Michigan Golf Journal July 2019

Certainly, included in this group is Dave’s brother Mike, who won three times on the PGA Tour and 18 times on the Champions Tour. In two seasons on the Champions Tour, Mike won five times and he was the second player to earn a $1 million in a season in 1991. Four times he teamed up with good friend Lee Trevino to win the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf. But his closest friend and ally was Dave. “If I’m having a problem, I’ll always go to Davey first,” Mike said to golf writer Steve Hershey. Another Jackson native following in the Hills’ footsteps is Elaine Crosby, like them, a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame. Although she didn’t start playing golf until age 20, she quickly made up for the late start. After winning the Michigan Women’s Amateur in 1981 she turned pro and won on the satellite circuit now known as the Symetra Tour. In her 15-year LPGA career, Crosby won twice and had top ten finishes in two majors. She won Michigan Women’s Open titles in 2001 and 2002 and is a frequent competitor on the Legends Tour. And today Brian Stuard, another home-grown talent, is continuing the Jackson legacy on golf’s premier circuits. Stuard won the 2016 Zurich Classic, the first Michigander to win a PGA Tour title in 21 years. He’s firmly staked out his place on the PGA Tour with over $9 million in earnings overall and well over $1 million thus far in 2019, thanks in part to his T5 finish at Detroit. But the person who first put Jackson golf on the map was Dave Hill, a fierce competitor and Hogan-esque shotmaker who told it like he saw it. And if you ever see someone hit a high cut with a 2-iron, think of Dave Hill. A member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame and the Golf Writers Association of America, Terry Moore lives in Grand Rapids. Elaine Crosby Brian Stuard 23 July 2019 www.michigangolfjournal.com