Michigan Golfer ON-LINE: MICHIGAN GOLF NEWS - July 14, 2006 VOL. 6, NO. 28

Michigan Golf News
July 14, 2006 Vol. 6, No. 28

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GRAND TRAVERSE RESORT & SPA
Web: http://grandtraverseresort.com
Video: Michigan Open http://michigangolfer.tv/2006shows/michiganopen/

NATIVE AMERICAN CUP-AUGUST 4-6
Web: http://nativeamericancup.org
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/nativeamericancup/

OTSEGO CLUB & RESORT-GAYLORD
Golf Packages http://otsegoclub.com/allpackages.php

SHANTY CREEK RESORT & CLUB
Golf Packages http://www.shantycreek.com/golf/package.html

DESIGN YOUR OWN IRELAND GOLFING GETAWAY
Click on - http://www.sullivangolf.ie/quoteform.html
Sullivan Golf & Travel The Ireland Golf Travel Specialist

IN GAYLORD, GOLF THE NATURAL: A JERRY MATTHEWS COURSE
Video: http://michigangolfer.tv/2005shows/natural/
Golf Packages http://golfthenatural.com

GLSP TELEVISION NETWORK
MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION CHANNEL http://michigangolfer.tv
MICHIGAN RUNNER TELEVISION CHANNEL http://michiganrunner.tv
MICHIGAN TRAVEL TELEVISION CHANNEL http://michigantravel.tv
MICHIGAN SKIER TELEVISION CHANNEL http://michiganskier.tv
RUNNING CANADA TELEVISION CHANNEL http://runningcanada.tv

Edited by Art McCafferty-Producer/Publisher, GLSP

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__/ MGN ON THE ROAD
Leelanau Peninsula
Traverse City
__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER-TV
Scott Hebert Wins the Michigan Open-Jack Berry Interview
Greg Davies: The 95th Michigan Amateur Champion-Jack Berry Interview
__/ SUMMER EDITION: MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE - NOW ONLINE
__/ HILL AND VIZINA WIN THE E-Z-GO SHANTY CREEK PGA CLASSIC
__/ FOUR GOLFER CAN NOW PLAY FOR THE PRICE OF THREE!
__/ NGF REPORTS MAY GOLF ROUNDS DOWN, YTD UP
__/ MANDI MCCONNELL GAM MICHIGAN WOMEN'S AMATEUR MEDALIST
__/ RESORT AND GOLF MARKETING ADD UNITED ARAB EMIRATES TO THEIR ROLEDEX
__/ CHOK RADIO-Traverse City-Native American Cup
__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION UPCOMING SHOWS
__/ MICHIGAN TOURNAMENTS
__/ 2006 MICHIGAN GOLF CALENDAR
__/ ASSOCIATION LINKS
__/ MICHIGAN GOLFER ONLINE RESOURCES
__/ COURSE VIDEOS

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MGN ON THE ROAD AND IN THE CLASSROOM
Leelanau Peninsula
The Leelanau Peninsula, one of the most beautiful places in our state, has the golf to go with it. King's Challenge is one of five Arnold Palmer golf courses in our state, the Dunes Golf Club is a terrific 18 hole course located in the Sleeping Bear Dunes area. The Leelanau Club is the newest golf property in the area and offers some significant terrain undulations and beauty. For those that want to work on their short game, you can check out the Homestead's par 3 course. The par 3 course costs $25 to play and it is gorgeous. The Homestead is also the home of Dave Petz's Short Game Golf School.

Traverse City
We spent the past week teaching a class for Eastern Michigan University entitled Sports and Events Marketing. It is a senior level undergraduate business course and it is taught in a compressed one week format. It was a fun class, in that we were able to invite a number of guest speakers that included Henry Boulley of the Native American Cup, J. Michael DeAgostino, Public Relations Manager of the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa, Chris MacInnes and Joan O'Neill of Crystal Mountain Resort, Mike Husby, GM of Candlestone Resort, Jim McIntyre of Knorr Marketing, EMU President John Fallon, Dr. Sidney Fallon and a number of other guest speakers.

We learned that The Native American Cup is continuing its path toward becoming a "major" within the Native American Tribes of American. Henry Boulles,Tournament Director, indicated that this year the competitors will include golfers from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians, Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe, Seneca Nation of Indians and a special team from Oklahoma. The tournament is scheduled for August 4-6 at the Grand Traverse Resort & Spa. J. Michael DeAgostino, Public Relations Manager, indicated that the renovations will continue at the resort with the Trillium Restaurant the next to be upgraded. The newly renovated lobby is spectacular. Mike Husby indicated that Candlestone Resort business is up, way up for the year and that June was awesome. Chris MacInnes and Joan O'Neill brought us up to date on their plans for celebrating Crystal Mountain's 50 years in the resort business. Jim McIntyre reminded us of those great Garland radio ads that played on WJR a few years ago, some of the best golf advertising ever. Finally, we learned that the new President of Eastern Michigan University, John Fallon loves golf and a variety of other sports.

Traverse City was still in a celebratory mood after having record crowds for the National Cherry Festival. The town continues its growth stage, with new buildings popping up everywhere.

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MICHIGAN GOLFER TELEVISION

The Michigan Open at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa Scott Hebert won his 6th Michigan Open at what is now his home course, The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa. Jack Berry interviews Scott about his domination of The Bear and his place in Michigan golf history. Hebert tied the legendary Al Watrous, of Oakland Hills fame, with his 6th win. Kevin Helm, CEO of the Michigan PGA, steps up to the podium and gives away the hardware and the checks at the awards ceremony.
http://michigangolfer.tv/2006shows/michiganopen/

95th Michigan Amateur
Actually, we have a number of shows for you to watch on our Michigan Amateur coverage; The 95th Michigan Amateur Winner Greg Davies, The Michigan Amateur Awards Presentation with Ryan Brehm and Greg Davies, The Sweet 16 Dinner with an Interview with Medalist Korey Mahoney and Owner Steve Kircher, The First Tee of Boyne Highlands with Shauna Bezilla, a recipient of a $5,000 gift from Boyne and presented by Bernie Friedrich, a show on the Boynes, Boyne, Michigan and Boyne, Ireland and a show about the Harbor Springs, Petoskey and Boyne areas. Bon Appetit.
http://michigangolfer.tv/2006shows/boynegolf/

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SUMMER EDITION: MICHIGAN GOLFER MAGAZINE - NOW ONLINE
http://webgolfer.com/summer06/index.html

Chuck Kocsis-The Best There Ever Was-by Jack Berry
Jack Berry reflects on the past achievements of Michigan's greatest golfer. You can also see the video we prepared on Kocsis at http://michigangolfer.tv/2006shows/kocsis/

The 95th Michigan Amateur-by Jack Berry
The Michigan Amateur shares the spotlight with The Heather at Boyne Highlands. Greg Davies, a 38-year- old journeyman amateur, won in his 20th Michigan Amateur. The Heather, the course that launched Northern Michigan golf turns 40 this year. She never looked so good. You can also check out our Michigan Amateur show at http://michigangolfer.tv

Michigan Golfer Internet Television: The First Five Years and 250 Courses-by Art McCafferty
Our first of 250 shows was with Bill Newcomb, designer of Calderone Farms. It was a gamble five years ago to see if golfers would watch TV on their computer, but almost a million viewers later our vision seeems to have paid off.

New Courses:
The Ambassador Club-by Thad Gutowski
Canada's most famous golf architect, Thomas McBroom, adds another to his impressive list of great courses. Other McBroom courses include: Domaine Laforest Segard, Quebec,, Ussher's Creek Niagara Falls, Ontario ,The Algonquin St. Andrews by the Sea, New Brunswick , Timberwolf Sudbury, Ontario and Monterra Collingwood, Ontario to name a few.

Beeches Golf Club-by Kelly Hill The latest from W.Bruce Matthews III and his Matthews Golf Design firm.

W. Bruce Mathews III: Small Budgets, Big Courses-by Bernice Phillips Matthews Golf Design still has work. Although the golf building boom has gone bust, the Matthews Golf Design keeps pumping out courses. The Beeches, puts Matthews over 40 new course designs.

Michigan Golf Hall of Fame: Class of 2005-by Jack Berry Jack Berry, a Hall of Fame member himself, chronicles this classy class.

Slice of Life-The DeVicenzo Code, The Movie - by Terry Moore Terry Moore revisits the mystery of the DeVicenzo and Goalby Masters

Readership of the Michigan Golfer Ezine averaged 9,789 per issue in 2005.

http://www.webgolfer.com/

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HILL AND VIZINA WIN THE E-Z-GO SHANTY CREEK PGA CLASSIC
by Tim Hygh
The team of Mark Hill and Tom Vizina has been close to winning the E- Z-GO Shanty Creek PGA Classic in the past. Over the past 7 years, they¹ve lost in two playoffs and been a consistent top 5 finisher. Now they have their names on the trophy. A final round 12-under par 60 gave the northern Michigan team a 1-stroke lead in this 27th annual pro/pro event.

Hill and Vizina came into the final round 2-shots off the pace and in a tie for 5th. A slow start today didn¹t give them much hope of turning around their 7-year streak. But a birdie on the 4th hole at Shanty Creek¹s Schuss Mountain Golf Course followed by an eagle on the fifth got them thinking otherwise.

³I made a bomb of a putt on number four² Hill of Kalkaska¹s Twin Birch GC said. ³And then Tom made an eagle by himself on the par 5 fourth². The final round is a 2-man scramble format.

Meantime, the first round co-leading teams started slowly too. The Mogg brothers, Andrew and Peter never felt comfortable in the format and incurred a rare penalty stroke with a putting infraction. They slid to a tie for ninth with a final round 66. The other co-leading team, made up of Grand Rapids based professionals Joe Pollack and Gary Smithson finished tied for 4th with a final round 64.

The hottest round of the day came from the middle of the pack. George Bowman (Oakhurst CC) and Kevin Muir (The Wyndgate) started the day in a tie for 13th place. They had a torrid round of 58 to finish a shot back which tied them with the team of Bob Pillard and Jim Szlaga.

Hill and Vizina got hot again on the back nine. They played the 14th thru 16th holes at 4-under par. ³That¹s when I thought we had a chance to win it² Vizina, SS Marie Country Club Head Professional said.

³It¹s very sweet,² Hill said. ³We started slow, but were never in trouble and had 2 balls in play a lot which made for a stress free day² and put $900 inn each of their pockets. Their share of the $10,000 purse.

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FOUR GOLFER CAN NOW PLAY FOR THE PRICE OF THREE!
Tha Natural Golf Course in Gaylord is offering four rounds for the price of three through July 31. Some restrictions may apply, so you will need to visit the coupon section of their web site for more details. Also, there is a Marsh Ridge Resort and The Natural offer Gaylord ¹s best golf and condo lodging packages starting at only $99.95. Call their reservation specialist toll free 1.800.743.7529

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NGF REPORTS MAY GOLF ROUNDS DOWN, YTD UP
Although rounds played slipped 3.2% in May 2006 vs. May 2005, the National Golf Foundation reported a 4.5% increase in rounds played for the first five months of 2006. The reporting is based on data from operators at more than 1,800 golf facilities. For the full year 2005, rounds played were down 0.1%.

Year-to-date, regions experienced the largest positive swings were the Northeast (+10.1%), Mid-Atlantic (+11.6%) and Upper Midwest (+6.4%). Only the Northwest (-4.6%), which had experienced above normal precipitation in the Jan-Feb timeframe, showed a y-t-d decline.

For May, play was down at all types of facilities. Year-to-date, play at premium public courses (those with peak season weekend green fees with cart above $70) is up 2.5%. At value courses (those with peak season weekend green fees with cart below $40), rounds played rose 4.6%. At standard courses ($40-70), play was up 4.5%.

At all public courses, 2005 rounds played were up 0.1%; year-to-date 2006, up 4.4%. At private clubs, 2005 rounds played were down 1.0%; year-to-date 2006, up 4.9%.

Golf Datatech reported May rounds declined 2.7% versus May of 2005, while year-to-date rounds played showed a 3.4% increase compared to the same period last year. Golf Datatech_s numbers are based on information reported by 2,462 courses.

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MANDI MCCONNELL GAM MICHIGAN WOMEN'S AMATEUR MEDALIST
GAM Michigan Women¹s Amateur defending champion Mandi McConnell (Grand Blanc) continued her strong play today at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor following Monday¹s round of 73 with a round of 72. Her 145 total for two days of stroke play earned her medalist honors.³It¹s just awesome,² said McConnell. ³It¹s very exciting. So now the real excitement comes because we are going into match play. I love it because it is one shot, one hole at a time. You are out there with one person and you are just focusing on that. It¹s great.²McConnell had five birdies for the day, but felt that her play was more consistent Monday. With three bogeys and one double on Tuesday, the round was a roller coaster for her. On Monday she had one birdie, two bogeys and shot par on the rest of the holes. Submittted by Assistant Communications Director Susan Smiley at 586-556-0198.

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RESORT AND GOLF MARKETING ADD UNITED ARAB EMIRATES TO THEIR ROLEDEX
Dave Richards got a request for a Rick Smith head shot from Zacharias Joseph, Chief Ideations and Operations Officer, of ZACH Multimedia, an integrated marketing communications consultancy based in the United Arab Emirates. He is also the cousin of Sanjay Kuttemperoor a golfer who got two hole in ones while golfing with Smith. Smith was the teacher of Sanjay Kuttemperoor, of Naples, Fla., who he was playing with when he made his two aces in a matter of minutes on the Treetops Course¹s fifth and ninth holes. Lloyds of London, a company that supplies hole-in-one insurance, sets the odds of such an occurrence at 67,000,000 to 1. Based on those odds, a golfer would have to play a round of golf 365 days a year for 183,561 years in order to accomplish the feat. ***
CHOK RADIO
This morning's show will take place in Traverse City and our guest will be Henry Boulley, Tournament Chairman of the Native American Cup.

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MICHIGAN TOURNAMENTS
http://michigangolfer. com/tournaments.html

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2006 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

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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