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Sports Detroit Golf Club Hosting PGA Tournament This Week
2019.06.25 00:36
Motor City shifts into gear for PGA Tour
By VARTAN KUPELIAN | June 25, 2019
It is entirely fitting that a perfect storm has returned the PGA Tour to Detroit for this week’s Rocket Mortgage Classic at Detroit Golf Club. That’s because an imperfect storm brought an end to southeastern Michigan’s longstanding Buick Open after the 2009 tournament at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc.
In 2009, the local economy was tanking and the Big Three automakers – General Motors, Ford and Chrysler – were feeling the pinch as never before. The Buick Open, a staple in these parts for 51 years, was a victim of the fallout.
The tournament began in 1958 as the Buick Invitational, the first time any automaker in the world had opted to sponsor professional golf, a fact that Buick promoted for many years. The wisdom of that decision has been validated many times over with so many automakers worldwide attaching their brand to golf tournaments.
There were great years at the Buick Open, and it all came to a head when Buick signed Tiger Woods to a sponsorship deal in 1999, three years after he turned professional. That was the beginning of a whole new ballgame for Buick and corporate parent General Motors. The glory days lasted for a decade, until the declining economy and Buick’s woes pulled the plug.
Everybody knew professional golf belonged in Detroit and that it would return someday. But the notion needed to marinate for a while until the economy made a comeback and somebody in the corporate world stepped up to replace Buick.
The second part of that was to find a golf course willing and able to host a PGA Tour event. Until this week, there never has been a PGA Tour event within the Detroit city limits. The centerpiece for big-time golf in southeastern Michigan always has been Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Township. Oakland Hills has been host to six U.S. Opens (think Ben Hogan, 1951), three PGA Championships, the 2004 Ryder Cup and two U.S. Senior Opens (Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus).
It’s hard to measure up to Oakland Hills as a venue, and that’s been a deterrent for Detroit. The area’s great classic courses have been considered too short for Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and the other bombers of the modern era. They were short on infrastructure – classic courses aren’t big on practice facilities, traffic flow or parking. That’s just the way it is.
So it required one of the classic designs to step up and decide that it can do this. It took a membership onboard with the task, and it took a Detroit-based business owner with a sense of community, Dan Gilbert and his Rocket Mortgage, to finally say, Let’s get this done.
And they have.
The Rocket Mortgage Classic was no afterthought. It could not be, given the challenges. Its roots were planted even before the Buick Open departed in 2009. It was seven years before DGC unveiled a master plan, which included securing a PGA Tour event. The work was done quietly in stages, with construction phases in 2006, 2010, 2012 and 2014. Architect Bruce Hepner was commissioned to restore the club’s two Donald Ross-designed courses, North and South, to their original greatness after the years had altered their character.
By 2014, very little needed to be done to bring the North Course, site of this week’s tournament, to the standards that would lure the PGA Tour and challenge the game’s top players. This event should help restore the bygone luster of one of America’s great facilities, which includes an historic Albert Khan-designed clubhouse from 1918. They don’t build ’em like this anymore.
Only one hole on the North Course will be borrowed from the South, to stretch the length to 7,303 yards (par 72) and make it technically a composite course. The routing of the North Course has been altered to accommodate the addition of the first hole on the South: a 410-yard par 4, which becomes the third hole in the routing and links up nicely with the fourth hole. No. 4 is the most dramatic change. A short par 5 on the North Course has been stretched to 625 yards. The first hole on the North Course, a 305-yard par 4, won't be used.
Whenever the subject came up as to viable alternatives for a PGA Tour event, Detroit Golf Club – not to be confused with Country Club of Detroit – always was at the forefront. That demonstrated a desire to do something special for the city and the club, which is a treasure-trove of golf history. Horton Smith, the big redhead who won two of the first three Masters Invitational titles, in 1934 and 1936, went from Augusta National Golf Club to DGC as golf professional. Later, George Bayer, renowned as the longest hitter of his day and a PGA Tour winner, was the club professional. All of golf’s greats played at DGC at one point or another.
Tournament organizers are reporting daily that another round has been sold out, with a target of about 100,000 spectators for the four tournament rounds. That’s without Tiger Woods in the field. It’s not a surprise. It simply proves that southeastern Michigan actually missed professional golf as much as it claimed over the past decade.
That’s not a surprise, either. Michigan is the most underrated golf state in America. It has more public courses – still above 500 despite the recent spate of a closures – than any state in the union. That’s blue-collar golf, like the town.
The buzz for the Rocket Mortgage Classic has been palpable. There’s another reason for that: the abysmal spring weather in Michigan has denied golfers many opportunities to play. They’re itching to get out and watch Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler and the others compete. It’s the right time for the PGA Tour to return to Detroit and the perfect time for the city to embrace the game with renewed vigor.
Vartan Kupelian covered his first U.S. Open in 1973 at Oakmont Country Club. A past president of the Golf Writers Association of America, he was a sports writer and columnist at The Detroit News for 38 years. He has covered more than 100 major championships across all tours. Email: golfstix@aol.com
Comment 14
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All these "white supremacist ideas" go sour right in front of their noses so soon.
I just don't understand why they don't realize it.
It's just like our Donald Trump who will "surely" end up eating his own shit.
Anyway, thanks for showing me one of the good examples here.
If I were you, I would have resigned from the shit-hole in a year or so,
just show your gratitude to the members who recommended and supported you.
I just don't understand why you stayed there and wasted time for 25 years
because I and some of us know something that you may not know.
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Thank you for your comment, WM.
The late Henry Ford II once said to the media,
"No complaining, no explaining."
Or "Never complain; never explain."
That will be my response to your comment.
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(Take a hole by hole tour of Rocket Mortage Classic course layout)
The 11th and 18th hole look like challenging holes. It will add more interests for me to watch
the tournament. Thank you, Dr. Lee!
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Dr. Lee, my apologies and very sorry about my comment. Nothing personal to you.
The subject matter can be turned into very sarcastic interpretations,
especially in the face of Trump's politics and inter-racial collisions of today's atmosphere.
For example, why "a Korean" should feel honored when a white supremacy group accepts him
into their own group.
In a generic non-personal point of view, should he spit on their faces as a free man
or kiss their asses like a slave?
Now, do you feel what I mean? I guess you know me.
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WM, your apology is accepted.
always appreciate your thoughtfulness and deep understanding on complicated matters.
Thank you.
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Thank you, Dr. Ohn, for your help.
My old golfing buddies and I used to say that
we never got tired of DGC no matter how many years we played there.
The longer we played there, the more we seemed to appreciate
the genius of Donald Ross.
Many of my golfing buddies used to go to Florida over the winter,
but were all anxious to come back coinciding with the opening of the club.
I belonged to a men's league, called "Unholy Dozen", with an automatic
tee time starting at 9 AM every Sunday. Because we were all golf-crazy,
instead of going to church, some two dozen guys met at the first tee at 9 AM, Sunday.
That is why our league was named that way.
They were bunch of fun loving guys. I loved every one of them.
Just a month ago one of the last few remaining passed away.
I truly miss all these guys, true human beings, down to earth, without prejudice.
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황규정*65
2019.06.25 23:02
I am glad PGA had added new tournament,'The Rocket Mortgage Classic'
at Dedtroit Golf Club. It has been 10 years since Buick Open was closed.It is real exciting feeling around here about this event and I bet it
will be succeeding event considering Motown as a bluecolor town!As a sport fan I have share of good memories all those Buick Opens and
Ryder Cup at Oakland Hills in 2004 as well and I vividly remember I
followed Tiger-Mickelson pair with somewhat disappointing result.I have great memories with DGC mainly due to my friend,Hahn Lee,
who had been a member and had played annually at this club as part of sharing
host among our classmates(Moowon Chai,and Hahn Lee). Those were good old
memories for us! DGC was somewhat familiar set up for me because my CC was
desigend by same Donald Ross as well.Thanks! Dr.Lee for sharing this story with us! KJ
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Thank you, Dr. Hwang, and
our golfing buddies, 채무원 and 이재영,
and I don't want to miss, 고 안경식, one of our original foursome,
for all the fond memories I surely will carry in my heart for my remaining journey.
We had our last farewell golf outing at your club, St. Claire CC.
Thank you and Mrs. once again, for "all the memories" and always being such a good, thoughtful,
and hospitable host and hostess
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황규정*65
2019.06.26 21:31
That was a memorable 'chapter' of our lives!
Now
I wish we could stay it forever rather than
moving on to next chapter of our lives!However
Life is beautiful never-the-less! Have a great
day! My friend! KJ -
DETROIT (AP) -- Nate Lashley has been thinking about the deaths of his parents and girlfriend as he tries to close out the Rocket Mortgage Classic for his first PGA Tour title.
''Yeah, it definitely crosses your mind,'' Lashley said Saturday after shooting a bogey-free 9-under 63 to open a six-stroke lead at 23 under. ''It came through my mind at one point today. At some points it's not easy, but it goes through your mind and it's something that's always going to be there for me.''
The 353rd-ranked player is in his second season on the PGA Tour, reaching the highest level of golf after a long road that included tragedy , selling real estate and playing in the PGA Tour's minor leagues.
After watching Lashley play in a tournament for the University of Arizona in 2004, his parents and girlfriend died in a plane crash in Wyoming. Rod and Char Lashley and Leslie Hofmeister, all of Scottsbluff, Nebraska, were missing for three days before their bodies and the wreckage were found near the 13,780-foot Gannett Peak.
Lashley meditates, but acknowledges he can't always control where his thoughts drift even when he's playing golf.
''You can't prepare for what your mind's going to go through on the golf course,'' he said.
Lashley made a living as a real estate agent after graduating from college and his playing career started, stopped and resumed again. He won the Waterloo Open, a professional tournament, in Iowa in 2011 and quit competitive golf the next year.
''When I was flipping houses, I thought I was pretty much done with golf,'' Lashley recalled. ''I always felt like I had the talent and ability to play out here. It was just a matter of getting out here and getting comfortable.''
Lashley gave the game another shot, playing on the PGA Tour Latinoamerica circuit in 2015 and moved up to what is now called the Korn Ferry Tour two years later.
He made his PGA Tour debut last season in his mid-30s, but he had to end his year after 17 events because of a knee injury.
The 36-year-old Lashley slipped into the field at Detroit Golf Club as an alternate. He tied for eighth in February in the Puerto Rico Open - played opposite the World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship - for his only top-10 finish on the tour. He's 132nd in the FedEx Cup standings.
If he can shoot 63 for a third time, he'll set the PGA Tour scoring record in relation to par that Ernie Els has held since 2003 at 31 under.
Lashley, the first- and second-round leader, started Saturday with a one-shot lead and pulled away with the low round of the day.
J.T. Poston (66) was second. Cameron Tringale (65) was another stroke back as one of many players taking advantage of scoring opportunities on one of the easiest courses on the tour.
''I think I had dropped 25 places before I even teed off today, so I knew low scores were out there,'' Tringale said. ''I just had to keep hitting fairways and greens.''
That's exactly what Lashley has been doing at Detroit Golf Club.
Lashley is not long off the tee, ranking among the middle of the pack. He has been spectacularly accurate on his approach shots into receptive greens, setting him for a lot of relatively short putts that he's making.
When Lashley did take chances, he was able to make shots.
His drive on the 559-yard, par-5 seventh landed in an adjacent fairway, leaving him with the choice of hitting a shot low below branches or sending the ball over towering trees and toward the green. He chose to go high and cleared the trees, leaving him 120 feet from the pin. Lashley's approach landed just 4 feet from the cup and he made the putt for birdie.
He had birdies on four of his first seven holes and had five more on the back nine in the third round. He opened the Rocket Mortgage Classic with a career-low 63 that he matched in the third round.
''I've never experienced anything like this,'' said Lashley, who shot a 67 in the second round. ''You don't ever expect to shoot 9 under on the PGA Tour, and I've done it twice in three days.''
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More AP golf: https://apnews.com/apf-Golf and https://twitter.com/AP-Sports
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After reading this above story, my heart goes out for him, Nate Lashley.
I am rooting for him now.
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Detroit, MI
° FThru Total Purse F -25 - F -19 - F -18 - F -18 - F -17 - F -17 - F -17 - F -17 - F -17 - F -17 - All the golf fans there and I were happy for Nate Lashley.
His sister was crying uncontrollably.
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황규정*65
2019.06.30 12:15
I was watching LPGA game on live and just finished
watching taped PGA game. I am also happy for Champion,
Nathan Lashley considering tragedy of his parent and
girlfriend.Also
Coming back story of Nathan is quite similar to host
city,Detroit!,I must say.Management for this inaugural tournament by DGC was
excellant,I think and we all are proud of that!. KJ
I felt that this article is a nice introduction of Detroit Golf Club to the golfing world.
I joined the club in 1989 as a regular member along with the black mayor of Detroit.
My application was first rejected because I was an Asian. Two of the 10 board members
voted against me. In order to be a member the bylaw requires all ten board members to vote yes.
I had five sponsors, all Caucasian MDs, who all protested in the strongest terms and language
by writing(the copy of the letter I still keep)accusing the racist board members of their shameful act.
One of them even called those two members at home and said so verbally.
One month later the board decided to hold a special meeting because of me and passed my application
unanimously along with the application of the black mayor of City of Detroit, Dennis Archer,
who became the first golfing black member.
Coleman Young, the previous mayor of Detroit, became the first social member as a black,
previous to Dennis Archer, which made a news as well at the time, but he didn't play golf.
After I joined the club, the floodgates were open for the blacks. Now the club cannot survive without
the large number of black members.
Unfortunately I remained as the only one Asian member for 25 years from 1989 to 2014.
Most of my friends there passed away, yet my wife and I have so many fond memories there, one of
which was holding SNUCMAA Christmas Party there many years ago.
My wife and I certainly will enjoy watching this tournament, you bet.