Michigan Golfer, Summer 2009

3 Splendid SpartansBy Jack Berry

10 Lakers, The Meadows Host NationalChampionshipsBy Terry Moore

16 University of Michigan Golf Team Reachesthe Final FourBy Terry Moore

21 Oakland University Golden Grizzlies:2009-2010 Golf Season PreviewBy Chris Lewis

24 Western Michigan University Women’sGolfBy Kelly Hill

25 EMU Golf Makes Impressive GainsBy Susan Bairley

27 Wayne State University Warriors: 2009-2010 Golf Season PreviewBy Chris Lewis

MICHIGAN GOLFER

Publisher/EditorArt McCafferty

[email protected]

Editor EmeritusTerry Moore

AssociatePublisher/ProducerJennie McCafferty

WritersJeff BairleySusan BairleyL’anse BannonMike BeckmanJack Berry

Jason DeeganTom DoakMike Duff

Rob FranciosiThad GutowskiMarty Henwood

Kelly HillGreg JohnsonVartan KupelianBrian Manning

Jim NeffNorm Sinclair

Michael Patrick ShielsRon WhittenGary Holaway

Janina Parrott Jacobs

Chris LewisHerschel NathanialBernice PhillipsDave RuthenbergScott SullivanMarc Van SoestJohn Wukovits

Photo/VideoMike BrownKevin FrischTim Hygh

Dave RichardsCarter SherlineJoe Yunkman

Director ofAccountingCheryl Clark

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In This IssueV O L U M E 27 • S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 • N U M B E R 2

Cover: Matt Thompson (l) and Ryan Brehm play Hole Number 18during the final round of the 2009 Michigan Open at OrchardLake Country Club. Photo by Jennie McCafferty.

2 S P R I N G 2 0 0 9 • M I C H I G A N G O L F E R M A G A Z I N E

3M I C H I G A N G O L F E R M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 0 9

Let’s clear up a little confusion among non-Michigan State University folks. Forest Akersisn’t a play on words. It isn’t acres of trees.

Splendid SpartansMichigan State University Golf

John Brehm caddies for his nephew Ryan Brehm at the 2007 Michigan Amateur, Red Run Golf Club.

By Jack Berry

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“It’s phenomenal,” said RyanBrehm who spent a week at thepractice complex of three acrebentgrass range with six targetgreens, short game area and20,000 square foot putting greenwith plenty of rolls. Brehm put allthe practice together to win theMichigan Open championship lastweek at Orchard Lake CountryClub.

The 23-year-old, 6-foot-4,strawberry blond Brehm isarguably the longest hitter in thestate, and he blew away the fieldby eight strokes with a 20-under-par 264 for the $10,000 first prize.He’s the second Spartan to winthe Open in three years. Andrew

Ruthkoski of Muskegon, now aminitour player, won in 2007.

Forest Akers is MSU’s golfcourse and it does have a lot oftrees with representatives of near-ly every type of tree that grows inthe North American temperatezone.

The man who donated the landwas Forest Akers, born in nearbyWilliamston in 1886. He graduat-ed from Michigan AgriculturalCollege in 1908 although therewas a blip in 1907 when Akerswas asked to leave school. He wasaccused of placing a keg of pow-der near the spot where PresidentTeddy Roosevelt was going tospeak, celebrating MAC’s semi-centennial.

Akers denied it and was readmit-ted but in his lifetime he lit the fusethat has exploded into one of thebest golf complexes of any universi-ty anywhere. It complementsMichigan State’s worldwide reputa-tion as a leading center of all facetsof the game from the dirt up.

4 S U M M E R 2 0 0 9 • M I C H I G A N G O L F E R M A G A Z I N E

2007 Michigan Open champion, Andrew Rutkowski, plays in the final roundof the 2009 Michigan Open, Orchard Lake CC.

Ryan Brehm meet the press following his wire-to-wire win at the 2009Michigan Open.

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Brehm, who has been playingsince he was 5, when his familybuilt the Pohlcat Golf Course bytheir Mt. Pleasant Holiday Innmotel, had two eagles on par 4s inthe first round and was a birdiemachine throughout. The finalround was played in a combina-tion of drizzle and rain and Brehmholstered his driver and went witha 2-iron off the tee. He added a 2-under-par 69 to earlier rounds of63-68-64.

One year out of MSU where heled the Spartans to the Big Tenchampionship, Brehm plays theHooters and Nationwide tours andwill try the PGA Tour QualifyingSchool in the fall. He missed bytwo strokes advancing to the sec-ond stage last year.

There must be something in thewater at Mt. Pleasant that is con-ducive to smashing golf balls outof sight. It’s the home of DanPohl, once the leading long driveron the PGA Tour, and KellyRobbins who did the same on theLPGA tour.

The drive to give themen’s and women’s golfteams, the student body

and staff and the community atop-of-the-line facility cameafter decades of having twonice courses. The West was theoriginal by alumnus BruceMatthews. When it was built inthe mid-1950s, it cost $397,300including fencing and a paved250-car parking lot, peanuts totoday’s construction costs. Theshorter East course was addedlater and while both were goodcourses, there wasn’t a lot ofexcitement.

But it certainly was agreat improvement overthe early 1950s when ArtHills was an agronomystudent and on a team thatincluded Don Perne, BobEwigleben, Jack Zinn andBill Albright, that era’sbig hitter.

“We didn’t have apractice area,” Hills said.“We’d just go to WalnutHills (Country Club) andplay our matches. BenVan Alstyne was thecoach and he said theonly guy on the team witha future in golf wasAlbright.”

Hills laughed and saidthat’s one line he’s alwaysremembered. Perne becamea PGA professional andserved at St. Clair CountryClub, Shaker Heights inCleveland and then a longcareer at Inverness Club inToledo.

Ewigleben eventuallybecame president at FerrisState University andbetween him and Perne,they talked the PGA ofAmerica into forming aProfessional GolfManagement degree pro-gram that has Ferris Stategraduates at top courses allover the country and 19more universities aroundthe country have followedFerris’s lead.

Zinn was a fine amateurat Red Run Golf Club andAlbright never turned pro-

Allison Fouch, who won 3 tournaments play-ing for Michigan State, now plays on theLPGA tour.

Michigan State’s Jack Newman (r) played around at the Masters with Rocco Mediate.

Michigan State’s LIndsey Solberg and LauraKeuny are named to the NCAA All-Regionalteam.

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fessional but was one of the lead-ing amateurs in the state.

And Hills with no future ingolf? He became one of golf’sbest course designers with morethan a hundred to his credit, allacross the country and overseas.In 1992 Golf Course ManagerKen Horvath called him back tomodernize the West course andit’s one of the best in collegeranks. Hills said it’s “like anarboretum” and that was ForestAkers mandate when he donatedthe land. The East was redesignedin 1997 with, of course, additionaltrees and bunkers.

Hills and his teammates missedout on a little practice area in acorner of Old College Field, by abend in the Red Cedar River,when Biggie Munn appointedBruce Fossum head coach.

“It was a wonderful place toteach,” Fossum said. “There was agreen and bunker tucked into thecorner.”

Eventually MSU got a coach-ing “twofer” when Fossum’s wife,Mary, was hired as women’scoach. Between them they recruit-ed top players including LynnJanson, Joyce Kazmierski andBonnie Lauer and now theFossums, Janson, Kazmierski andLauer are in the Michigan GolfHall of Fame.

They joined other Spartans inthe Hall of Fame, Bruce Matthewsand his son Jerry who betweenthem designed more than 100courses in the state, five-timeMichigan Amateur championGlenn Johnson, Bud Stevens, Joan

Garety, Ken Janke and JimDewling.

None of them had the benefitsof today’s men’s and women’steams.

“The only thing missing is 70degrees every day,” Fossum said,leading a tour of the expansivelayout which actually does resem-ble forest acres. Although retired,he can’t stay away and does a lit-tle teaching.

The East course renovationincluded the big practice complexand last fall a covered, heated 18station range with two additionalstations for teaching plus an areawith video and computer equip-ment for teaching was added. Inthe winter balls are picked up by asnowmobile.

Before there are screams aboutpublic funds, Interim Golf CourseManager Steve Ruthenberg saidthe golf courses are self-support-ing. Greens fees on the Eastcourse are $25 during the weekand $27 Friday to Sunday. On theWest they are $40 during the weekand $44 Friday to Sunday. Cartsare $16 per person. Walking ispermitted and there’s a reducedrate for students and alumni.

Ruthenberg said all revenuefrom the facility goes back intomaintenance and improvement.The courses and practice area areopen to the public and the rangewas rated by Golf Range Magazineas one of the top 10 new ranges inthe country when it opened and ithas been in the list of 100 topranges ever since. MSU officialslooked at other operations in thestate and Big Ten and said that


Michigan State Women’s Golf Team (l. to r.) Coach StacySlobdnik- Stoll, Laura Kueny, Michelle Bowles, Lindsey Solberg,Shannon Warner, Aimee Neff, Assistant Coach Lorne Don.

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Ohio State and Purdue also haveoutstanding facilities.

The piece de resistance forthe men’s and women’steams is the stand-alone

Paul R. Rearick Golf Complexby the 13th hole of the WestCourse. It opened in 2004 andthere are separate lockerroomsfor each team. There are officesfor the coaches, a Video SwingAnalysis System whereby play-ers can see their swings andmatch against the swings of the

game’s best players. There’s alounge area with ping pongtable and flat screen TV. In theBruce and Mary Fossum sec-tion there’s a 1,080 square footputting green putting with chip-ping areas and three hitting sta-tions into nets.

The center is open to teammembers from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.so they can fit practice times intotheir academic schedules.Ruthenberg said MSU officialsvisited other schools and facilitiesprior to the expansion. He saidPurdue “is equally as good” andOhio State “has done a great job.If we don’t keep improving, we’lllose our place.”

The teams have done well. Themen won two Big Ten titles inthree years but the Spartans lostCoach Mark Hankins whoreturned to homestate Iowa to takeover the Hawkeyes program. Nowstalwarts Brehm, Ruthkoski andMatt Harmon are gone to the proside but Jack Newman remains.He won the United States PublicLinks title last year and played inthe Masters this year.

Sam Puryear succeededHankins for the 2007-08 season.He’s a native of North Carolina,graduated from Tennessee State,was executive director of the EastLake Junior Golf Academy inAtlanta and spent two years asassistant coach at Stanford whenthe Cardinal won the 2007 NCAAchampionship. Puryear tookHankins’ last recruited team to theBig Ten championship but theSpartans slipped to last place lastseason. He said his goal is to “winon the national stage.”

Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll hasbeen the women’s coachsince 1997 when she suc-

ceeded Mary Fossum and theSpartans won the Big Ten in2001 and 2007, made 10straight NCAA Regionalappearances with six teamsgoing on to the national cham-pionship meet. Slobodnik-Stollhas done well on her own – shecaptained the Spartans in 1992-93 and 1993-94, twice won theMichigan Women’s Amateurand she recently won her fifthstraight Michigan Women’sMid-Amateur title.

But before you have a place toplay or a team, you need someoneto move dirt, come up with theright kind of grass and someonewith the vision to create a golf


Art Hills, who played on golf on anearly 1950’s Spartan team, went onto became one of golf's bestcourse designers.

Spartan Coach BruceFossum and his wife,Spartan women’s coach,Mary Fossum, are bothmembers of the MichgianGolf Hall of Fame.

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course. Michigan State is involvedwith all of those, too.

Turfgrass is a $1.8 billionindustry according to the nonprof-it Michigan Turfgrass Foundationlocated at MSU’s Robert W.Hancock Turfgrass ResearchCenter. It is supported by abouteverything and everyone that hasgrass – golf courses, homeowners,athletic associations, municipali-ties, parks and recreation areas,seed and sod growers and ceme-tery associations.

Grass needs tender loving careand no one knows that better thangolf course superintendents andMSU alumni are at practicallyevery golf course in the state andare in demand in other states.

Spartan alums have designedwell over 300 golf courses inMichigan – Bruce Matthews, hisson Jerry and grandson Bruce IIIdid courses from Jerry’sTimberstone at Iron Mountain toBruce III’s Angels Crossing inVicksburg, south of Kalamazoo.The patriarch, Bruce Matthews,did Salem Hills near Detroit andGrand Haven, which he owned,just inland from Lake Michigan.They worked in nearly all ofMichigan’s 83 counties.

Art Hills has an Arthur HillsGolf Trail that stretches from 27-hole Bay Harbor at Petoskey toEgypt Valley in Ada andShepherd’s Hollow in Clarkstonwith more in between. Don Childsdid Michaywe Pines and a stringof Huron-Clinton Metroparkcourses. Susan Nyquist did threeMetropark courses.

Ray Hearn apprenticed underJerry Matthews and then wentsolo with the Golf Club at Yarrow,Island Hills in Centerville,Hemlock in Ludington, MooseRidge in South Lyon. Pat Conroyand Jim Dewling did TimberTrace in Pinckney, Boulder Pointein Oxford and Mystic Creek inCamp Dearborn.

Others went out of state. GaryPanks is in Arizona whereGrayhawk Golf Club inScottsdale, home course to GeoffOgilvy, Paul Casey and Gary

McCord, is one of his efforts. EricNelson is in Texas and KeithEvans, A. John Harvey andStephen Kay are in New Jersey.Evans worked with Rees Jones onThousand Oaks, Harvey workedfor Robert Trent Jones, then afterJones passed away, went withRoger Rulewich, Jones’ chiefdesigner. Kay teaches constructionand design at Rutgers, has reno-vated more than 250 courses inaddition to designing 20 new ones.

And that’s a sampling of theheritage of Forest Akers. MG


Golf course architect Jerry Matthews and Spartan alumnus is a member ofthe Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.

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Lakers, The Meadows HostNational Championships

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AsGrand Valley StateUniversity heads to itssixth straight Directors’

Cup as the best all-around athleticsports department in the NCAADivision II, it’s not surprising tofind the men’s and women’s golfteams flourishing in Allendale,Michigan. With a nationally ratedgolf course (recently ranked as aTop 25 college course in the U.S.by Links Magazine) and an expan-sive practice and teaching area thegolf teams at GVSU are blessedwith the facilities and a dedicatedcoaching staff to expect continuedsuccess on the fairways and greensfor the Lakers. And in 2008-2009,both the women’s and men’s teamsfulfilled those high expectations byexcellent play all season.

On the women’s side, first-yearcoach Rebecca Mailloux led herteam to a runner-up finish at theNational Championship in Findlay,OH. Consistent play over the fourdays of competition was the key tothe Lakers’ success at Findlay CC.In fourth place going into the finalround, the Lakers carded a teamscore of 309 which catapultedthem into the runner-up spot. FourGVSU golfers finished in the Top25 including Caitlin Smith, AshleySmith, Kristina Langton and SarahHoffman.

The second place national finishfor the women’s team was no flukeas it dominated team play in theGreat Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic

Conference (GLIAC) this season. Infact, at the rain-shortened 36-holeconference championship held atThe Meadows, the Lakers won thetitle by twenty five shots over run-ner-up Ashland. GVSU sophomoreLangton was medalist with a two-over par 146 total.

The Lakers’ stellar play carriedover into the NCAA regionals.Competing in the East Regional,the Lakers won the event by a

whopping 42 strokes. The Lakerswere paced by Allie Tyler whowas medalist with an 11-over partotal of 227 for the 54-hole event.Langton finished second overall at228 and Smith finished in fourthplace at 233.

For their outstanding year, sev-eral Lakers earned post-seasonhonors. Coach Mailloux wasnamed Coach of the Year from theEastern Region while Langton was

By Terry Moore

Photo left: The Meadows Golf Course, Hole Number 11.

Grand Valley State University Golf

Grand Valley’s Matt Malloure finished tied for 11th at the Michigan Open atOrchard Lake.

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named first-team All-America—only one of sixth golfers so recog-nized. Smith was tapped for honor-able mention All-America statuswhile also being named Player ofthe Year for the GLIAC.

The contributions of LoriStinson, the Lakers’ firstfull-time women’s coach

who resigned last July to return toher native Ft. Wayne, should benoted and applauded. Stinson must

be credited in helping the Lakersrise to a prominent place inDivision II golf. During her tenuresince 1999, she guided the Lakersto four GLIAC titles and sevennational final appearances includ-

The Meadows Golf Course, Hole Number 4.

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ing a second and third place finish-es. In 2005, the Lakers’ MelissaSneller was the medalist in theNCAA finals, the first Lakergolfer—male or female—to claiman individual national title.

Although it didn’t advance asfar as the women’s team, themen’s golf team at GVSU also hada successful season. Led by CoachDon Underwood, the Lakers tookits third conference title this sea-son, the second in the past threeseasons. At the GLIAC champi-onship, the Lakers established anew 54-hole record with a score ofone-under par 863.

Unfortunately, the men’s teamfaltered at the NCAA SuperRegionals conducted at TheMeadows in early May. The Lakers

were aiming to be one of the fivelow teams from the event to qualifyfor the nationals. Instead, the teamstruggled and finished in ninthplace. In spite of the disappoint-ment, the Lakers had much to beproud of for the season.

Underwood was named theGLIAC “Coach of the Year” andseveral players were named to All-GLIAC teams. They included TylerHering, Matt Mallour, Matt Johnson

and Ben Brooks. Hering paced theteam with a 71.6 scoring average.

Along with being the homecourse for the men’s andwomen’s golf team, The

Meadows has the distinction ofhosting a number of nationalchampionships at the Dr. MichaelHurdzan layout. Opened in 1993,no other Michigan golf course hashosted as many national champi-onships as The Meadows—a totalof six NCAA national finals (1996,1998, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007.) Aseventh NCAA championship isset for 2011 when the Women’sDivision II Finals will be held inAllendale.

In addition to the NCAA andGLIAC events, The Meadows alsois the annual host to one of the

Divisions each year of theMichigan High School Golf Finals,both boys and girls. On a locallevel, the course is home to theGrand Valley Amateur—one of thepremier amateur events in thearea—as well as the WestMichigan Senior Amateur. (Fulldisclosure: this writer assists TheMeadows and GVSU in its mediarelations endeavors.)

“We look forward to all of these

championships,” said GeneralManager Terry Sack. “They keepus on our toes but more important-ly provide a wonderful way to giveback to the community and thegame.”

Sack has been the GeneralManager since the course openedover 15 years ago and became animportant asset to the campus.With an MBA from GVSU, Sackis committed to operational excel-lence and sure-handed stewardshipof The Meadows.

The underlying credo of TheMeadows, according to Sack, is“the promise.” Borrowed from thecustomer loyalty tenets of theDisney Institute, “the promise” isdistilled into this simple message:“We will make our guests feel

great about The Meadows andGVSU.” Out of this promise, Sackespouses everyone on staff feeling“great about how we treat cus-tomers and how the course playsand looks.”

Judging by the impressive num-ber of national championships aswell as hosting state and localevents, one can surely say TheMeadows is not only feeling greatbut doing great things. MG

“First-year coach Rebecca Maillouxled her team to a runner-up finish at

the National Championshipin Findlay, OH.

University of MicReaches the

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chigan Golf Teame Final Four


Certainly one of the surprisesof this golf season, in termsof team play, was the

superb finish of the University ofMichigan men’s team. Cominginto the NCAA finals seeded 29thout of 30 teams, the Wolverines“shocked the world” (sorry, FabFive) and qualified for the matchplay portion of the NCAA nationalchampionship at the InvernessClub in Toledo. Michigan finishedsixth (the final spot) out of the 30teams that competed in the medalplay portion of the finals. In itsquarter-final match, U-M upsetperennial powerhouse SouthernCalifornia to reach the covetedFinal Four of the championship.(Note: In a controversial decisiontwo years ago, The NCAA GolfCommittee changed its format

from an all-stroke play event to acombination stroke and match playformat. Certainly, there’s no ques-tion now that the new format creat-ed considerable excitement.)

The showdown between USCand U-M delivered high drama asMichigan’s Lion Kim (Lake Mary,Fla, Lake Mary Prep) clinched thedeciding match against USC’sMatthew Giles on the 17th holewhen his 212-yard second shotwith a hybrid 2-iron landed 18inches from the cup and was con-ceded for a birdie. “It’s definitelythe best shot of my career,” saidKim. “I was so focused on thatshot and completely in the zone.”When Giles missed his 35-footerfor a birdie, Kim and Michiganwon the match. The first fourhead-to-head matches were splitbetween the Trojans and theWolverines.

In its semi-final match againstTexas A & M, Michigan againplayed inspired golf. Losing two ofthe three matches early, it camedown to the matches betweenMichigan’s co-captain Bill Rankin(Traverse City, TC Central HS)and the Aggies’ Matt Van Zandt.The match was all-square going to18 after Rankin won both the 16th

and 17th holes. Meanwhile, behindthe Rankin and Van Zandt matchwas U-M’s Matt Thompson (BattleCreek, Lakeview HS) battling JohnHurley in another close contestwhich was also all-square going to18. So the entire match for gettinginto the Finals was on the line at

the short but devilish par-four 18thhole at Inverness.

Both Rankin and Van Zandt hitinto the right rough on 18. ThenRankin’s second shot hits the greenbut couldn’t hold it and rolls into aback bunker. Van Zandt’sapproach shot found the greensome 20 feet from the cup. Withthe Thompson-Hurley match in thefairway awaiting their secondshots, Rankin’s bunker shot nar-rowly missed the flag but rolled offthe fast green into the rough. WhenRankin’s fourth shot again missedhitting the flag and on the greenputting for bogey, the Michiganco-captain conceded the matchthus ending Michigan’s title hopes.With the deciding match pointalready completed, the final matchof Thompson and Hurley wasdeclared all-square and the matchended in the fairway. Kim admit-ted that he was emotionallydrained after his climatic morningmatch against Giles. “I just wasn’tmentally prepared to come rightback and compete in the afternoonmatch. But I give Texas A & Mfull credit for its fine play.”

As the Cinderella team of theNCAA, Michigan made a princelyrun at the Finals after finishing adisappointing eight-place tie at theBig Ten Championship less than amonth before. But Michiganplayed superbly at the SouthwestRegional in Austin, Texas, andadvanced to the NCAA Finals forthe first time in 12 years. In itsfinal round, Michigan carded the

John Morse

By Terry Moore

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low aggregate score of the day—292—and jumped up two positionsto the coveted fifth and final spotin the tournament.

Some observers say the key toMichigan’s resurgence began twoyears ago when top-20 out-of-staterecruits Kim and AlexanderSitompul of Jakarta, Indonesia andBradenton (Fla.) Prep decided topass up the usually more attractiveSunbelt golf schools and head forAnn Arbor. In a recent telephoneinterview with me, Kim said: “As Iwas being recruited, I finallydecided I wanted to go where Icould look back and say, ‘Hey,look, I helped the team really turnaround.’ And besides, Michigan isa great institution,” said Kim whois majoring in Sports Management.For the stroke play portion of thefinals, Kim shot 72-68-74 and tiedfor 13th while Sitompul fired 72-69-70 and finished sixth. As such,both sophomores earned honorablemention All-America status thisyear.

Michigan ended the seasonwith a 292.05 scoringaverage, establishing a

new U-M record. Kim closed theseason averaging 72.89, becomingonly the second Wolverine in his-tory to average under 73 for a sea-son. (The other Wolverine wasMichael Harris, who later becamea Michigan Open champion.)

“As a team, we’re extremelyconfident about our future,” saidKim. “We have a young team andwe’re all dedicated to workinghard. And our coaches (AndrewSapp and Assistant Chris Whitten)are eager to keep Michiganimproving and getting better.”

Head Coach Sapp now has thedistinction of taking three differentschools and four total programs tothe NCAA Championships. In hiscoaching career, he led NorthCarolina, Purdue’s men’s andwomen’s teams, and now U-M tothe national championship.

As a counter-balance to Spartanalumnus Jack Berry’s protractedrecitation of Michigan State’s lega-cy to golf, please indulge thisWolverine a few moments of yourtime and attention. First, oneshould start with the two golfcourses found on the Ann Arbor

Freshman Matt Thompson helped the Wolverines advance to the NCAAsemi-final match.

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campus. Designed by the esteemedarchitect Alister Mackenzie (whoalso did Augusta National, CypressPoint and collaborated on CrystalDowns), the U-M Golf Courseopened in 1931 and was one of thefirst collegiate layouts in the coun-try. Later renovated (restored, real-ly) in 1994 by U-M graduate ArtHills, the golf course was recentlyranked no. 7 by Links Magazine inits Top 25 college courses roster.In addition to numerous Big Tenchampionships, it has hosted othernotable events including a USGAJunior Championship, 3 WesternJuniors, 3 Michigan Opens and 2Michigan Amateurs. The course isopen to students, faculty, alumniand accompanied guests and is

conveniently located near the maincampus and across from The BigHouse, U-M’s famed football sta-dium.

The other U-M owned golfcourse is Radrick Farms which is aprivate club reserved for faculty,staff and alumni of the university.Designed by Pete Dye, Radrickwas opened in 1965 and sits on275 acres of rolling, woodsy landdonated by Frederick Matthaei, aalumnus and former Regent of U-M. The course has hosted severalcollegiate events as well as select-ed national championships, includ-ing the 1991 National IndependentInsurance Agents Junior Classicwhich featured a third place finish

by a young 15-year-old phenomby the name of Tiger Woods whowas the defending champion. Tigerdid however win the Long DriveChampionship at Radrick Farmswith an uphill blast of 283 yards.

In terms of storied alums of the U-M program, one must start with thelegendary Chuck Kocsis, namedthe “Player of the Century” by theGAM. A six-time MichiganAmateur Champion, Koscis playedon U-M’s back-to-back NCAAnational titles in 1934 & 1935which coincidentally was contestedas a match play event. Kocsis alsowon the individual NCAA title in1936. Besides Kocsis in theMichigan Golf of Fame, other for-

mer UM’ers and alums areCarlton Wells, John Malloy,Ben Smith, Bob McMasters,Randy Erksine, ElaineCrosby, Steve Maddalena,John Morse, John Morgan andJohn Lindholm. Last year, for-mer U-M player Justin Hickswon a Nationwide event inOntario.

But the most celebratedalum and golfer from U-Mnever played at Michigan atall. And later in his illustriouscareer, he never was much ofa golfer. In fact, his errantswings were often the butt ofnationally aired jokes.However, this individual gavethe dedication speech at theWorld Golf of Fame atPinehurst in 1974 and todayhis golf bag is proudly dis-played at the Hall now relo-cated in Jacksonville. Hisname? Former PresidentGerald R. Ford. MG


Oakland University GoldenGrizzlies: 2009-2010 Golf

Season Preview

Men’s GolfThis year’s Golden Grizzlies

men’s golf team finished in the topten in four of the ten tournamentsin which they played and in the top

20 in all ten tournaments. Whilethe Golden Grizzlies would haveloved to have obtained a team vic-tory, the young team is focused onthe future and on continuing toimprove its consistency during the2009-2010 season. Of the seven

man roster, only one member,Frank McAuliffe, is a senior whileMcAuliffe’s other teammates willeither be juniors, sophomores, orfreshmen. With such a young team,third-year head coach BrianCostello is certainly excited about

By: Chris Lewis

Frank McAuliffe, Jr made the cut at the 2009 Michigan Open and finished nine strokes ahead of his Dad, FrankMcAuliffe of Ann Arbor Country Club.

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the future and is hoping to developthe skills of the freshmen andsophomore players so that they cancontinue to find success during theremainder of their collegiate golf-ing careers.

Junior Robby McNiff and sen-ior Frank McAuliffe led theGolden Grizzlies this past seasonwith scoring averages of 75.09 and75.11, respectively. McNiff fin-ished in the top ten in one of theeight tournaments in which heplayed in and in the top 20 in twotournaments. McAuliffe, mean-while, finished in the top 20 infour of ten tournaments in whichhe competed and in the top ten intwo tournaments. Along withobtaining a scoring average of75.11, McAuliffe was also namedto the First Team of the All-Summit League.

The Summit League is currentlycelebrating its 27th year as anNCAA Division I athletics confer-ence. The League has ten memberschools, ranging from Oral RobertsUniversity to North Dakota StateUniversity. Recognition as a mem-ber of the All-Summit League FirstTeam is truly an honor thatMcAuliffe will appreciate through-out the rest of his career with theGolden Grizzlies. Even though theGolden Grizzlies did not contendfor a tournament this year, thefuture certainly seems bright forthis youthful and talented team.

According to head coach BrianCostello, the Golden Grizzlieshave the potential to have evenmore success this upcoming sea-son. “Our goal for the 2009-2010season is to win our conferencechampionship and (to) take this

program to itsfirst NCAAberth in schoolhistory,”Costello said.“Our earlyexpectationsare to be morecompetitivewith the topranked teamsthat we willface in the fall.That will giveus the confi-

dence we need to win our champi-onship.”

In order to obtain the team’sfirst NCAA berth, all team mem-bers will need to believe in theirabilities on a consistent basis. “Wehave talented players on this teambut I think in many cases they lackthe confidence and pre-round men-tal preparation to be consistent,”Costello said. “I am excited aboutthe incoming freshmen’s nationaland worldwide experience, and Iam hoping that they will come inmore prepared to take on thenation’s best from the get go.”

In the meantime, Coach Costellois also expecting consistency fromthe oldest member of the team,Frank McAuliffe. “Frank hasshown signs of being a great play-er, (but) he just needs to find thatneeded consistency to lead this pro-gram where we want to go. He hasproven he can get it done in ourleague championship over the pasttwo seasons, which has earned himfirst-team All Conference (honors)in each season,” Costello said.

By improving its consistencyand adding new, talented golfers,

the Golden Grizzlies should beable to continue to develop duringthe 2009-2010 season. In themeantime, along with coachingOakland’s men’s golf team,Costello has also been busy work-ing with the women’s golf team aswell. Just as the men’s team ishoping to continue to improve andto develop consistency, thewomen’s golf team is also strivingto make their 2009-2010 season asuccessful and memorable one.

Women’s GolfWhen the Golden Grizzlies’

women’s golf team reflects on itspast season, three highlights willoutshine all others. First, the teamclaimed its Oakland-Detroit dualmatch by eight strokes back inApril. Secondly, the team finishedthird at the UD Fall Invitationalheld last October in Kettering,Ohio. Finally, the team also fin-ished third at the Summit LeagueChampionship which was compet-ed this past April at Katke-CousinsGolf Course in Rochester. Thesethree strong performances will cer-tainly provide hope for next sea-son as head coach Brian Costelloand his team will begin to preparefor the 2009-2010 season duringthe summer.

Individually, three women reallystood out above the rest during the2008-2009 season. AustinMcDermaid led her team with ascoring average of 81.15. In themeantime, Nikki Swan finishedsecond on her team’s scoring aver-age list with 82.70. Finally, LizEcker not only averaged 84.35strokes per round for the third best

Brian Costello,OaklandUniversitymen’s andwomen’s golfteams coach.

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average on the team, but she wasalso named to the All-SummitLeague’s first team list.

Coach Costello is expecting histeam to use its experiences fromlast season in order to improve itsrecord this upcoming season. “Ourwomen’s program is certainly onthe rise as well. We had a toughseason last year as we stepped upour tournament schedule,” Costellosaid. “Through the experiencegained from last season, as well asour incoming freshman class, weexpect to be more competitivewithin our conference.”

Finally, Costello is hoping thatOakland will gain more recogni-tion for its golf program duringthe coming years, as his teams

continue toprogress. “OaklandUniversity is one ofthe greatest univer-sities in the countrythat most sports fansdon’t know about.

We have a beau-tiful campus andtwo of the best golfcourses in the stateof Michigan righton campus,”Costello said. “Wehave great athletic programs hereand we are hoping that in the nearfuture people will know moreabout Oakland University and ourgolf programs because we havethe desire and the resources to benationally competitive.”

For more information onOakland University’s golf courses,The R.S. Sharf Golf Course andthe Katke-Cousins Golf Course,please visit http://www4.oakland.edu/?id=58&sid=65. MG

Austin McDermaid led the Grizzlies with a scoringaverage of 81.15

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Western MichiganUniversity Women’s Golf

The Western MichiganUniversity women’s golfteam has never won a Mid-

America Conference champi-onship.

Winning such a championship,however, remains the Broncos’goal each and every season.Perennial powerhouse Kent Statehas made WMU’s pursuit of thatgoal extremely difficult.

“Kent State is in the top 20 inthe country just about every year,so that makes it tough,” saidBroncos coach Cindy Trout. “Tigerdoesn’t win every tournament heplays in though, so anything ispossible. We have not changed ourgoal.”

A MAC championship wouldreward the Broncos with an auto-matic berth into the NCAAregional tournament. “The onlyway for us to advance to theregional is to win the conferencebecause the NCAA only takes thetop 64 teams so we have to eitherwin our conference or be in thetop 60 or so in the country, andwe are a long way from that,”Trout said. “We would get anautomatic bid from winning theconference, but it would still bevery tough for us because we’re inthe same region as the Big 10 andthe Big 12.”

Trout, a PGA professional since1988, who is the only women’sgolf coach Western MichiganUniversity has ever had. TheBroncos, who just completed their12th season, enjoyed their best sea-son in 2004, when they finishedsecond in the MAC standings.“That was a great year for us,”Trout said. “We were second in theconferece and we won four or fivetournaments that year.”

With an extremely young rosterthis season, the Broncos finished tiedfor third, with Akron, in the MACChampionship. “This year was arebuilding year,” Trout said. “Wehad five freshmen on the team andfour of them played quite a bit.”

The Broncos roster this sea-son featured freshmenMaria Demarco (Troy

Athens), Leah Grawburg (MountPleasant), Brooke Hovenkamp(Vicksburg), Briana May (NovelleAlliance High School in Barrie,Ontario) and Katrina Templar(Greenville); sophomores BritneyHamilton (Lake Orion) andStephanie Koske (Carmen-Ainsworth) and junior EliseSwartout (Ann Arbor Pioneer).

“I try to recruit in a five-statearea, but I don’t limit myself tothat,” Trout said. “I look atMinnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana,

Ohio and Michigan, but we havealso had several players fromCanada. We are in a good locationfor Canadian players. Most ofthem have been from Ontario, butwe did have a player from Albertaa few years back.

“We didn’t graduate anyone thisyear so next year we should beeven better,” Trout said. In threemore seasons, perhaps the Broncoscan challenge Kent State for thatconference championship.

Western Michigan Universitydoes not field a men’s golf team,although it did until the mid-1980s. “I wish we did have amen’s program, but it doesn’t looklike that is going to happen any-time in the foreseeable future,”said Trout, who said she receivesfrequent inquiries concerning aBroncos’ men’s team, and haseven received videos from would-be recruits. “I have a standard e-mail that I send out, telling themthat we do not field a men’steam,” Trout said. “There are gen-der equity issues, but I wish theyhad a team.”

Western Michigan Universityplays its home matches at TheMoors Golf Club, an Arthur Hillsdesign that hosted the 97thMichigan Amateur Championshiplast year. MG

By Kelly HillManaging Editor


EMU Golf MakesImpressive Gaines

While the NCAA does itsbest to keep the playingfield level in collegiate

sports, powerhouse schools oftenhave an edge. Bigger recruitingbudgets, better facilities and higher

paid coaching staffs often attract thetop players, perpetuating the domi-nance of big name universities.

In collegiate golf, however, aprogram can soar based on sheertalent, individual coaching, a fully

funded scholarship program andthe promise of a good education.Such seems to be the case atEastern Michigan University,where the ‘wind’ beneath its EMUEagle golfers’ wings includes

By Susan Bairley

2002 Michigan Amateur champion and Eastern Michigan alum, Korey Mahoney, won a nice check with a ninthplace finish at the 2009 Michigan Open.

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Bruce Cunningham and SandyWagner, great year-round trainingfacilities and a University thatcares just as much about the stu-dent as it does the athlete.

Men’s Golf Team

EMUMen’s Golf CoachBruce Cunningham has beenwith the program for 16

years. During his tenure, he wasalso head golf professional atEMU’s Eagle Crest Golf Clubfrom 1994 to 2001 and head coachof the women’s team in 1997-98.In recent years, however, he’sfocused most of his time on coach-ing the EMU men, and it shows.The team’s been in the top three ofthe Mid-American Conferencesince 2005. The Eagles won back-to-back MAC championships in2007 and 2008, finished secondthis year and in 2005, and tookthird in 2006.

GolfStat ranks EMU 74th nation-ally in 2009, trailing only Kent StateUniversity in the MAC, which isranked 39th . Golfweek/Sagarinranks EMU 73rd among the 298Division I NCAA programs. Inaddition, the team’s overall 92-54-2Division I NCAA record includesmatches won against 8 of the BigTen’s 11 schools and the team’s firstTop 25 win.

In his recruiting, which mostlyfocuses on Ontario and Michigangolfers, Cunningham looks for“scoring ability, mindset and tal-ent.” Thanks to the Internet, hesays, coaches can track and attracttalent from just about anywhere,and as a result, he sees a lot of

even matches among NCAADivision I players.

“Due to the talent pool, there isa lot of parity in Division I,”Cunningham said. “And the levelof play and talent has really beenelevated, across the board, duringthe 10 to 15 years. Much highercaliber junior programs, combinedwith advances in equipment haschanged scoring. Not only areplayers better skilled in every area,but equipment has enabled playersto hit farther and straighter. As aresult scoring has dropped dramati-cally,” he said.

“We play a national schedule.And while the players may havedifferent entry points, we arrive atthe same field, competing againthe best amateurs in the world onchallenging courses,” he added.

Cunningham’s coaching philos-ophy has several elements, includ-ing a “keep elevating your game”mindset. As a result, he looks atplayer development as the threadthat runs through his golfers’ colle-giate careers. “It’s not just a seriesof one-year experiences,” he said.

Three upcoming EMU seniorsto watch are Cam Burke of Baden,Ont., Marty Jeppesen of Saline,Mich., and Brandon Lemons ofPortage, Mich.

Women’s Golf TeamThe EMU women’s golf team

ended the 2009 season as runners-upat the Mid-American ConferenceWomen’s Golf Championship.EMU’s second-place finish equaledthe mark set by the 2003, 2007 and2008 squads.

With three of those second-place finishes occurring during herfour-year tenure as EMU HeadWomen’s Golf Coach SandyWagner seems to be running asolid – and consistent – program.

Like Cunningham, Wagnerfocuses on the student as well asthe athlete. As a result, three ofher players – senior Courtney Ailiof Chelsea, Mich., senior StephanyFleet of DeWitt, Mich., and sopho-more Darby Peters of Lake Orion,Mich., earned Academic All-Mid-American Conference honors.

In addition, Fleet finished theseason ranked second in the nationin total short game, according toGolfStat, while the women Eaglestied for eighth as a team in totalshort game. The total short gamerankings compare the statistics ofmore than 600 student-athletes andfactors in sand saves and non-sandup-and-downs.

Fleet was ranked the 129th bestgolfer in the nation according tothe Golfweek/Sagarin system witha 666-43-12 overall record in2008-09.

As a team, EMU is ranked 81stnationally by Golfweek/Sagarinand 86th by GolfStat. With itsoverall 101-22-0 Division 1 NCAArecord, the EMU women Eaglesfinished the 2009 season second inthe MAC, behind 21st ranked KentState University.

Training facilities for bothteams include the championshipEMU Eagle Crest Golf Club inYpsilanti, and practice facilities atMiles of Golf in Ypsilanti and theFox Hills Learning Center inPlymouth. MG


Wayne State UniversityWarriors: 2009- 2010 Golf

Season Preview - Men’s Golf

TheWayneStateUniversity

Warriors are antici-pating the 2009-2010golf season whilealso reflecting onlessons learned thispast year afterrecently wrapping upa season in which theteam won two invita-tional tournaments(the OaklandCommunity CollegeInvitational atPontiac CountryClub in Waterfordand the NorthwoodInvitational at Currie Golf Course inMidland) and finished first at theNCAA Super Regional held atMeadows Golf Course from May4th – 6th. The Warriors also finished13th out of 20 teams at the NCAADivision II Championship at LoomisTrail Golf Course in Blaine,Washington.

In addition to the team’s success,recent graduate Steve Cuzzort fin-ished in a tie for fifth individually atthe NCAA Division IIChampionship. Along with hisstrong showing at the championship,Cuzzort was selected to the DivisionII PING All-America First Team bythe Golf Coaches Association ofAmerica. Furthermore, he was also

named the GLIAC (Great LakesIntercollegiate Athletic Conference)Men’s Golf Athlete of the Year.While obtaining two of the highesthonors in Division II golf, Cuzzortalso posted the university’s all-timebest season scoring average of71.313, which beat the previousscoring record of 72.931 by a clearstroke.

Senior and co-captain JoeJuszczyk was selected to the All-GLIAC First Team and averaged73.344 during the season, which isthe third-lowest recorded average inthe university’s history. According tohead coach Mike Horn, Juszczyk’sperformances this past season shouldbe a sign that he will have a greatsenior year showing. “He should bea pre-season All American candidate

in 2009-2010,” Hornsaid.

Along with the returnof Juszczyk, CoachHorn is also lookingforward to an incomingfreshman class that willadd depth and talent tothe team. In addition tothe freshman members,Coach Horn is alsoexpecting some strongperformances fromolder members of histeam who are hoping togain experience in col-legiate golf.

“We have three freshmen comingin, three red-shirts ready to play, andone player back from injury,” Hornsaid. “We will be a lot deeper at thethree, four, five and six spots nextyear.”

Through these additions, CoachHorn expects the Warriors to have asuccessful 2009-2010 campaign.“We look forward to making a runagain next year as we will have thedeepest roster we have ever had,”Horn said.

All Warrior golf fans are invit-ed to the team’s annual golf out-ing on July 13th at EdgewoodCountry Club. For more informa-tion, please contact Coach MikeHorn at 313-399-3560. MG

By: Chris Lewis

Wayne State University Men’s Golf Team

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Michigan Golfer, Summer 2009

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