum and LibraryCommittee.

The Indianwood ceremonywas something of a home-coming for Bolo who was

an assistant professional at the clubbefore being appointed profession-al at Western where he served 37years, a length of service at oneclub rarely matched. Bolo wasknown for fostering junior golf atthe historic Donald Ross-designedcourse. He now lives in SouthCarolina.

While Bolo tended to golf’shome fires, Grace and Morseplayed across the nation and acrossthe oceans after outstandingcareers in Michigan. Both won theMichigan Amateur, Grace in 1971and Morse in 1978.

Grace was born in Texas butmoved to Michigan whenhe was 12 and remained

here for 14 years until returning toTexas. While in Michigan he wonthe GAM Championship threetimes, the Horton Smith andMichigan Medal Play. Grace was a

member of the University of Texasgolf team, always one of thenation’s best, and his nationalrecord as an amateur includes play-ing in 35 USGA championships,from junior to mid-amateur andsenior topped by reaching thefinal of the 1974 Amateur champi-onship where he lost to Jerry Pate,2-1.

In 1975 Grace played on thewinning U.S. Walker Cup team onthe Old Course at St. Andrewswith Pate, Jay Haas, Craig Stadler,Curtis Strange, George Burns, BillCampbell, Vinny Giles, GaryKoch and Dick Siderowf.

Grace has won the Texas Openand Senior Open, turned profes-sional as a senior and played fouryears on the European SeniorTour, winning its championship in2000. He applied last year forreinstatement as an amateur.

Morse grew up inMarshall, went to theUniversity of Michigan,

won the Big Ten championship in1980 and was an All-American.He was unsuccessful in a bid forPGA Tour card so he went toAsia, Australia and Europe. Hewon the Australian Open andAustralian Masters against fieldsthat included Greg Norman, IanBaker-Finch and Craig Parry, wonthe Air New Zealand Open andafter two years playing in Europe,returned to the U.S. and joined theNike Tour and won the NewEngland Classic.

His Nike Tour performancepropelled him to the PGA Tourand victory in the Hawaiian Openand he was in the hunt for the1996 U.S. Open and finishedfourth at Oakland Hills. Morsereturned to hometown Marshall

and served as professional at theclub where he grew up, MarshallCountry Club, from 1999-2002.Now his eye is on getting ready forthe Champions Tour. MG

Ray Bolo

John Grace

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What began as a simple,flat, 210-acre piece ofland four miles east of

South Haven is now BeechesGolf Club.

Six families from the SouthHaven Area created Beeches GolfClub, LLC and, with Jason Fargoacting as the managing partner,hired W. Bruce Matthews III todesign the club’s golf course.

“It was basically a flat piece ofland to start with,” Matthews said,“but it has been a great group of

guys to work with. They are goinginto the market with their headsup. Their expectations are correctand they have a good, medium-range golf course.”

The front nine holes of the golfcourse occupy the west end of theproperty while the back nine sits tothe east. “The west half of theproperty was dune sand, so wemoved it around a little and let thewind work on it,” Matthews said.“The east half is all clay, so that’swater.” According to Matthews,

water comes into play on six of thefinal nine holes.

“It is an exciting golf course,”Matthews said.

While the club’s first nine holeswas scheduled to open in May, thesecond nine is slated for a Julyopening.Beeches Golf Club also features 26residential building sites, withviews of the golf course. The prop-erty also has space remaining foranother nine holes of golf and anadditional 50 home sites. MG

By Kelly HillManaging Editor

Beeches Golf ClubBeeches Golf Club

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Small Budgets, Small Budgets, Big CoursesBig Courses

The new Beeches Golf Club,designed by W. BruceMatthews III of Matthews

Golf Design and reviewed in thisissue, is yet another example ofhow the firm can produce a memo-rable course with a small budget.Matthews learned about golfdesign from his grandfather andnamesake W. Bruce Matthews

(http://michigangolfer.tv/2001shows/show16/) and hisuncle, Jerry Matthews of NaturalCourse Design (http://natural-coursedesign.com). In 1990,Matthews broke loose from hisuncle and started up his own firm.

During the highflying 90’swhen hundreds of golf courses

were being built throughout thisstate, the Matthews firm got its fairshare. However, big budget courseslike Egypt Valley, The Fortress,Thoroughbred, Bay Harbor,Ravines, Thousand Oaks, St Ivesand Black Lake went elsewhere.Matthews’ designs were solid, butthe land he worked in many caseslacked the drama of other courses.

By Bernice Phillips

Emerald Vale Hole No. 10

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Then in 1998, Hidden River Golf& Casting Club opened and it wasa smash hit. The land had someunique features with the river and achasm here and there plus a budgetthat allowed some extra trappingson the course. The good newsabout the Hidden River course wasthe great reviews, the bad newswas the fact that new course devel-opment was starting to dry up andthe firm had limited use of its newacceptance.

The Beeches, his newest cre-ation in South Haven, will openthe back nine in September andhave the grand opening some timenext spring. Currently, there isonly talk about new courses andMatthews Golf Design has beenturning more increasingly toremodeling work to keep his com-pany going during the current eco-nomic times. MG

A partial list of W. Bruce Matthews III courses

• Angels Crossing, Vicksburg, Michigan 2004• Beeches Golf Club, South Haven, Michigan 2005• Brookshire Inn & Golf Club, Williamston, Michigan 1993• Cedar Chase Golf Club, Cedar Springs, Michigan 1992• Emerald Vale Golf Club, Manton, Michigan 1997• Hankerd Hills Golf Club, Pleasant Lake, Michigan 1997• Hickory Hills Golf Club, Jackson, Michigan 1998• Hidden River Golf & Casting Club, Brutus, Michigan 1998• The Jackal, Brighton, Michigan 2001• Marsh Oaks Golf Club, New Haven, Michigan 1997• Moss Ridge Golf Club, Ravenna, Michigan 1999• Oak Ridge Golf Club, New Haven, Michigan 1997• Pine Hills Golf Club, Laingsburg, Michigan 1993• Richmond Forest Golf Club, Lenox, Michigan 1993• Rockford Golf Center, Rockford, Michigan 1995• Rolling Meadows Golf Course, Holland, Michigan 2001• Selfridge Ang Golf Course, Mt. Clemens, Michigan 1999• Seven Lakes Golf Club, LaSalle, Ontario 2003• Timber Wolf Golf Club, Kalkaska, Michigan 1998• Ubly Heights Country Club, Ubly, Michigan 1998

http://matthewsgolfdesign.com

The fabulous 18 th at Hidden River Golf and Casting Club

Joe Bruhn, owner of The Jackal,and Bruce Matthews, the architect.

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If you are going to build a golf coursetoday, it better be something that standsout from the crowd– something that

Ambassador Golf Club, Windsor, Ontario, Hole No. 15

Windsor’Windsor’s Ambassador s Ambassador GC Raises the Bar!GC Raises the Bar!

By Thad Gutowski

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presents an exceptional experience.And, the Coco family has done justthat. Their all-new AmbassadorGolf Club located on the outskirtsof Windsor is setting a new stan-dard for daily-fee facilities inSouthwest Ontario.

Designed by Canada’s premiergolf course architect ThomasMcBroom, the Ambassador is anupscale golf facility that offerseverything one would find in thefinest private clubs on both sidesof the border. The links stylecourse is a real test. And when thewind blows as it almost alwaysdoes here, the Ambassador is trulyan exceptional challenge.

Though McBroom may nothave the name recognition inMichigan of Jerry Mathews orArthur Hills, in Canada he issomething of an icon. Over thepast twenty years he has designedmore than 60 courses and almostall of them have received count-less accolades. In Canada’s topgolf publication, Score magazine,McBroom has more coursesnoted than any other architect.

And he has kept the ballrolling with the Ambassador,nominated in two categories for2006: Best New Course inOntario and better yet, Best NewCourse in Canada.

The Ambassador opened forlimited play late in the 2005 golfseason but it waited until this Aprilto raise the curtain for the media.The heather and fescue were stillin early spring development but thegreens and fairways were excep-tional. Hitting the huge greens is amanageable assignment, but get-ting a long putt even close to thecup is incredibly tough because ofsevere undulation. And the fair-ways are reminiscent of a Scottishlinks-style course; in style, routingand firmness – the ball really runs.The huge growth - covered earthenmounds adjacent to most of thefairways, places a true premium onkeeping the ball in play.

Ambassador Golf Club, Windsor, Ontario, Hole No. 12

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Championship tees at 7,000 yards in length seem tobe the number most golfers seek, but few are quali-fied tee it up that far back, and this is especiallytrue at the Ambassador. Unless you have a drivingaccuracy average of Fred Funk, the forward teeswill deliver all the golf you are looking for.

Most courses have a few standout holes, thekind you long remember, with the balance quiteeasily forgotten. But not the Ambassador. All theholes are memorable, with some just more so.Certainly one of the best risk-reward holes is thefourth. With water and bunkers along the rightside ready to gobble up a slightly errant drive,the second shot also requires near faultless exe-cution. The green is elevated, and anything shortwill roll back into a large collection area. Toolong and it's no-man's land.

A string of holes, 13 to15 play around a largelake with outstanding views and are a true testThirteen is a heart-pounding 543 yards from themiddle tees. Hole no. 14 is a par three with 211yards of carry to a green guarded by, youguessed it, water. The fifteenth is theAmbassador's signature hole: 321-yard doglegright, over sand and water.

The king-size clubhouse with all first classaccoutrements is almost as exciting as the course,with gourmet dining accompanied by exceptionalgolf course views. The stadium style practicefacility is a full thirty thousand square feet ofperfectly manicured bent grass.

Okay, so what's the tariff to enjoy all of this?Well, you heard it before. You get what you payfor! Weekday 18 holes are $77 and weekend a bitmore, $85 – cart included. Canadian funds.

Ready to go for it? Cross into Canada via theAmbassador Bridge (of course!). Follow HuronChurch Road to E.C. Row Expressway West.Follow the signs to Windsor Raceway & Slots.Turn left on Sprucewood Avenue. TheAmbassador is on the right.

Phone: 519.966.2425 or on the web atwww.ambassadorgolfclub.com MG


GLSP Internet Television Network

Michigan Runner

Michigan Golfer

Michigan Skier

Michigan Travel

Television – ready when you are


In March of 2006, GolfweekMagazine sent out a press releaseindicating they they were starting

the first Internet golf television showin the nation. Knowing differently, Iimmediately pointed out that theMichigan Golfer was the first golftelevision show and that we hadbegun our television programmingsome five years earlier. To provemy point I directed their PR firm toour linkhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2001shows/show7/. The link is to a show we didon the WJR Internet Advisor Showin March of 2001 announcing ournew Internet television show.

GLSP, the parent company of theMichigan Golfer, had previouslybeen a partner in two former televi-sion shows, The Michigan GolferTelevision Show and Golfing theGreat Lakes. The first show, theMichigan Golfer Television Show,was a partnership with Terry Moore,Tom Durant of Video Images andthe Michigan Golfer. Our talent wasTom Cleary, who is now the voice ofthe Grand Rapids-based White Capsminor league baseball team, as wellas a partner with Terry Moore andJack Berry in a PR firm known asAll About Golf. The show lasted ayear as costs and revenues did notfavorably add up.

The second foray into the tele-

vision market, Golfing the GreatLakes, was headed up again byTom Durant of Video Images.There were a variety of partnersthat comprised the group, withGLSP being one of them. Our tal-ent for the show the first year wasFrank Beckman from WJR. In yeartwo Larry Adderley, formerChannel 7 sports anchor, took over.All told, the series ran eight yearsand produced over 65 shows oncourses in the Great Lakes area.You can visit the remnants of theprogram at http://www.webgolfer.com/golfgreatlakes/. The showswere well liked and we had a nicerun on the 30+ PBS station net-

work. Once again, the economicsof producing the shows paired withthe non-commercial realities ofpublic television, ultimately led tothe show’s demise.

Michigan Golfer Television– Five Years and 250 Shows Later

By Art McCafferty

Bay Mills, Mike Husby and Judy Mason gave us a chance to cover our firstprofessional tournament.

Ben Davis, when asked totalk about the discriminationhe faced in golf, said, “I can'tdo it because thinking aboutit will make me cry.”

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As publisher of GLSP and thebasic sales person for the Golfingthe Great Lakes Shows, I hadfirst-hand knowledge of the frus-tration involved in producing andfunding these shows. Our firstyear of the Michigan GolferTelevision Show was placed oncommercial television. For exam-ple, we were on WZZM-TV inGrand Rapids and had a great timeslot. However, commercial timeon a broadcast station is expensive.The shows were costing us a thou-sand dollars a week for the airtime.The financial clock was alwaysticking on that show. When wedeveloped the Golfing the GreatLakes show, we decided to go withPBS stations. The cost of PBS sta-tion time was basically the cost ofthe satellite feed each week.However, the opportunity for mak-ing money on the show was less-ened by the non-commercial reali-ties of PBS programming.

During the eight year run ofGolfing the Great Lakes, we intro-

duced our audiences to many ofthe great courses in the GreatLakes area. Our cameras went toEagle Ridge in Illinois; JudayCreek, Otter Creek and Sultan’sRun in Indiana; Quail Chase inKentucky; Bay Valley, The Bear,Bedford Valley, Black Bear, BlackForest, Boyne’s Alpine, BayHarbor, Heather and Moor cours-es, Captains Table, ChestnutValley, Concord Hills, Dumaglas,Eagle Crest, El Dorado, Fortress,The Gailes, Garland’s Fountainsand Swampfire, The Classic, TheLoon, The Lake, Hessel Ridge,High Point, The Jewel, LittleTraverse Bay, Marsh Ridge, TheMeadows, The Pohlcat, The Rock,Stonehedge, and Treetops’ Smithand Jones courses in Michigan;Eagle Sticks and Maumee Bay inOhio and Blackwolf Run and TheBrute in Wisconsin. In all, weproduced over 60 Golfing theGreat Lakes shows.

While PBS stations offered aquality delivery system for theshows, the problems inherent inutilizing their platforms were sig-nificant. We put the shows up ona satellite feed each week, but theywere not necessarily shown thatweek. Many stations taped theshows for later broadcast. As aresult, it was difficult to promotethe show times on the 30+ stations.Thus, many clients missed seeingtheir show, and we had to wait forword of mouth to get back to themfrom people who did see theshows. While this happened fre-quently enough for resorts to doadditional courses, it was always aproblem. We also never knew untilthe end of the season, what stationswere carrying the show. PBS sta-tions were required to get back atthe end of the season to tell various

feeder stations, in this case,Detroit’s WTVS, what outstate sta-tions were carrying the show. Itwas then that we knew that PBSstations as far away as HuntingtonBeach, California and Bozeman,Montana carry the show.

Finally, there was the problemwith establishing ratings for theshow. PBS shows typically do nothave ratings big enough to measure

and really are not driven by ratingsanyway. As the salesman for theshow, it was always difficult topersuade courses to buy into ourprogramming because I could onlyoffer annedotal evidence of theshow’s success. After, we canceledGolfing the Great Lakes in 1999,the thought of creating an Internettelevision show on golf began toenter my mind.

The challenges for Internetvideo programming at that timewere substantial. The technologythat would allow such a media was

Our Robert Trent Jones interviewswere very well received across thecountry.

Bill Newcomb, who had justdesigned Calderone Farms, wasour first interview.

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just coming on board. Whileyou could view video on dialup Internet connections, it wastoo slow and small to be useful.The broadband connectivityneeded for video was runningat about 9% when we started,but we felt that in a few years,this would change dramatically.Also, people were used to get-ting everything free on theInternet and therefore a newrevenue paradigm had to becreated. There was also theproblem of the limited sophisti-cation in Internet technologyfor most of the populationwhich by default included theleadership in the golf industry.Therefore, not only did wehave to create this new product,but we also had to provide aneducation of its value andpotential to our customers.

On March 9th of 2001, ourfirst Michigan Golfer InternetTelevision show went online.Our team consisted of our host,Dr. William Shelton, formerPresident of Eastern MichiganUniversity and an avid golfer,our director, Joe Yunkman, ofMichigan Media, JennieMcCafferty, the one responsiblefor understanding how all thistechnology was going to work,our editor Catherine Jones,Thad Gutowski our salesmanand finally myself, as the pro-ducer. Bill Newcomb was ourfirst guest and we featured thatshow– http://michigangol-fer.tv/2001shows/show1/ aspart of our display at theMichigan Golf Show. OnMarch 10th, our team visitedthe studios of radio stationWJR to appear on the Internet


Our crew in 2001, Jennie McCafferty, Joe Yunkman’s assistant, Bill Shelton,Joe Yunkman, Art McCafferty, Chris Lahiri and Thad Gutowski.

Advisor show, with Foster Braun and Gary Baker. It was then that weannounced that we had begun our programming.When we launched ourMichigan Runner Television show in June of that year, we became the 2ndInternet television network in the world, the first being Pseudo.com, a showthat was featured on 60 Minutes.

Since our debut in March of 2001, our viewership has increased substan-tially. Then again, when you start with zero, the only way is up. Since thetechnology was so new, there were not many networks or shows around inwhich we could compare the traffic with. Thus, we are comparing trafficwithin our own network for now. Since we launched our network, we haveput up over 600 Internet video shows on our five channels. Listed belowis the viewer response we have had with our network in 2005.

Show Channel Viewers

Michigan Golfer Television http://michigangolfer.tv 541,475

Michigan Skier Television http://michiganskier.tv 54,413

Michigan Travel Television http://michigantravel.tv 164,074

Michigan Runner Television http://michiganrunner.tv 250,038

Running Canada Television http://runningcanada.tv 112,088

Total Viewers 1,127,975


To be sure, the early yearswere a struggle. When westarted, Michigan only had

9% of its people on broadbandInternet. Now, that figure is closeto 70%. That fact, plus the abilityof search engines to help peoplefind us, have helped us tremen-dously in getting traffic. Traffic ledto clients interested in our prod-ucts. After five years and over 600shows on five channels, it lookslike this is the year we will turn aprofit. And as we all know,“Happiness is Positive Cash Flow.”

After five years, we submitthese shows as our benchmarks.

The Loon was our prototype for our “ Architect and Their Courses” series.

Bill Shelton and Mike McCafferty as “The Haig” created a great Ryder Cupseries for our viewers.

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Bill Newcomb Interviewhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2001shows/show1/The first of our 600+ shows.

Internet Advisor Showhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2001shows/show7/We announced our modest, yetinspired venture into Internet tele-vision on the show.

Robert Trent JonesSerieshttp://michigangolfer.tv/2001shows/show19/We were able to use video we hadtaken 12 years earlier and repur-pose it for Internet Television. Itwas our first hit show.

Bay Mills Openhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2002shows/baymillsopen/Mike Husby, Bay MillsTournament Director, hired us toprovide our first coverage of a pro-fessional golf tournament.

Walter Hagen and theRyder Cuphttp://michigangolfer.tv/2003shows/hagen/The Hagen series featured our hostBill Shelton and our son, Mike

McCafferty, who played WalterHagen. When Bill Shelton wasPresident of Eastern MichiganUniversity, he awarded Michael anAppreciation of Merit Award for hiswork in EMU’s Communication andTheater Arts program. It was a funproject for both of them. It also gaveus an opportunity to create a seriesof shows.

The Bullhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2003shows/thebull/This was our breakout video ongolf courses. It featured the defthand of our director and videogra-pher, Joe Yunkman. He capturedthe course and the course designer,Jack Nicklaus, perfectly.

Jeff Daniels Comedy GolfJamhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2003shows/show22/We flat out had a great time tapingthis show and working with Jeffand his staff.

The Loonhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/Loon/Once again, Mike Husby camethrough with a budget that allowedus to create one of our best shows.

Ben Davishttp://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/davis/This show featured another look atthe history of Michigan golf. BenDavis and his recollections ofbeing a minority in the golf busi-ness were riveting.

Ryder Cup Celebration http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/irish/

The greatest golf event in the worldallowed us to operate in the bigleagues and have some fun whilerecording some Michigan history.

Jerry Matthews VideoGalleryhttp://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/irish/Our video gallery allowed us todisplay an array of coursesdesigned by the same architect. Itprovided a canvas of his work forfuture and past clients.

There you have it– a quick lookat the history of the Michigan GolferTelevision show during its first fiveyears of existence. We hope youenjoyed the journey and we hopeyou join us or continue to join us onour Michigan Golfer Televisionchannel in the future. MG


Bucks Run was one of four JerryMatthews courses we put online.

Ryder Cup Opening Ceremonies

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YYouth Does Not Necessarily outh Does Not Necessarily Have to Be SerHave to Be Served:ved:

Davies Beats Brehm at Michigan AmDavies Beats Brehm at Michigan Am

Jack Berry

Five-foot-seven Greg Davieswas the giant-killer of the95th Michigan Amateur

Championship, knocking medalistand 2002 champion KoreyMahoney in the quarterfinals, thenMichigan State golf team memberBrandon Cigna, 5-4, in the semifi-nal and dusting Spartan All-BigTen 6-foot-5 Ryan Brehm by thesame stunning 5-4 margin to earnthe Staghorn Trophy.

“This is the Granddaddy tourna-ment, the one every amateur wantsto win,” said Davies who has play-ing the Amateur for nearly 20 years.

Davies was outdriven by nearlyevery rival but he won with nearlyflawless fairways and greens play.Davies, a 38-year-old financialadvisor from West Bloomfield, isthe oldest champion in the usuallycollegian-dominated Amateur since

Randy Lewis won in 1999 at theage of 42.

Davies played college golf, too— he graduated from Oklahoma in1990 and was on the golf teamwith Todd Hamilton, winner of the2004 British Open and CraigPerks, winner of the 2002 PlayersChampionship.

“I knew my game didn’t match

The Heather, Hole No. 5, Boyne Highlands

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those guys so I figured I’d betterget a job,” Davies said, laughing.

He’s compiled a good amateurrecord including the 2005 GolfAssociation of Michigan Mid-Amateur title which he also won atBoyne Highlands, two SyronMemorials, two Michigan PublinxMatch Plays, and a MichiganMedal Play championship. It wasat the Horton Smith/MichiganMedal Play earlier this year that acase of the yips led him to switchto a long putter. He tucks the endof the grip into his left armpit andhe’s been making nearly every-thing since.

Davies was 1-under-par indefeating Brehm who rarely usedhis balky driver in favor of a 2-iron. Consequently, Brehm’s teeshots landed in the same area asDavies’ driver. But Davies’ ironshots invariably finished below thehole and Brehm had scary down-hill putts. With the Heathercourse’s greens firm andsun-baked, anything abovethe hole was fatal.

“I dug myself into ahole,” said Brehm, 20, whowill be a junior at MSU inthe fall. “The greens werefaster than they were in themorning (semifinal whenhe defeated John Barry, 3-2) and they were in toughspots but they were fair. “Idug myself a hole earlywhen Greg birdied the thirdhole and I was 5 down atthe turn. I tried to makethings happen, I scratchedand clawed and it was pret-ty much that way allweek.”

But Brehm said he felt goodabout going into the MichiganOpen at the Bear and Davies willbe there too. So will Mahoney,who finished his college career atEastern Michigan and is turningpro at the Open on the Bear atGrand Traverse Resort and Spa.

This was the second time theAmateur’s been played at theHeather; the jewel of northernMichigan golf, designed by RobertTrent Jones and celebrating its40th anniversary, never looked bet-ter as it proved once again it is achampionship course with its 10doglegs, and 60 deep bunkers withsparkling new PGA Tour sand.With no rain since Monday, thegreens were lightning-quick forputts from above the hole. Davies’putt on the par 3 sixth slid downoff the green and nearly went intothe bog. He had to chip back andbogied the hole as did Brehm whothree-putted it.

There was another slipperyslope for slow players during thechampionship. The GAM adoptedthe Pace of Play policy that’sbeen in effect in a number ofother states. The pace is 15 min-utes per hole and if the wholegroup is behind that time at theturn, each one is penalized astroke. If the group finishes the18th hole after the expected timethere is a two stroke penalty if itis the second breach, a one strokeif the first.

“It takes away officials hold-ing stop watches,” Director ofRules and Competition KenHartmann said. “There are atomicclocks at the fifth, ninth, 14thand 18th greens so players cansee their time.”

Six players were penalized overthe first two days of qualifyingstroke play and the word spreadfast to keep pace. MG

The Heather, Hole No. 1, Boyne Highlands

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The DeVicenzo Code, The Movie

2006-USA/Argentina-Suspense/Thriller

Review Summary:“The DeVicenzo Code, The

Movie” is a clumsy and ploddingscreen version of the fast-paced,controversial and best-sellingnovel, “The DeVicenzo Code, TheBook.” First published two yearsago in Spanish by the award-win-ning Argentinean author JorgeVictor Borge, the novel quicklybecame a global sensation and hasbeen translated into 27 languagesincluding Canadian, Pig Latin andCOBOL. Packed with eruditeresearch about symbolism and reli-gion, the book tells the eerie butseemingly true tale of famed golferRoberto DeVicenzo, who in spiteof an elegantly “drowsy swing”and a stellar international record, ismost famous for signing an incor-rect scorecard during the finalround of the 1968 Masters.

After holing out on the 72ndgreen and thinking he tied BobGoalby for the lead, DeVicenzosigned his official scorecard for a

mistakenly recorded par four onthe seventeenth hole instead of hisactual birdie three. By the cruel yetclearly defined rules of golf, onceBig Roberto signed for the higherscore, it became his official score-card. Thus, Bob Goalby won theMasters by a single shot overDeVicenzo.

In Borge’s thriller, this infamousscorekeeping incident becomes thepivot point for a series of excitingand hair-raising events at PebbleBeach, Warwick Hills, Pine Valleyand a muni outside Denver called“Angel’s Kneecap.” But in thisdismal cinematic version of thetale, director Moe Howard andscreenwriter Curly Wordsmithmangle Borge’s nerve-tingling plotwith a confusing array of specialeffects and flashbacks. The open-ing scene depicting an albino cad-die being transported by mule trainaround Amen Corner is not onlyridiculously forced but it’s false toone of the book’s key passages.

Another big minus is the lameand annoying score by John Teshand Toni Tennille (of Captain &Tennille fame) that seems to lac-quer every romantic moment (e.g.the first kiss between DeVicenzoand Mickey Wright) with over-wrought, sugary instrumentalsusing harps, bass drums and elec-tric kazoos.

Still the movie does have someredeeming qualities: 1) It’s incolor; 2) During the three-hourordeal, you can nod on and offwithout missing anything; and 3) Itdoes finally end. Not even acameo appearance in a thong bikiniby Natalie Gulbis can save thisturkey.

This movie can be bestsummed up by the mumbledwords of one filmgoer as he lefteven before the intermission:“What a stupid I am.”

—Roger Eggbert, Chino (CA)Sun-Times

• Read the full Chino Sun-Times Review—click here.

• Find Showtimes in your area (excepting North America)—click here.

• View Trailer—click here.• Rate, Review or Ask for Refund

for “The DeVicenzo Code, The Movie”—click here.

Cast for “The DeVicenzo Code, The Movie”:

Roberto DeVicenzo . .Antonio BanderasBob Goalby . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joe PesciMary Magdalene . . . . . . . . .MadonnaThe Teacher . . . . . . . . . . .Rick SmithMickey Wright . . . . . . . . .Jodie FosterOld Tom Morris . . . . .Robin WilliamsYoung Tom Morris . .Whoopi GoldbergClifford Roberts . . .Sylvester StalloneBobby Jones . .Philip Seymour HoffmanChristy O’Connor Sr. . . . . . . .Himself

Other Production Credits:

Executive Producer . . . . .Phil Knight Special Effects . . . . . . . .Paul Hahn Jr.Catering . . . . . . .Half-way House LtdCasting . . . . . . . . . . .Alwright HandCostumes . . . . . . . . . . .Ian X. PoulterBoom Operator . . . . .Fred G. CouplesKey Grip . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Ed Fiori

A member of the Golf WritersAssociation of America, Moore lives

in Grand Rapids where he’s occasionally visited by longtime

admirer Selma Hayek. MG

S L I C E O F L I F E

By Terry Moore


Summer

Michigan Runner TelevisionGrand Island Marathon and 10KING Edmonton MarathonCrim Festival of RacesSteve’s RunHidden Forest Trail Run

Michigan TravelFlint and the Crim Festival of RacesBellaire-Golf Capital of the WorldYpsilanti and the Heritage Festival

Michigan Golfer TelevisionArnold Palmer’s “The Legend at

Shanty Creek ResortThe 95th Michigan AmateurThe Heather Golf Course at Boyne

HighlandsNative American Cup IITom Doak and Jack Nicklaus -

SebonackMichigan Women’s Golf Association

20th AnniversaryJack Berry and Bill Shelton interview

Chuck Kocsis

FallMichigan Runner TelevisionMilford Labor Day 30K, Relay & 10KScotiabank Toronto Waterfront

MarathonDetroit Free Press / Flagstar Bank

MarathonPlaymakers Autumn ClassicMt. Baldhead ChallengeNCAA Division I Cross Country

Championships

Michigan TravelSassy SagatuckGaylord and the Alpenfest

Michigan Golfer TelevisionHarbor Point Golf ClubLeague Championships Series IIUpper Peninsula GolfWashtenaw Contry Club

GLSP Television Networkhttp://glsp.com

Chuck Kocsis

in this issue - michigan golfermichigangolfer.com/summer06/summer06.pdf · park. or arnold palmer,...

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