Michigan Golf Journal September 2021

kind of like starting the first day of school again. “I was able to go play a great week of golf, and it was probably a huge help that I started at Warwick Hills. It’s a golf course that I know very, very well, and I’ve had a lot of success on throughout my career. To be on a place I was very comfortable and enjoyed playing, was a big help.” Q With your success here winning the Buick Open in 2003 and the 2020 Ally Challenge, you must love Warwick Hills. A “I do. I was bummed when it (Buick Open) fell off the schedule, and then really excited to see it ended up on the Champions Tour schedule. Another favorite for me is Firestone… and now we’re playing the Senior Players there as well. It’s good to see some of those old golf courses that I played throughout my career many times are back on our schedule now.” Q Jim, you have caught some flack over the years for your unique and unusual swing. Would you teach the same to your own kids or others starting the game? What would you tell them about finding their own way? A “I think where my dad was so smart, he didn’t teach me to swing that way, he didn’t teach me to take the club up really vertical or re-route it. It’s just something that was very natural to me. My dad’s a bit of an underrated teacher… And he was kind of on the front end of fitting equipment to students. He realized I wasn’t very mechanically inclined, that I wasn’t a color- by-the-numbers, and my swing wasn’t going to look like everyone else’s. Continues on next page >> 17 September 2021 www.michigangolfjournal.com