Jeff Fettig Jeff Fettig retired as Whirlpool Corporation’s Chairman of the Board in 2018 after 38 years with the company, 14 as a member of the Board of Directors. Benton Harbor in southeastern Michigan was severely affected by over 20 corporations that Dan Gilbert Dan Gilbert, founder of Rocket Mortgage, was involved with the PGA Tour for several years when Quicken Loans sponsored a tour event from 2014-2018 on the East Coast. In 2019, Gilbert brought the PGA Tour back to his hometown and the Rocket Mortgage Classic has been held at the Detroit Golf Club since that time. Charitable proceeds raised from the 2020 Rocket Mortgage Classic totaled over $2.7 million, surpassing the $1.2 million that was raised from the 2019 Rocket Mortgage Classic. More than $3.5 million of these proceeds were invested directly into Detroit and Southeast Michiganbased organizations. Funds are disbursed by the Rocket Giving Fund, the 501(c)(3) host Editor’s Note: We realize this is not a complete list of the ‘Most Influential People’ in Michigan’s Golf industry and we offer our apologies to those we may have excluded. It was a difficult decision to leave a few names off and hopefully we can add them in a future issue. depressed area and bring people back to Benton Harbor. It has done just that, plus the course has also generated dollars for the local economy by hosting the Senior PGA Championship five different times, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018 and again most recently this year. There are examples of golf courses helping to grow a community, but few are as inspiring and powerful as the affect The Club at Harbor Shores has had in Benton Harbor. organization that manages the Rocket Mortgage Classic. The 2022 edition of the Rocket Mortgage Classic donated $1.35 million to charity. The Rocket Mortgage Classic is helping to improve an impoverished area of Detroit and provides needed dollars for Detroit-area charities. closed their doors during the industrial decline in the United States in the mid-1980’s. It became a poster child for urban blight, decay, abandoned warehouses and waste along the Paw Paw River. The Whirlpool Company called Benton Harbor home and realized it was up to them to improve the conditions of the area. Fettig initiated the hiring of Jack Nicklaus to design and build a legendary golf course that would breathe new life into the Michigan Golf Journal
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