Michigan Golf Journal May 2019

Michigan has been well- ƌĞƉƌĞƐĞŶƚĞĚ ŶĂƟŽŶĂůůLJ ĨŽƌ numerous decades by some of the greatest professionals and amateurs to ever play ƚŚĞ ŐĂŵĞ͘ ZĂŶŐŝŶŐ ĨƌŽŵ Walter Hagen’s second U.S. KƉĞŶ ǁŝŶ ŝŶ ϭϵϭϵ ʹ ƚŽ ƐĞůĨͲ made PGA Tour pro Calvin Peete, to Meg Mallon’s ƌĞĐŽƌĚͲƐĞƫŶŐ ĐĂƌĞĞƌ on the LPGA Tour, such Michiganders have proudly served as models for golfers everywhere. ,ĞƌĞ ŝƐ Ă ůŽŽŬ Ăƚ ĮǀĞ ŽĨ Michigan’s greatest in the order they played in history: Walter Hagen : ‘Sir Walter’s’ legacy is matched by very few, with 11 majors, 34 PGA Tour wins, Ɛŝdž ZLJĚĞƌ ƵƉ ƚĞĂŵƐ ĂŶĚ ϭϮ ĂĚĚŝƟŽŶĂů ĐĂƌĞĞƌ ǁŝŶƐ ƚŚĂƚ included the 1921 Michigan Open and the 1930-31 Michigan PGAs. Hagen ǁĂƐ ƚŚĞ ĮƌƐƚ ƉƌŽĨĞƐƐŝŽŶĂů ever hired at Oakland Hills Country Club and was one ŽĨ ŽďďLJ :ŽŶĞƐ͛ ĮĞƌĐĞƐƚ ďƵƚ Đŝǀŝů ĐŽŵƉĞƟƚŽƌƐ͘ ,ĂŐĞŶ ůĞĚ ŵĂŶLJ ĞīŽƌƚƐ ƚŽ ďƌĞĂŬ ĚŽǁŶ what seemed like barriers between professionals and amateurs. Hagen reportedly played in more than 200 open tournaments and up to 1,500 exhibition matches on five continents, all to promote the game. But he loved baseball just as much, heading downtown to Nevin Field as often as possible to watch Ty Cobb and the Tigers. Hagen loved northern DŝĐŚŝŐĂŶ ĂŶĚ ƌĞƟƌĞĚ ƚŽ East Long Lake just west of Traverse City in the 1950’s to live out his later years of life. Chuck Kocsis: The most decorated amateur in Michigan history, Kocsis has an eerily- similar comeback story as professional Ben Hogan. Both were in extremely serious car crashes and ƐƵīĞƌĞĚ ƚĞƌƌŝďůĞ ŝŶũƵƌŝĞƐ͕ LJĞƚ returned very quickly to play championship-level golf. MICHIGAN’S 5 GREATEST PLAYERS Michigan Golf Journal ’s 5 Greatest Golfers By Tom Lang