SPONSORED BY:

AMERICA'S VALUE GOLF DESTINATION
Santee, South Carolina
Web: Golf Packages http://www.santeetourism.com
Videos: http://michigangolfer.tv/2007shows/santee/ & http://youtube.com/watch?v=dm3zpL46pYk

LONDON GOLF SHOW-HELENIC COMMUNITY CENTRE-LONDON, ONTARIO
JANUARY 19-20
Web: http://golf-show.com
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2007shows/londongolfshow/

WEST MICHIGAN GOLF SHOW
FEBRUARY22-24
Web: http://westmichgangolfshow.com
Video: Preview of 2008http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BlrqggvtKdc

MICHIGAN GOLF SHOW
MARCH7-9
Web: http://michigangolfshow.com
Video: http://youtube.com/watch?v=vHlMO3Cqrx8

Edited by Art McCafferty
artmccaf@glsp.com
http://glsp.com

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__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE-WINTER ISSUE
__/ WHITTEN IS WRITE ON
__/HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE READING THE MICHIGAN GOLFER ONLINE?
__/2007 FINAL MICHIGAN GOLFER WEEKLY STATISTICS
__/HEBERT A TOP 10 GOLF PROFESSIONAL
__/NEW SHOW ON YOU TUBE-CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN RESORT WRAPS UP 50TH YEAR
__/ MOE NORMAN FILM SLATED
__/ LEVEL PAR
__/NEW MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION SHOWS
__/ BOOK REVIEW: JACK AND ARNIE, By Ian O'Connor
__/ DID YOU KNOW?
__/ GLSP NETWORK YOU TUBE VIEWERSHIP OVER 60,000 SINCE MAY DEBUT
__/ MICHIGAN GOLF CALENDAR
__/ ASSOCIATION LINKS

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MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE-WINTER ISSUE
http://michigangolfer.com/win07-08/
=======================================
Our Winter issue of the Michigan Golfer has some great reading for everyone as we enter 2008. We lead off with Susan Bairley as she prepares us for a Florida getaway, sans golf clubs. We take a sneak preview of Paul Albanese's new tract in Harris, the new Sweetgrass. You can also get a look at the course on the video we didhttp://youtube.com/watch?v=oU1AbuEAHZ0 earlier this year. Our newest writer, Rob Franciosi, writes about putting his clubs away for the year and Art McCafferty writes a companion piece to the video http://youtube.com/watch?v=N1Ef64EjCSs GLSP did on the rise of Michigan architect, Tom Doak. Terry Moore contributes the onslaught on your eyes with his Slice of Life column.

Finally, we bring you our 4th Annual Michigan Golfer Top 10 list. Is this a great world or what? Enjoy.

CONTENT PAGE
GULF GOLF: THE PERFECT GETAWAY -By Susan and Paul Bairley
SWEETGRASS IS SWEET- By Art McCafferty
CLUB RENTALS – A PRICEY ALTERNATIVE TO PACK N' HAUL-By Susan Bairley
OPENING THE TRUNK AND CLOSING THE SEASON-By Rob Franciosi
CLUB RENTALS: A PRICEY ALTERNATIVE TO PACK N' HAUL-By Susan Bairley
TOM DOAK: FROM HIGH POINTE TO SEBONACK- By Art McCafferty

2007 MICHIGAN GOLFER TOP 10 LISTS -Compiled by Bernice Phillips and L'Anse Bannon
CHARACTERS
MICHIGAN PGA MONEY WINNERS
GLSP SHOWS
U.S. GOLF STORIES
OLDEST MICHIGAN TOURNAMENTS
VIEWS IN MICHIGAN GOLF
TEACHERS IN MICHIGAN
U.S. GOLF SCHOOLS
MOST EXCLUSIVE GOLF CLUBS
BEST DRESSED GOLFERS OF ALL TIME
MOST PROLIFIC MICHIGAN GOLF COURSE ARCHITECTS
MOST ACES BY GOLF PROFESSIONALS
INSTRUCTIONAL GOLF BOOKS
MICHIGAN GOLF TOURNAMENTS
NICKLAUS COURSES YOU CAN PLAY
MICHIGAN GOLF COURSES-GOLFWEEK
MOST AWARDED COURSES
COURSES IN THE WORLD YOU CAN PLAY
TOUGHEST HOLES IN U.S.
MICHIGAN MEN GOLF ICONS
MICHIGAN WOMEN GOLF ICONS
MICHIGAN GOLF STORIES
MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN MICHIGAN GOLF
U.S.COLLEGIATE TEAMS-MEN
U.S.COLLEGIATE TEAMS- WOMEN
TOUGHEST COURSES
BEST AMERICAN COURSES
MONEY MAKERS PGA TOUR
http://michigangolfer.com/win07-08/

====================
WHITTEN IS WRITE ON
====================
I first met Ron Whitten at the opening of the Jerry Matthews designed Elk Ridge in Atlanta in 1991. It was a terrific day for golf and it was exciting to have a nationally known writer in our midst. In addition, Elk Ridge was such a beauty that we all knew Michigan had another winner and that more awards were on the way.

At the time, Whitten was in training for the New York City Marathon, a race that I had run the year before. We ended up talking more about running and he ended up staying at my place that night so we could go out for a 10 mile training run in the morning. I was not in marathon shape that morning and I had to cut him loose at about five miles as I dropped off the pace. My impressions of that morning have held up over the years, as I saw then, a person of relentless perfection and an amazing focus on the task at hand. We have corresponded from time to time and Whitten later rewarded my hospitality by being a guest editor with the Michigan Golfer. It was a thrill listening his name in our masthead.

I mention all of this, to remind myself to get my butt out the door and get into a little better shape this year, but to point out to you, that you should pick up the latest issue of Golf Digest. Whitten's two companion articles "The Winners" and the" Big Picture" under the umbrella topic of "America's Best New Courses" are outstanding. As usual, his writing is focused, tight and his stories enlightening. It is a must read for golfers about this time every year, so do yourself a favor and pick up a copy, if you are not a subscriber.

There were times when Michigan courses were highlighted in such articles during our golf boom, now the state and its architects are mentioned mostly in historical reference. Whitten has some things to say about Doak's early work at High Pointe and Black Forest and later work at Pacific Dunes and Sebonack. He also makes some observations about the changing of the turf at the Gailes at Lakewood Shores.
http://golfdigest.com
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HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE READING THE MICHIGAN GOLFER ONLINE?
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*Our Michigan Golfer Online site is now being audited byAdvanced Web Statistics 6.6. Our site rests on servers managed by Online Technologies, home of perhaps the largest ISP in Michigan. The new service gave us some good news and some bad news. First the bad news. With our other software, our stats were not screened for the traffic that is produced by various search engines and their bots. Frankly, we were a little surprised at how those revised figures impacted the numbers we were supplying to our clients. Last year, we felt that our Michigan Golfer Online was being read by an average of 8500 readers per issue. With the new software, and the elimination of search engine traffic, that number has been pared to 5,523. 5,523 readers per issue, the number we are presenting to our advertisers, is also the good news. A number of articles in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal, have spoken to the presentation and reliability of Internet statistics. Since distribution or traffic is the lifeblood of publications, the numbers need to be as tight and realistic as possible.

There are a number of information items on our Michigan Golfer Online site, the first our Michigan Golfer Online Magazine has been addressed above, the other traffic measures on the site is that of our newsletter and past michigan golfer files, not in a PDF file.

We had 426, 566 pages of information downloaded last year, to the computers of 132, 816 visitors. Of that figure, 82,971 were unique visitors.

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2007 FINAL MICHIGAN GOLFER WEEKLY STATISTICS
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Michigan Golf News-14,678 Subscribers (Includes online stats)
Michigan Golfer Magazine http://michigangolfer.com 1,062 Readers
Michigan Golfer Television 1,586 Viewers http://michigangolfer.tv (Includes You Tube Stats)

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HEBERT A TOP 10 GOLF PROFESSIONAL
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Mike DeAgostino of the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, passed along this Top 10 list for us. It seems, Scott Hebert
The PGA Professional Player of the Year award originated in 1984, and is based upon a season-long points system for performance in both Section and national competition. The Senior PGA Professional Player of the Year award began in 1995.
More: http://www.pga.com/news/pganews/pgamedianewsletter/poy121807.cfm

Scott is currently operating the Resort's Winter Golf Center and can be reached for comment at 231-534-6476. Thanks!

2007 FINAL PGA Professional Player of the Year Standings
Player/Residence/PGA Section/Points
1. Mike Small, Champaign, Ill.Illinois/1162.50
2. Tim Weinhart, Suwanee, Ga./Georgia/1041.25
3. Erik Wolf, Palm Desert, Calif./Southern California/803.75
4. Kelly Mitchum, Southern Pines, N.C./Carolinas/785.75
5. Matthew Call, Castle Rock, Colo./Colorado/782.50
6. Scott Hebert, Traverse City, Mich./Michigan/780.00
7. Frank Esposito Jr., Monroe Township, N.J./New Jersey/758.00
8. Rick Schuller, Chester, Va./Middle Atlantic/733.50
9. Don Yrene, Scottsdale, Ariz./Southwest/730.00
10. Ryan Benzel, Bothell, Wash./Pacific Northwest/725.50

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MOE NORMAN FILM SLATED
========================
The latest Golf World indicated that a film on legendary Canadian golfer, Moe Norman is in the works. The movie is scheduled to start filming in the spring but the current writer's strike might stall the project. There is no question about it, Moe Norman was in a class by himself. Many have said he was the best striker of he ball ever. In his book, "Wanna Bet", Don Wade tells the story about Moe Norman asking his caddie how long the hole was, with the caddie replying, "for you, a driver and nine iron." Norman then preceded to hit a nine iron off the tee and a driver to the green.

Supposedly, Norman had a head injury as a kid, which resulted in a "rain man" personality. I had the opportunity to witness one of his Florida clinics about 10 years ago, and like others there, was completely dumbfounded by his accuracy. However, when I tried to get an interview after his clinic, he moved sharply away from me and others who attempted to get close to him. It was a pretty bizarre experience, but as I understand it, was his usual pattern of behavior.

I remember Golf Digest "discovering" a number of years ago, and did something like a 7-10 feature on him. One of a kind, it should be a great movie and provide for interesting casting. In 1995, Titleist announced that it would pay Norman $5,000 a month for the rest of his life.

Career highlights
• Canadian Amateur Champion (1955, 1956)
• 55 career Canadian Tour event victories
• Canadian PGA Championship winner (1966, 1974)
• Canadian PGA Seniors' Championship winner (1979 - 1985, 1987)
• 33 course records
• Inducted into the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame in 1995
• Inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 2006

More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moe_Norman

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LEVEL PAR
==========
Same-store rounds in the U.S. were down 3.8% in November 2007 vs. November 2006, bringing the year-to-date total to level with last year. In some regions (e.g., the Midwest) where there is very little rounds volume in the month of November, there were some large variances, but these have little effect on the year overall. Year-to-date, the best-performing region compared to last year has been the Northeast, and the South Central the worst.
Source: NGF/Allied Golf Associations

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NEW SHOW ON YOU TUBE-CRYSTAL MOUNTAIN RESORT WRAPS UP 50TH YEAR
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Long hailed as the premier family resort, Crystal wraps up its 50th year of celebration and looks forward to the next milestone, its 75th. Owners Chris and Jim MacInnes have been at the helm for more than half of those years. Through strategic planning, enlightened and inspired leadership, they have put together one of the most successful resorts in the Midwest.

It is truly a four season resort, that attracts, skiers, snowboarders, golfers, concert goers, hikers and participants of many other sports and events. They have developed top notch schools, highlighted by the Crystal Mountain Golf Schoo and Elite Golf Academy. They also have strong ski and snowboard schools.

They believe in giving back to the sport and sponsor the annual Michigan PGA Women's Open, now one of the premier women's events in Michigan.

We have prepared our own birthday presents by pulling together some video we have taken over the past five-six years and dropping in some music from D.S. and the Flat Five, a collegiate group out of Saginaw Valley University. You will find our show up on You Tube.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmS6gwLNlhs

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BOOK REVIEW: JACK AND ARNIE -By Ian O'Connor
==========================================
The day before New Year's I received an advanced reading copy of the new Ian O'Connor book, "Arnie & Jack: Palmer, Nicklaus, and Golf's Greatest Rivalry". It could not have been a more welcomed piece of mail as I looked out at a foot of snow that had effectively cut us off from from the automotive side of our world. Sure, there were a half dozen bowl games on, including the very exciting Michigan/Florida game, but I kept turning to the pages of this wonderful read.

The reader is introduced to the first pairing of The King and The Bear, in an exhibition foursome put together by friends of Dow Finsterwald in Athens, Ohio in 1958. The town was honoring, Finsterwald, their native son, who was the brand new PGA Champion. The foursome included Finsterwald, his friend Arnold Palmer, who was the new Masters Champion, Howard Baker Saunders, a Ohio golfer of legend, who had assembled a ton of Ohio trophies after being on the The Ohjio State University golf team and the 18-year old Jack Nicklaus. The book ends with Dow Finsterwald being honored at the 2007 Memorial Tounament held at Muirfield. Palmer was on hand to present the honor to Finsterwald and the three of them had the opportunity to look back on the half century of golf that they all shared.

O'Connor introduces the intense rivalry between these two golfing legends within the framework of their golfing careers and business ventures. It ends with the truce that only age can seemingly bring. Frankly, it is a one day read, as you will not want to put it down.

The publication date for this Houghton Mifflin book is scheduled for April 2008. Price will be $26.00

===============
DID YOU KNOW?
==============
"It was unseasonably cold, in the low 40's, when eight of the city's business elite walked or drove their horse-drawn carriages to the Detroit Club on October 1, 1897. The men who gathered for lunch in that convivial environment were an eclectic group: manufacturers of freight cars, spring steel, stoves, varnish and steam boilers; two railroad lawyers; and the owner of Detroit's first skyscraper. They had come together to found the Country Club of Detroit, intending to take over an existing clubhouse on Lake St. Clair in the Village of Grosse Pointe Farms. Passion for golf drove them. Introduced to Grosse Pointe just four years earlier, the game was growing in popularity. By earlier agreement with five others, the group agreed this day to form the club with all 13 as its board of governors and attorney Henry Russell as chairman. "
More:http://www.ccofd.com/default.aspx?p=DynamicModule&pageid=237773&ssid=91971&vnf=1
Country Club of Detroit Website.

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GLSP NETWORK VIEWERSHIP OVER 60,000 SINCE MAY DEBUT
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Last May, we began to utilize the extensive reach and services of the You Tube network. Since we began putting video on the Internet in 2001, we have watched the growth of online video. As noted here before, we were a bit cautious about putting our clients videos on You Tube, until they were purchased by Google. We felt that You Tube would continue its growth, but also become a network for serious videos as well. You Tube became a real media player, when it became part of the Democratic and Republican debates.

In addition to finding another outlet for distribution of our videos, we are also using the network as a back up for our videos. GLSP has put up over a thousand videos in the past seven years, and we had 300 Michigan Runner videos wiped out in one afternoon, because of a couple of servers crashing with our ISP. We have begun the time intensive task of rebuilding the site and should have most of the videos back online by April, but it has been a tough time for us. We were fortunate in that we had some shows already up on You Tube, so that helped. Now as SOP, we put up a You Tube of all of our videos.

You Tube has some other advantages as well. First of all, it is more viewer friendly. When we are out covering events, we simply tell event directors or participants that they need only to key board the name and date of the event and the Google search engine within the You Tube page, will find it. For example we just put up a video about an Evening with Tom Doak. If you keyboard that into the search engine, you will gethttp://youtube.com/results?search_query=An+Evening+with+Tom+Doak&search=Search

You Tube also allows for us to develop "Television Networks" for our clients as well. Essentially, we can put key words into the Tag area and create a network. Check these sites out for example

Treetops Resort Television Network
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=treetops+resort+television+network&search=Search
Boyne Resort USA Television Network
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=boyne+resorts+usa++television+network&search=Search
Osprey Television Network
http://youtube.com/results?search_query=osprey++television+network&search=Search

The overall traffic to our You Tube shows has now passed the 60,000 viewer mark. Again, the traffic is easy to track as the number of viewers is listed on the show. However, the traffic still falls considerably short of the traffic on our five online channels;

Last year, these sites attracted the following viewership
Michigan Golfer Television 508,256
Michigan Runner Television 340,399 (Lost the site in September-33% back online at end of year)
Michigan Skier Television 148,100
MichiganTravelTelevision 198,362
Running Canada Television 98,089

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2008 MICHIGAN GOLFER CALENDAR
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JANUARY
16-19 55thPGA Merchandise Show, Orlando County Convention Center, Orlando
http://www.pgamerchandiseshow.com/
19-20 London Show -Helenic Community Centre, London, ON
http://golf-show.com
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2007shows/londongolfshow/
28-2/2 NGCOA Annual Conference & Golf Industry Show, Orlando
http://ngcoa.org/conference

FEBRUARY
2-3 Hamilton Golf & Travel Show
http://golf-show.com
22-24- 20th Anniversary West Michigan Golf Show, Grand Rapids, DeVos Center
http://westmichigangolfshow.com

MARCH
7-9 Michigan Golf Show, Rock Financial Showplace, Novi
http://michigangolfshow.com
14-16 Lansing Golf Show, Lansing Center, Lansing
http://michigangolfshow.com

MAY
3-4 West Michigan Best Ball,LE Kaufman GC, Grand Rapids
http://www.westmichigangolf.com/2008/2008%20Schedule.htm
17-18 West Michigan Amateur,Candlestone GC, Belding
http://www.westmichigangolf.com/2008/2008%20Schedule.htm
19 City Match Play,Crystal Springs CC, Grand Rapids
http://www.westmichigangolf.com/2008/2008%20Schedule.htm

JUNE
6-7 Michigan High School Boys State Championship
12 Michigan Open Championship GTR (Wolverine / Bear)
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
12-13 Kent County Amateur,LE Kaufman GC, Grand Rapids
http://www.westmichigangolf.com/2008/2008%20Schedule.htm
12-15 U.S. OpenTorrey Pines Golf Course. La Jolla, CA.
http://pgatour.com
17-21 97th Michigan AmateurThe Moors Golf Club
http://gam.org
24-25 Club Car Michigan Senior Open , Bedford Valley GC
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
26-29 Buick Open, Warwick Hills, Grand Blanc
http://pgatour.com
JULY
7-11 92nd Michigan Women’s AmateurWalnut Hills CC
http://gam.org
7-8 E-Z-GO Shanty Creek Classic presented by Page & Tuttle Shanty Creek Resort (Cedar/Schuss)
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
12 Michigan PGA Women’s Open Pro Am ,Crystal Mt. Resort
14-16 Michigan PGA Women’s OpenCrystal Mt. Resort(Mountain Ridge)
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
18-19 Tournament of Champions Pro Am ,Boyne Mountain / Bay Harbor , Boyne Mountain (Alpine)
21-23 Tournament of Champions ,Boyne Mountain / Bay Harbor , Boyne Mountain (Alpine)
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
28-29 Michigan PGA Sr Champ / Sr. CPC Qualifying, Forest Dunes Golf Club
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
28-31 30th Mi Junior State AmateurForest Akers - West
28-8/3 Western Amateur, Pointe O'Woods, Benton Harbor

AUGUST
1-3 Western Amateur, Pointe O'Woods, Benton Harbor
4-10 , PGA CHAMPIONSHIP , OAKLAND HILLS CC,
http://pgatour.com.com/
11-12 87th GAM ChampionshipOrchard Lake CC
http://gam.org
24 Michigan PGA Championship Pro Am Eagle Eye GC
25-27, Michigan PGA Professional Championship, Eagle Eye GC / Hawk Hollow GC,
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6

SEPTEMBER
TBA 22nd GAM Senior ChampionshipPoint O’Woods G & CC
http://gam.org
15-18 Michigan PGA Match Play presented by Boylan Sales/ProLink, Polo Fields Golf and Country Club
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
19-21 Ryder Cup, Vahalla CC. Louisville, KY
http://pgatour.com.com/
28-30 21st Annual Pepsi Fall Charity Invitational
Web: http://treetops.com
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2007shows/treetops_pepsi/

OCTOBER
TBA GAM Chrysler Club ChampionshipIndianwood Golf & Country Club
http://gam.org
12 Michigan PGA Fall Merchandise Show Eagle Eye Golf Club
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6
13 Fall Meeting / Michigan PGA Fall Merchandise Show , Eagle Eye Golf Club
http://www.michigan.pga.com/index.cfm?menu=6&openitem=6

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ASSOCIATION LINKS
==================
American Association of Golf Course Architects
http://asgca.org
Golf Association of Michigan
http://www.gam.org/
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America
http://www.gcsaa.org
Michigan Section PGA
http://www.Michigan.PGA.com
Michigan Golf Course Owners Association
http://mgcoa.org
Michigan Golf Foundation
http://michigan-golf-foundation.com
Michigan Golf Course Superintendents Association
http://www.migcsa.org
Michigan High School Athletic Association
http://www.mhsaa.com/
Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association
http://migca.org
Michigan Publinx Seniors Golf Association
http://mpsga.net
Michigan Women's Golf Association
http:// www.mwgolf.org
National Golf Course Owners Association
http://ngcoa.org
National Golf Foundation
http://ngf.org