Michigan Golf Journal June 2021

Michigan Golf Journal ichigan News and Notes Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs Celebrates 25-Year Anniversary Raymond Hearn Golf Course Designs, Inc. has excelled in golf course architecture, including creating new course designs and the restoration, renovation, and remodeling of existing courses throughout the United States and abroad for 25 years. “It has been a great ride thus far with a couple bumps – recessions – mixed in here and there,” Hearn, ASGCA member and the company’s president and founder, said. “We have stayed busy during these 25 years and our portfolio remains diverse with a variety of projects.” Hearn said he has enjoyed the privilege of working on three pre-1900 projects with a fourth and possibly fifth assignment coming soon, and that working on existing courses versus creating new ones is obviously entirely different but equally as exciting. “Respectfully, working on courses where Willie Park, Ross, Bendelow, Langford, Tweedie, and other legends graced the property and created years ago is an incredible privilege for which I am humbled,” he said. MGJ Steve Braun of Charlevoix Receives GAMHonor for Distinguished Service Steve Braun, 76 and a Flint native, current Charlevoix resident and member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, who has volunteered and served the game of golf in multiple ways for six decades, was presented with the 2021 Distinguished Service Award by the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM). “Steve did it all as a governor, rules official, chairman of the championship committee, quintessential volunteer for the GAM and has always been an articulate spokesman for golf,” said longtime GAM governor Terry Moore. “I was so impressed when he was president of the GAM and he helped lead the Youth on Course initiative … and Steve was instrumental in leading the national award- winning Flint Junior Golf Association (FJGA).” He almost doubled the FJGA membership from 1975-’85, worked for the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA) as a tournament director and received the AJGA’s national service honor (Digger Smith Award) in 1992. MGJ