Michigan Golf Journal June 2020

3 June 2020 www.michigangolfjournal.com What’s Inside: Links at Hunters Ridge Turns 25 Senior PGA Champ: Ken Tanigawa Bill Hobson: Observations from a Golf Nut Big Ten Player of the Year 10 14 18 Golf Q&A: Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford Guest Column: Course Designer Mike DeVries 26 34 25 A Salute to Nurses Who Golf 30 Freeways and Fairways: Oakland Hills 40 “Within the Alliance we have representation from many viewpoints within the industry, so hopefully that meant we understood and addressed all of the various perspectives across the state in our messaging, advocacy and discussions,” said Chris Witten, executive director of the Golf Association of Michigan. Witten also indicated one of the biggest challenges was that the Alliance could not be face to face with the decision makers at the State Capitol participating in the meetings where these policies relating to golf were being set. Often the results of the Alliance’s efforts were not even known until the next Executive Order and subsequent FAQs were released by the Governor. “The biggest challenge for our group is receiving timely and clear communication with the decision makers in Lansing,” saidMI Section PGA director Kevin Helm. “We were often left to react and try to clarify details in order to help our members/facilities know how to proceed.” As the newcomer to the group, Whitten stated, “I feel fortunate to work with this small group of golf leaders. We have a lot of bright, passionate people working on behalf of each specific group within the golf industry and I think we all learned from each other in this difficult process.” A process that eventually led to golf opening up long before most business in Michigan were allowed. Learn more about the Michigan Golf Alliance at www.michigangolgalliance. com. MGJ