May 9, 2003, Vol. 3, No. 19

Sponsored by:

Bay Mills Resort and Casino/Wild Bluff-Brimley http://www.4baymills.com

Crusecom Technology Consultants, LLC -  Your Strategic Internet Solutions Partner! http://www.crusecom.com

Grand Traverse Resort-Traverse City http://grandtraverseresort.com

Park Place Hotel http://park-place-hotel.com

Upper Peninsula-Michigan's Other Golf Mecca   Affordable Golf-Premium Courses at Reasonable Rates http://upga.org

--- Association Subscribers
Golf Association of Michigan   http://www.gam.org
Michigan Golf Course Owners Association   http://mgcoa.org
Michigan PGA   http://michigan.pga.com
Michigan Women's Publinx Golf Association   http://www.mwpga.com

Edited by Art McCafferty
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__/ SOMEBODY FIRE THE EDITOR OR AT LEAST CUT HIS BONUS
__/ MGN ON THE ROAD
Cadillac
Interlochen
Thompsonville
Traverse City
Ypsilanti
__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER TV-GOLF COMMUNITIES
__/ AMATEURS HAVE STATE BRAGGING RIGHTS OVER THE PROS
__/ GOLF 20/20 ANNOUNCES SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM
__/ ON THE MOVE- DR. WILLIAM SHELTON, HOST OF MICHIGAN GOLFER TV SHOW
__/ BENCHMARKING THE SPORT
__/ CONNECTIVITY UPDATE
__/ PLAYER, LIETZKE AND GILDER COMMIT TO FARMERS CHARITY CLASSIC
__/ HOLES IN ONE CLUB
__/ QUOTE OF THE WEEK
__/ GOLF CALENDAR

SOMEBODY FIRE THE EDITOR OR AT LEAST CUT HIS BONUS
Showing up at Crystal Mountain was not a Blissful experience. In our newsletter last week, we mentioned that Roger Bliss was at Crystal Mountain. Actually, the interview was with Scott Wilson. Roger Bliss is, of course, at Shanty Creek. Thanks and a Tip of the Tam to Dave Richards and Rodger Jabara, for pointing out this bogey.

***

MGN ON THE ROAD
Traverse City -The Walter Hagen Trail- As part of the team to promote "The Haig" tournament coming up on June 20th in Traverse City, we are coming increasingly aware of Walter Hagen's past exploits in Northern Michigan. This past week we visited his former home on Long Lake, his haunts at the Karlin Inn and B0's Bar and Interlochen GC, where his clubs used to be so prominently displayed. Last week, we visited the Traverse City CC, where "The Haig" was feted by some of golfdom's most prominent individuals.

Rich Coates did a great job in an article about "The Haig" this week in TC's Northern Express http://northernexpress.com/

Part of the committee includes, John and Carol Olson of Elmbrook GC. http://elmbrookgolf.com It is their club that will be hosting the event. There was also a nice article by Rick Coates in the Northern Express heralding "The Haig" and his appearance at the tournament banquet. Looks like this will be a lot of fun!

Bill Knopp, of the Park Place Hotel, will provide the lodging for "The Haig" as he revisits, shall we say his past haunts?

Speaking of the Park Place Hotel http://park-place-hotel.com, Bill Knopp, also announced that they will be working with a number of properties in Traverse City, including some golf courses, to put up a virtual tour on the Internet. The taping for the program will be done is late may and is scheduled to be shown on The Michigan Travel Television Show the first week of June. http://michigantravel.com

We caught up with John Jessup of High Pointe at North Peak quaffing down some adult beverages. John is cautiously optimistic about the coming year. John was with Steven St. James, of Northern Golf Development. Steve has been working on the new A-Ga-Ming course, which is scheduled to open late 2004.

Thompsonville
We stopped by to catch some lunch at Crystal Mountain and ran into the affable Rodger Jabara. Rodger has joined the staff after spending the previous couple of decades at Shanty Creek. With the exception of Rick Smith, Brad Dean and Mike Husby, Rodger is probably the most well known golf professional in the north.

Rodger, will continue to run his ski shop at Schuss in the winter.

Ypsilanti-Eagle Crest Resort
Eagle Crest Resort was just dazzling in the evening sun. The extensive tree planning program that was undertaken in the youth of the course, has kicked in big time. The Eagles women's golf team finished 2nd in the MAC this year, their highest ranking ever.

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MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION-GOLF COMMUNITIES
Our cameras have investigated a number of golf communities this past year. You will find these communities highlighted in our May/June issue. For those of you that are interested in golf course living, you can check our story on line at http://michigangolfer.com or watch as we bring you the spokespersons for...
A-Ga.Ming-still to be taped
Birchwood Realty-with Richard Rochette
Beaver Creek Resort-with Larry Bowden
Garland-with Bob O'Brien
Gull Lake View-with Jon Scott
Lakewood Shores-with Craig Peters
Pheasant Ridge-with Tina Stemen
Canadian Lakes-with Norm Browning
http://michigangolfer.tv/2003shows/re

MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION
24/7
ALWAYS ON

***
GOLF 20/20 ANNOUNCES SCHOOL PILOT PROGRAM
The Executive Board of GOLF 20/20, the industry-supported effort to foster the growth of interest and participation in the game, has approved the test strategy for a National School Golf Program, with a pilot program targeted for the 2003-2004 school year.

The primary focus will be in elementary schools, which will be provided with a curriculum, equipment and training for physical education teachers. The equipment will be especially designed for safety and for fun. "The goal is to provide a P.E. activity that appeals to kids and gives them a positive first experience in golf," said Ruffin Beckwith, Executive Director of GOLF 20/20.

GOLF 20/20 has also announced the hiring of Benna S. Cawthorn as Director of the National School Golf Program. Cawthorn is a former physical education teacher and youth sports program director in the Orlando area, and most recently has served as the Director of Education for 3G Golf Ventures in Lakeland, FL, where she developed and wrote the curriculum for the Scholastic Edition of SNAG (Starting New at Golf), which is currently used in many schools.

*** ON THE MOVE-DR. WILLIAM SHELTON, HOST OF THE MICHIGAN GOLFER TV SHOW
Bill Shelton, host of the Michigan Golfer TV Show and former President of Eastern Michigan University, has accepted a position of Vice Chancellor for University Development at East Carolina University at Greenville, North Carolina. "They approached me last year and I just was not ready to get back into university administration. However, they came back this year with a better offer and more responsibilities. It was just too nice of an offer to turn down," said Shelton.

Dr. Shelton served as President of EMU for 11 years and then as a faculty member with Eastern's Educational Leadership department for the past three years.

Bill served as host of the Michigan Golfer TV Show since its inception on March 9th 2001. At the time, it was the first Internet television golf show in the world. Since that time nearly 150,000 people have logged on to view one of his shows.

Bill will leave Michigan in mid June. However, there are still a number of shows that he has hosted that will be coming up this summer.

***
AMATEURS HAVE STATE BRAGGING RIGHTS OVER THE PROS
Tuesday at Prestwick Village Country Club, the Amateurs representing the GAM scored a decisive victory over the Michigan Section PGA golf professionals in a Ryder Cup style event known as the Fuller Cup. The final score was GAM 12, MI PGA 6. On a sunny and very windy day, Honorary Captain Gus Cosmos celebrated his 86th birthday in style as the GAM has now won 2 of the last 3 Fuller Cups in this long rivalry. Members of the GAM winning team include: John Leach, Kevin Miller, Bill O'Connor, Greg Reynolds, Adam Walicki, Dale Black, Russ Cunningham, Larry VanderBie, John Lindholm, Bill Zylstra, Mark Kurzyno The GAM Amateurs (12) defeated the Michigan Section PGA (12) today at the 2003 Fuller Cup Matches held at Prestwick Village Golf Club. The last year the amateur team won was two years ago, 2001.

Thanks and a Tip of the Tam to Tonia Branch of the GAM for the info.

***
CONNECTIVITY UPDATE
comScore Networks, the standard in Internet behavioral measurement, recently announced that the number of Internet users accessing the web though a broadband connection at home has increased by 9 percent in just six months (March 2003 versus October 2002). This compares to a decrease in dial-up users of 2 percent in the same period. In March, fully 28 percent of all home Internet users accessed the Internet via broadband connection.
http://www.comscore.com/

While it has long been suspected that Canada had a high level of broadband usage, comScore Media Metrix Canada reported conclusive evidence that Canadians have adopted and embraced broadband to a higher degree than their neighbours to the south. As of January 2003, broadband users represented fully 53.6 percent of the Canadian online population, but only 33.8 percent of the U.S. online population.

Through a first-ever comparison of Web usage dynamics between U.S. and Canadian Internet users, comScore Media Metrix Canada also reported that Canadian broadband surfers consume significantly more online content than their American counterparts. Collectively, Canadian broadband users account for 64 percent of all time spent online in Canada, whereas their counterparts n the U.S. account for 54 percent of Internet usage time in that country.

*** BENCHMARKING THE SPORT
As part of its charter to grow the game of golf, Golf 20/20 has called upon the allied associations of golf to help with industry benchmarking. A critical measurement of the health of our industry, and a true benchmark of our progress is rounds played. And in order for us to get an accurate read on rounds played, we are counting on facilities like yours to participate and share information.

In response to Golf 20/20ís request, the NGF is providing the system for ongoing rounds played reporting. Participation is free and all data remains strictly confidential. In return for your participation, you will receive a quarterly national/regional Rounds Played report.

Simply log on to the hyperlink below and enter your facility data; the process takes less than 2 minutes.

http://www.roundsplayed.com/cgi/dataentry.asp?fid31578

Thank you for your support of the Golf 20/20 Rounds Played Initiative.

*** PLAYER, LIETZKE AND GILDER COMMIT TO FARMERS CHARITY CLASSIC
Gary Player, one of golf's most recognizable stars, and Bruce Lietzke and Bob Gilder, the two most recent winners on the PGA Champions Tour, have all committed to play in the Farmers Charity Classic, June 16-22, 2003 at Egypt Valley Country Club. This trio of players continues to add to the growing list of Champions Tour players that have made early commitments to the Farmers Charity Classic, organized and produced by the Grand Rapids Jaycees.

The Farmers Charity Classic field now boasts 7 of the 10 players who have won on the Champions Tour in 2003.

Dana Quigley - MasterCard Championship
Dave Barr - Royal Caribbean Classic
Vicente Fernandez - The ACE Group Classic
David Eger - MasterCard Classic
Rodger Davis - Toshiba Senior Classic
Bob Gilder - Emerald Coast Classic
Bruce Lietzke - Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf

"We're very pleased that all three of these champions have committed to play in our event this year," said Clinger, who as a member of the Grand Rapids Jaycees is overseeing the organization's involvement with the tournament this year.

Tickets for the Farmers Charity Classic are on sale at all Tickets PLUS locations and online at http://www.ticketsplus.net. Many local Meijer stores have a Tickets PLUS outlet.

For all the latest news, ticket and corporate hospitality information, or to become a volunteer at the tournament, visit http://www.farmerscharityclassic.com

***
HOLES IN ONE CLUB
Dave Ladensack, o f Lakeport, is our first "Holes in One" member. Ladensack drilled a 6-iron to the 161-yard seventh hole at Port Huron Elks Golf club and followed up that feat with another one on the 14th with a 4-iron to the 186-yard hole. He shot a 9-over par 81.

Armando Vela of Taylor hit his 7-iron 115 yards to ace the 17th hole at Concord Hills GC. Pete Jakubiszen witnessed the feat.

Scott Carzoli of Sterling Heights, hit a 5-iron to the 185 yard 4th hole at Devil's Ridge for his ace.

Congrats and a Tip of the Tam to Armando and Scott and a double Tip of the Tam to Dave.
http://www.holeinone.com/

***
QUOTES OF THE WEEK
Golf Verse

This is the substance of our Plot-
For those who play the Perfect Shot,
There are ten thousand who do not.
- Grantland Rice, Dedicated to the Duffer

The life of the golfer is not all gloom;
There's always the lies in the locker room.
- Sammy Cahn and Jimmy van Heusen, "Straight Down the Middle"

Mary had a little putt, she needed it for par.
Mary has a second putt...the first one went too far!

- Margaret Kennard, Rhymes from the Rough (1992)

Taken from http://www.pasturegolf.com/trivia.htm

***
GOLF CALENDAR

Tour and Association Calendars

Associations
Golf Association of Michigan http://www.gam.org/champ/schedule.cgi
Michigan Section PGA http://www.Michigan.PGA.com
Michigan Golf Course Owners Association http://mgcoa.org
Golf Course Superintendents Association of America http://www.gcsaa.org
Shanty Creek http://www.shantycreek.com/calendar.html

Tours
Canadian Tour- http://www.cantour.com
European Tour- http://www.europeantour.com
Hooters Tour- http://www.ngahooterstour.com
Futures Tour- http://www.futurestour.com
PGA-- http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/pgatour.html

• Michigan Runner http://michiganrunner.net
• Michigan Runner Archives http://michiganrunner.com
• Michigan Runner TV http://michiganrunner.tv
• Running Network: http://runningnetwork.com
• Michigan Golfer http://michigangolfer.com
• Michigan Golfer TV http://michigangolfer.tv
• Michigan Skier http://michiganskier.com
• Michigan Skier TV http://michiganskier.tv
• Michigan Travel TV http://michigantravel.tv
• GLSP http://www.glsp.com