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AMERICA'S VALUE GOLF DESTINATION
Golf Packages From $47.00 Per Day
Santee South Carolina http://www.santeetourism.com

THINK SPRING: THE OSPREY COLLECTION OF FINE COURSES
PLAN NOW TO PLAY IN 2007 http://www.golfospreyonline.com/
Black Forest, Canthooke Valley, Cutter's Ridge, Ridgewood,
The Medalist and Wilderness Valley

******* SHOW TIME *******
WEST MICHIGAN GOLF SHOW-FEBRUARY 9-11
Web: http://westmichigangolfshow.com

LONDON GOLF SHOW - FEBRUARY 9-11
Web: http://golf-show.com

MICHIGAN GOLF SHOW-MARCH 10-12
Web: http://michigangolfshow.com

Edited by Art McCafferty-Producer/Publisher, GLSP

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__/ MARCH
__/MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION
Gary Koch, Rick Robbins, Keith Gornick and The Tribute
The Heather at Boyne Highlands, with Bernie Friedricks, Jack Berry, Everett Kircher and Robert Trent Jones
__/MGN ON THE ROAD
Gaylord- Treetops
Lansing-Lansing Golf Show
Marsh Ridge Resort
Shanty Creek Resort
__/SIFFORD RECEIVES 2007 OLD TOM MORRIS AWARD
__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER ONLINE RESOURCES
__/MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE'S TOP 10 LISTS FOR 2006
__/TOP 10 FUNNY GOLF QUOTES
__/GWAA WRITING AWARDS
__/ GOLF COURSE PREVIEW VIDEOS
__/ CALENDAR
__/ ASSOCIATION LINKS
__/ ARCHIVES-MICHIGAN GOLFER

MARCH
The March wind roars
Like a lion in the sky,
And makes us shiver
As he passes by.

When winds are soft,
And the days are warm and clear,
Just like a gentle lamb,
Then spring is here.
- Author Unknown

***
MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION
Gary Koch, Rick Robbins, Keith Gornick and The Tribute Keith Gornick, former owner of the Otsego Club, is still celebrating his retirement. He no sooner got back from visiting some of his wife and daughter's family in Germany, then he left for some time in Mexico. In celebration of his retirement and to also begin the celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Gaylord Golf Mecca, we bring you the thoughts of architects Rick Robbins and Gary Koch and remembrances from Keith Gornick. Our video also gives the viewer a tour de force of the course. Special thanks to Tim Ummel and the Umlex Group for helping set up the original interviews.
http://michigangolfer.tv/2007shows/tribute/

The Heather at Boyne Highlands, with Bernie Friedricks, Jack Berry, Everett Kircher and Robert Trent Jones
We further celebrate Jack Berry's2007 PGA Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, by a repeat show on The Heather Golf Course. Berry had the opportunity to interview both the late and great Robert Trent Jones and owner Everett Kircher about this trend setting course. Join this delightful romp through golf history.
http://michigangolfer.tv/2006shows/boynegolf/heather/

**
MGN ON THE ROAD
Gaylord-Treetops
Fat City. At the time of this writing I am in the President's Suite at Treetops Resort. The room is big enough to practice your chipping. It is well appointed with posh leather furniture, a TV screen that could double as a drive in movie site, photos of some of the spectacular holes at Treetops and caddie bibs signed by Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson when they were here to play in the Par-3 Shootout.

However, it is not all play and no work here. Our visit here is two-fold, we are here to capture the excitement of the Kevin McKinley and Treetops version of The Amazing Race and also teach in one of EMU's Winter Break classes. Over 400 Eastern Michigan University are here to take classes in skiing, snowboarding as well as English Literature and the course we are teaching, Sports and Event Marketing.Gaylord representatives Paul Beachnau, Kevin Frisch, Tish Jankowski and Kevin McKinley dropped by our class to talk about golf, skiiing, snowmobiling and The Amazine Race.

Like many other northern resort towns, Gaylord has been hit by the drop in golf participation, the sour economy and changing weather patterns. They are collectively planning their way out of this situation and hope to have things turned around in another couple of years. Gaylord has long been known for their marketing prowess and this is certainly a time when they need to rekindle some of that magic.

One step toward that is the snow dump we are getting this morning. Mike Fernandez, Treetops GM, was talking about the lack of snow this year. The five to six inches that this system is bringing in should be helpful. Snowis white gold to a ski economy.

http://michigantravel.tv/gaylordgallery

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Lansing-The Lansing Golf Show
At 2:00, last Friday, the doors opened to this year's Lansing Golf Show. Friday was Senior Day at the Lansing Golf Show and it is a promotion that really has caught on. Sure, the seniors are looking for deals, but hey, they are golfing tons of round each year and happiness for our courses still remains to be positive cash flow.While the size of the show was down a tad, the enthusiasm seemed to be up.

There were a number of organizations that seemed to scream out that business is not as usual. The Osprey Management group had new booths, great literature and a bounce of confidence that goes with being the toy department of a very successful leasing firm. The recreational portion of Osprey Management is only eight percent of their business. Currently their golf properties includeBlack Forest, Canthooke Valley, Cutter's Ridge, Ridgeview,The Medalist, The Otsego Club and Wilderness Valley http://www.golfospreyonline.com/ Mike Biber and the Osprey Managanemt group have put some swagger into a golf business that was starting to wobble.

Another group that seems to be getting some traction is the foursome of The Majestic, The Grande, Hawk's Hollow and Eagle Eye. Eagle Eye, which recently became the home of the Michigan Section of the PGA has picked up a number of high profile tournaments, including this year's Michigan Hall of Fame outing.

The Golf Channel Amateur Tour has hand picked the very capable Rick La Rue as their Tour Director for Michigan. Rick said the Golf Channel is very serious about establishing this tour and that he has had some great support from them. The GCAT kicks off its Michigan play at Thorneapple Point GC in May and ends up with the tate finals at the Eagle Eye GC on September the 22. For further info http://thegolfchannel.com or call Rick at 810-982-3964.

The golf road show continues on to Midland for a one day stand on Saturday and thenon to the grand finale, the Michigan Golf Show, at the Rock Financial Showcase in Novi.

Marsh Ridge Resort
Larry Bowden, owner of Marsh Ridge Resort, goes from the green of The Natural's fairways to the white of snowmobile trails each year. Join our Michigan Travel cameras as they catch Bowden amidst a throng of snowmobiliers at his resort.
http://michigantravel.tv/2007marshridge/

Shanty Creek Resort
While Shanty Creek awaits the golf season, they are busy servicing those golfers that return to ski the slopes of The Summit and Schuss Mountain. Steve Kerscher, Director of Skiing for Shanty Creek brings us the latest in an interview with our reporter, Jennie McCafferty.
http://michigangolfer.tv/miskier/season_6/shantycreek/

***
2006 ROUNDS PLAYED WRAP-UP
Some unseasonably warm and dry weather along the northern tier had golfers on the links later in the year than usual in 2006. Television broadcasts showed players teeing it up over the holidays from New York to Michigan. As a result, there were some unusually high increases in the percentage change between 2006 and 2005 rounds in December, albeit on a low volume. For example, facilities in the Northeast averaged about 100 rounds in December 2005 and about 400 rounds in December 2006, for a 300% increase.

The 16.7% increase in rounds nationwide for December pushed up the year-to-date figure to 0.8% on a same-store basis. (Same-store means that only facilities reporting data for both 2006 and 2005 were included in the results.) The Southeast finished the year with the largest increase (4.5%) followed by Central/South Florida (3.4%). The Southwest was down more than any other region (-1.1%). See the table below for more detail.

Taken from a NGF release

***
SIFFORD RECEIVES 2007 OLD TOM MORRIS AWARD
Charles Sifford, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame and the first African-American to play on the PGA Tour, accepted the 2007 Old Tom Morris Award during today's Opening Session of the 2007 GCSAA Education Conference. The Old Tom Morris Award is presented each year to an individual who ³through a continuing lifetime commitment to the game of golf has helped to mold the welfare of the game in a manner and style exemplified by Old Tom Morris.² Morris (1821-1908) was greenkeeper and golf professional at the St. Andrews Links Trust Golf Club of St. Andrews, Scotland; a four-time winner of the British Open (1861, '62, '64 and '67); and ranked as one of the top links designers of the 19th century.

Born June 2, 1922, in Kingwood, Texas, Sifford is a veteran of a tour of duty in World War II with the U.S. Army's 24th Infantry. As the first African-American on the PGA Tour, he endured ridicule and threats in breaking through the PGA of America's Caucasian-only clause in 1961. He won twice on the PGA Tour and also captured the 1975 PGA Seniors' ChampionshipHe was also an original member of the Champions Tour, and won the 1980 Suntree Classic in Melbourne, Australia.As the 25th winner of the Old Tom Morris Award, Sifford joins a list of highly respected past honorees, including Arnold Palmer, Tom Watson, Tom Fazio, Gerald Ford, Bob Hope, Byron Nelson, Ken Venturi, Ben Crenshaw, Jaime Ortiz-Patiño, Nancy Lopez, Tim Finchem, Walter Woods, Pete Dye, Rees Jones and Jack Nicklaus.

Taken from a Ken MournsÝGCSAA release.

***
MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE'S TOP 10 LISTS FOR 2006
http://www.michigangolfer.com/win06-07/index.htm

***
TOP 10 FUNNY GOLF QUOTES
"Golf combines two favorite American pastimes: taking long walks and hitting things with a stick."‹P.J. O'Rourke
"Golf is a game in which you yell 'fore', shoot six, and write down five."‹Paul Harvey
"It took me seventeen years to get 3,000 hits in baseball. I did it in one afternoon on the golf course."‹Hank Aaron
"If I had cleared the trees and drove the green, it would've been a great shot."‹Sam Snead
"I know I am getting better at golf because I am hitting fewer spectators."‹Gerald Ford
"Golf is a game whose aim is to hit a very small ball into an even smaller hole, with weapons singularly ill-designed for the purpose."‹Winston Churchill "The only sure rule in golf is - he who has the fastest cart never has to play the bad lie."‹Mickey Mantle
"The reason the pro tells you to keep your head down is so you can't see him laughing."‹Phyllis Diller
"Golf is a good walk spoiled."‹Mark Twain
"Sex and golf are the two things you can enjoy even if you're not good at them."‹Kevin Costner

http://www.dontquoteme.com/feature/topten/funny_golf_quotes.jsp

***
GWAA WRITING AWARDS
Sports Illustrated¹s Rick Reilly picked up the fifth first-place award of his career and Golf Digest Companies dominated the Non-Daily categories in the Golf Writers Association of America¹s annual writing contest. Reilly¹s winning column was on Mark Lemke, who had always wanted to nominate his son Cory for Faces in the Crowd, but didn¹t do it until after Cory was killed in a motorcycle accident. Reilly won three consecutive column awards from 1999-2001 and also won Non-Daily features in 1999.

Golf Digest Companies won the non-daily special projects for the fifth time in the last six years as Golf Digest writers Jaime Diaz and Guy Yocom tied for first place with their projects on musicians and golf (Diaz) and a look back at Jack Nicklaus¹ 1986 Masters victory two decades later (Yocom). Diaz also finished second in Non-Daily Features behind Golf World¹s Jim Moriarty (Tiger Woods and Walter Hagen). Golf World¹s Bill Fields finished first and third in Non-Daily News. His winning story was on the life and death of Jim Simons; his third place was on Byron Nelson¹s death.

First-time individual winners were Dave Hackenberg of the Toledo Blade in Daily News; Bruce Selcraig in Daily Columns for a column in The Irish Times; Ian O¹Connor of The Journal News in Daily Features; Randall Mell of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, who tied with The Journal News¹ Sam Weinman, for first place in Daily Special Projects; Golf Observer¹s David Barrett in Internet Columns; SI.com¹s Gary Van Sickle in Internet News and Lisa Mickey of Duramedfuturestour.com in Internet Features., The most popular topics among those placing in the contest was Phil Mickelson¹s collapse at Winged Foot, the Ryder Cup and Tiger Woods¹ first decade as a pro. All winners will be honored at the GWAA¹s Annual Awards Dinner April 4 in Augusta, Ga., There were a record 521 entries in the contest.

Taken and edited from a GWAA release

***
GOLF COURSE VIDEOS ON MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION
Buck's Run with Jerry Matthews
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2006shows/bucksrun/
Rose Creek-with Arthur Hills and Steve Forrest
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2004shows/rosecreek/index.html
Timberstone @ Pine Mountain with Jerrty Matthews
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/timberstone/
The Bull at Pinehurst with Jack Nicklaus
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2003shows/thebull/index.html
The Loon with Mike Husby
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/Loon/index.html
The Majestic at Lake Walden with Jerry Matthews
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/majestic/
The Natural at Gaylord with Jerry Matthews
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/natural/
True North with Jack Berry and Jim Engh
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/truenorth/
Tribute with Gary Koch, Rick Robbins and Keith Gornick
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2007shows/tribute/

***

2007 MICHIGAN GOLF CALENDAR
http://michigangolfer.com/calendar.html"

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 High School Athletic Association
http://www.mhsaa.com/
Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association
http://migca.com
Michigan Publinx Seniors Golf Association
http://mpsga.net
National Golf Course Owners Association
http://ngcoa.org
National Golf Foundation
http://ngf.org
National High School Golf Coaches Association
http://www.nhsgca.org

***
MICHIGAN GOLFER ONLINE RESOURCES
Website: http://glsp.com
Ezine http://michigangolfer.com
News: http://www.webgolfer.com/news.html
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv
Podcast: http://glsp.com/podcasts.html

Comments to artmccaf@glsp.com
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