Michigan Golf Journal August 2021

By the late 1980s and into the 1990s, northern Michigan was more than a boat-and-cottage destination for weekenders seeking a break from their downstate stresses. It had become a golf region of international renown, with one billboard designer after another helping carve additional resorts and golf oases along the region’s lakes, hills and pines. Making all of this known to media in Michigan and beyond was Dave Richards. He was a Plymouth-Salem High grad and University of Michigan student who had seen with a publicist’s eye and a businessman’s acumen that northern Michigan golf was about to become a story on this continent — and on others. Dave Richards died (June 29) at his home in Bloomfield Hills. His health had declined after multiple back surgeries and a 2019 stroke. He was 63. “Dave was instrumental in putting northern Michigan on the national golf map, and across the state,” said Chris MacInnes, president at Crystal Mountain Resort at Thompsonville, Michigan. “He promoted Michigan nationally and internationally. “His legacy in northern Michigan is that he came up with the name ‘America’s Summer Golf Capital’ — it’s the logo under which the major resorts are marketed today.” With a passion for golf, deftness with a camera, and the ability to ply writers and media with good stories about a growing resort phenomenon, Richards used his wiles to spread the word about golf getaways. It might be a new property at the Boyne Mountain venues; Robert Trent Jones, Tom Fazio and Rick Smith competing in design skills and property grand openings at Treetops in Gaylord; Tom Doak bringing his growing reputation as a master golf architect to a particular project; or Tom Weiskopf adding an 18-hole sculpture at Shanty Creek. “Dave was the original Pied Piper of northern Michigan golf,” said Norm Sinclair, a longtime Detroit News reporter, and a Richards cohort for more than three decades, who for years has written about the Up North golf culture. “He’d crisscross the state in that blue Mercury Marquis of his, which would be a loaded with a rack of golf shirts across the back seat.” Richards is survived by his wife of 30 years, Denise Fleckenstein; his mother, Milanne; and sisters Cindy Richards and Kris Kaminski. His father, Dave, predeceased him. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Midnight Golf program in Bingham Farms. MGJ Lynn Henning is a freelance writer and former Detroit News sports reporter. Dave Richards, Longtime Michigan Golf Promoter, Dies at 63 He created the phrase “America’s Summer Golf Capital” for Northern Michigan promotions globally By Lynn Henning Note: this is an excerpt of the story that first appeared in the Detroit News in early July. Obituary