Allied Golf Associations – Syndication Server

GAM executive director Chris Whitten on his tenure and challenges he’s faced through the pandemic

Cedar Rapids native Chris Whitten discusses his time with the GAM and how he and the association have adapted throughout the pandemic.

Three years ago Chris Whitten envisioned taking on the executive director role at the Golf Association of Michigan as a new adventure in leadership, a benefit to his family and an opportunity to have more of an impact in the game of golf.

He joined in 2019 amid the centennial celebration of the association’s service to Michigan golf. But like everyone else, Whitten didn’t see a global pandemic coming, or the golf boom of sorts that followed it.

“All those things happened and they all produced unique challenges, including many I never expected, but they also provided opportunities to learn,” he said. “Even though it’s only been three years I feel like I’ve gained 10 years in experiences because of all I learned in that time. And that’s all a good thing.”

Whitten, 42, is a former University of Notre Dame golfer who became a collegiate golf coach, first as an assistant at Notre Dame, then worked as a golf professional for Miles of Golf in Ann Arbor and the Inverness Club in Toledo before returning to coaching. He had been the head men’s golf coach at the University of Michigan for eight years after a half decade stint as an assistant when he came to the GAM.

He said the challenge of going from leading a team of eight college golfers to leading 70,000 GAM members, staff, volunteers and more appealed to him.

“What it all boiled down to was the opportunity to make an impact at a bigger level, all across the state where I grew up and in [a] game that has been really good to my family all the way back through my parents and my grandparents,” Whitten said.

He is the son of Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member Buddy Whitten (and Julie), a long-time PGA professional and former PGA Tour Champions player. Chris was born and raised in the Grand Rapids area where his father worked for Blythefield Country Club. He and his wife Amy have two sons, Graham, 11, and Lucas, 9.

“The move to the GAM made sense for me on a personal level, too,” he said. “It was an opportunity to be more of a presence at home, and to keep our boys involved in golf. I saw a bigger team to be a part of and a team that had a lot of support.”

Whitten said many of the things he envisioned have worked out even better than he expected. He found great support and great passion on his staff and in the large volunteer population at the GAM. He said those things are what helped him handle the unforeseen challenges.

He said his lasting memory of joining amid the centennial year was nervously appearing at a GAM Foundation fundraising gala event that celebrated the centennial but also included Jack Nicklaus and the goodbye to David Graham, who had been the longest-serving GAM executive director for 18 years and who earlier this year was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame for his contributions to Michigan golf.

“I still remember the opportunity to take the microphone at the centennial event and getting to introduce David and providing him the opportunity to stand so he could be recognized for all he had done for the GAM,” he said. “That turned out special. It was nothing planned in my notes. It happened in the moment. And then I had the opportunity to introduce Jack Nicklaus to a room full of golf-loving people. I remember the nerves of just wanting to get it right, and that was also my real introduction to what I call the GAM family, those there who support the association and love the game.”

Year two meant dealing with the pandemic year of 2020. It tested the GAM and its supporters as it did people and organizations globally. Whitten has a vivid memory of a first Zoom meeting with all the tournament volunteers after his staff had planned to move forward with the 2020 golf season.

“We had been out of the office for a long time at that point, but we had continued to do the work and we made the decision to go forward with the tournament program, protocols in place,” he said. “That was a proud moment. We had not run a tournament yet, but the staff was organized, had made decisions and developed a firm plan that we now look back and realize went smoothly. That meeting showed me a lot about the relationships our staff had with the volunteers and how they all worked on the same team to make in happen for our players. I learned tournaments are more than just a fun afternoon for our volunteers, and I learned how much our staff cares about getting it right.”

Tournaments happened the right way in 2020, outside with creative adjustments and protocols, and some of those practices became part of the 2021 tournament season.

“As I look back on what has happened I understand the desire to be outside more, how people took on working remotely and adjusted schedules and knowing that helps the golf boom makes sense,” he said. “We weren’t sure at the time what to expect, but I’m most proud that when the boom happened our team was ready. We had good systems in place. What we were offering our members obviously mattered to them. We did a good job of telling our story and welcoming new people who had not been a part of us and golf before. We met the demand.”

Whitten said in some ways the three years look anything but routine, but that the nature of golf and its season in Michigan lends a cadence to the work of the association.

“For instance my work right now is concentrated on our governors and the changes in the officer team that will happen in 2022,” he said. “Our foundation was just starting when I arrived and the things people like David Graham and John Schulte (GAM president emeritus) put in place have expanded to where we now have Laura Bavaird taking on a role in leading the foundation when before it was just one of the things I did. Then when the golf season arrives and our tournaments start, I will really enjoy being part of that again, too.”

Mark McAlpine, GAM president emeritus who served in 2020 and was part of the officer team and hiring process for Whitten, said the GAM searched for a leader with communication, organization and management skills.

“We needed someone to keep us on the tracks and grow in the future, and Chris has been everything we hoped he would be for us,” he said. “The Covid year, or two years really, have been a good reflection of that. He worked with the Michigan Golf Alliance to create one golf voice in the state and at the same time developed protocols and strategies for the GAM to operate and even grow. From my standpoint, we are absolutely thrilled with what he has done.”

Michigan’s golf association continues to adapt to continue growth of the game

GAM has expanded on its quality services and staff in recent years to better lead a refocused effort in continuing to grow its membership…

Serving over 72,000 individual members and encompassing over 450 golf courses and clubs across the state, the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM), has expanded on its quality services and staff in recent years to better lead a refocused effort in continuing to grow its membership.

“We are fortunate to have the third most golf courses in the country and the large majority participate in the GAM,” GAM executive director Chris Whitten said. “But there are a lot of people out there we feel have yet to hear our great, positive story, especially in the daily fee course sector.”

Kyle Wolfe is the man in charge of telling the story that Whitten so badly wants people to hear about. Having worked for the GAM in multiple departments including course rating, handicap services, acting as the director of junior tournament golf and more, Wolfe now finds himself as the director of member services.

“With the enhancements we have made in the last few years, including the World Handicap System, Golf Genius (enhanced computer software) and upgrades to our GHIN Mobile App we have new and better ways to serve our members,” Wolfe said. “We’ve also expanded our staff to continue the great level of service and even expand it.”

As for clubs and courses, Wolfe said course rating is the core product the GAM offers. It will continue to be a focus with trained volunteers rating as many as 70 courses a year, but Wolfe also wants the courses and clubs to be aware of how Golf Genius can help in terms of tournament registration, scoring, and other uses for leagues, events, and outings.

“They are great products that continue to make life easier for the people who administer golf at our member clubs,” Wolfe said. “And they provide a better experience for the golfers who play there.

“For instance, the ability to offer a Handicap Index authorized by the USGA (United States Golf Association), clubs can offer that to golfers so they are able to compete on an equal level whether playing in a tournament, a league or any event, or just as a group showing up on the first tee to play a fun game.”

Wolfe said GHIN Mobile App upgrades now offer statistics tracking, GPS and other features to improve the individual golfer experience.

“If you play a lot of different courses in a season that can be really helpful,” said Wolfe. “You can track your game on your phone statistically and see where your weaknesses and strengths are, too.”

The GAM has also developed new pricing structures that many courses and clubs have not learned about yet.

“It is economical for the clubs and in the last four years the value proposition is a lot different,” he said. “There is a lot more the GAM can offer in that area than we used to be able to provide.”

Wolfe said overall the idea is to grow the number of people and to maximize fun.

“We can make it more enjoyable for the golfers and those who administer the game,” he said. “Whether it is Handicap Index or technology, we can make life at the course easier.”

As for Whitten, he’s grateful to have staff that are passionate about making the game more enjoyable for all.

“In my time many staff members have shown great aptitude in various areas and Kyle is an absolute expert on programs and services we are able to offer our courses, clubs and players,” he said. “I get a lot of feedback from our current members about the quality service from Kyle, and I believe he is in a position now to excel even more. He will tell our story to courses and people who need to hear it and improve things for golf in Michigan.”

To learn more about the GAM, visit their website: gam.org

Scott Hovis reflects on Missouri Golf Association’s 15 years of progress

With just 8 events to the MGA’s name when Hovis joined in 2006, the association now lays claim to over 50 events over the year thanks to him

When Scott Hovis came to the Missouri Golf Association in 2006, the association had just eight annual events. Fifteen years later, the MGA’s executive director can reflect on the growth of more than 50 events a year, bringing the game he loves to more Missourians of all ages and backgrounds.

“We have brought a lot of new opportunities to the association from when I came in 15 years ago,” Hovis said. “We’ve started a 16 [event] one-day senior series tour and a junior tour that has 12 one-day events throughout the state of Missouri. We have also merged with the Missouri Women’s Golf Association.

“We give opportunities to everyone – no matter your background or ability level,” Hovis continued. “I feel like we do a great job of making sure everyone feels at home and feels comfortable playing in our championships so that they have the opportunity to enjoy the game of golf, meet new people and have a great time playing this lifetime sport.”

Hovis came into the association as the junior golf director and within a year was promoted to executive director, a role he has held the last 14 years.

The goals Hovis is bringing to the association are clear: “Our mission is to promote the best interests and true spirit of the game of golf throughout the state of Missouri.”

As a Missouri native and golf enthusiast, Hovis embraces his role to give back to the game in his home state.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without golf, so I’ve always wanted to give back to the game since it’s given me so much,” Hovis said. “I want to give people in my home state the same opportunities to enjoy the game as much as I have.”

One event he takes tremendous pride in is the parent-child championship, which the MGA started 14 years ago. It’s an event that clearly holds a special place in Hovis’ heart.

“Seeing the relationships between the mothers and fathers playing with their children is special,” he said.

To learn more about the MGA, visit their website: mogolf.org.

Golf Association of Michigan’s Youth Program Finding Success Through Play

In 2021, there were 6,495 YOC members through the GAM tallied 12,364 rounds of golf and 1,447 buckets of balls this season…

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – Mix together a Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) president bullish on greater access to the game for young people, the GAM Foundation’s Youth on Course support program, fundraisers like the 100 Hole Hike and YOC Celebration Day and the result is 6,495 golfers under age 18 having a fist-pumping fun and affordable golf season.

Heading into October there were 6,495 YOC members through the GAM playing 12,364 rounds of golf and hitting 1,447 buckets of balls this season, all for $5 or less. In addition, $72,250 had been paid to the state’s participating courses by the GAM Foundation.

GAM president Mark Bultema of Grand Rapids, pushed an agenda of inclusion and pulled off fundraising as well. He said he started playing the game at age eight at city-owned Indian Trails Golf Course in Grand Rapids. In August, the course played host to the first YOC Celebration Day that raised over $50,000 while giving dozens of young golfers and their families a day of golf fun.

“I had a chance recently to look back on my life’s journey and the one thing that has been a constant is the enjoyment I have had playing golf,” Bultema said. “The most memorable times I have are playing with my two children, their spouses and my seven grandchildren. What a blessing, and it all started when I was eight years old and my first round of golf at Indian Trails. I would have been one of the Youth On Course members if the program had been available.”

GAM Executive Director Chris Whitten lauded Bultema’s efforts and leadership.

“Mark’s a planner and he had a great vision for it, both parts, the fundraising to support the kids and then welcoming the kids and letting them play golf,” he said. “It was a special afternoon, and because of all the good planning of Mark and the GAM staff, I thought it just went beautifully.”

Cut to recent weeks and for the third consecutive year the GAM participating in the 100 Hole Hike fundraiser for Youth on Course. It raised over $30,000 thanks to generous donors and GAM staff members and others walking more than 100 holes at two sites (Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs, Country Club of Detroit in Grosse Pointe Farms), each toting their own golf bags after collecting pledges.

“The Michigan 100 Hole Hike exceeded all expectations this year,” Whitten said. “More Hikers took on the challenge and we spread out to two new locations,” Whitten said. “We had a lot of fun and raised some great awareness for Youth on Course Michigan. I can’t thank these golfers enough.”

Whitten said the participating golf courses across the state, over 70 of them, do get subsidized but are playing a key role as well.

“To be fair, what we subsidize is a negotiated rate,” he said. “They have skin in the game, too. They are working with us on a workable rate that makes it all possible. It means in the end it’s going to be good for the game of golf in Michigan because we’ll keep growing it for everybody and making it more and more accessible. The funds raised help pay for a lot of golf rounds.”

Whitten, Ken Hartmann (GAM Senior Director of Competitions), Charlotte Sypula (USGA Boatwright Intern), golf professionals Corey May, Scott Pussehl and Patrick Wilkes-Krier, Ann Arbor philanthropist Michael Nisson and GAM Governor Janina Jacobs were among the hikers, and some were involved in a competition to raise money. Hartmann even made a hole-in-one at Country Club of Detroit while at the event.

“It has been a great year for the GAM, Youth on Course and Michigan golf,” Whitten said.

Those interested in learning more about the Youth on Course program or the 100 Hole Hike can do so at GAM.org.

How a 121 in an Open qualifier has led to one Michigan man playing a key role in an upcoming film

It never crossed the mind of Terry Moore, that one day he would be contacted by a screenplay for permission to include his name in a story

It never crossed the mind of Terry Moore, a Golf Association of Michigan governor and golf writer, that one day he would be contacted by a screenplay writer for permission to include his name in a story and then called by an actor doing research on playing Terry Moore in a resulting movie.

“Never saw that coming,” said the former editor of Michigan Golfer magazine, Grand Rapids resident, and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member.

“So many things had to happen for this to happen. I think of two words – surreal and serendipity.”

It’s here, a movie called Phantom of the Open, based on a book by the same name, debuted at the London Film Festival recently. It is not slated to hit theatres until the spring of 2022, as in golf season.

The Phantom of the Open is the surreal story of Maurice Gerald Flitcroft, who became famous or notorious, your pick, after entering a 1976 British Open qualifier and shooting a 121, the highest score recorded in any round associated with the Open and earning him the media tags of the world’s worst golfer and the Walter Mitty of golf.

He entered by checking the box professional golfer despite never having played an entire round of golf and practicing for only a few months on a beach. He slipped through the cracks of the entry process of the time because professionals did not have to provide a handicap index.

His famous round led to the Open changing the entry and qualifier process, but the eccentric and undeterred Flitcroft, a 46-year-old shipyard crane operator in Barrow-in-Furness by trade, kept working on his golf game and dreaming of winning the Open. He essentially became a hoaxer and regularly attempted to enter the Open and other golf tournaments. He went as far as wearing disguises and using pseudonyms.

Two years after the initial 121, Tim Moore, Terry’s brother, enters the picture. Tim, who has also volunteered for the GAM as a governor, at that time was the chairman of an annual member-guest tournament at Blythefield Country Club near Grand Rapids. He came across Flitcroft’s 121 score while thumbing through a Guinness Book of World Records and immediately decided it would be fun to name the tournament in Flitcroft’s honor.

Nine years later, in 1987, Terry plays in the Flitcroft as a guest of another member with GAM connections, Brent Rector, and makes a hole-in-one as their team wins the event.

Terry, gifted with a sense of humor and a penchant for ideas like his brother, had turned telling people about the ace into a running gag.

“I made a hole-in-one at an event with an open bar,” he said. “How good is that?”

He planned to return to the tournament in 1988 and remembers wondering what happened to Maurice Flitcroft, and if it might be possible for added fun to get Flitcroft invited to this tournament in Grand Rapids named in his honor.

As a golf writer with national connections and annual trips to major championships, including the Masters Tournament, Moore through members of the British media not only tracked down Flitcroft and sent him a letter of invitation, but he persuaded British Airways and local companies involved in helping to cover costs as a public relations effort. Flitcroft played in the tournament with Moore, Rector and myself.

Flitcroft – at the time very unassuming and fascinated that people in Grand Rapids might even know what he did and on top of it provide him and his wife, Jean, with an all-expenses-paid trip to a tournament named for him – charms his playing group and the crowd at the post-tournament festivities.

“It really turned out great and fun in so many ways,” Moore recalled. “To us he was this harmless eccentric who hit some good golf shots and [did] some very funny things. We laughed about it often. He was a dock worker who got seasick when we arranged for him to go out on Lake Michigan in a boat with his wife. Just so much about it was this fun, hard-to-believe story.”

While the British Open hierarchy found nothing funny in the 121, Flitcroft continued to tell media types that the Open championship should truly be open to all golfers. The tale inspired many stories in many publications. It even drew attention for comedian and writer Simon Farnaby and Scott Murray to turn it into a biography. The former turned the story into a screenplay last year.

Flitcroft died in 2007 at the age of 77, but the story has lived on and the 121 still resides as the worst score ever recorded in the Open.

In December of 2020 Moore received a Facetime call from New York-based actor Michael Capozzola, who told him he was playing Terry Moore in the upcoming film.

“From what Michael tells me the movie pivots when Maurice is down on his luck as a crane operator receives this letter from me inviting him to a tournament in his honor in Grand Rapids, Michigan, with all-expenses paid. He and his wife come and I welcome him. I haven’t seen it, so I don’t know exactly what happens. I’ve seen the trailer. I think it will be funny and entertaining. It has to be.”

Moore said his talks with Capozzola make it clear the English love these off-beat underdog stories like Eddie The Eagle, the British ski jumper who competed in the Olympic Games.

“I was so surprised when I was contacted,” Moore said. “I guess I didn’t realize at the time what that trip meant to him and his wife, though we have told the story and laughed about his funny lines at the dinner. The one about not being sure what made him more nervous, teeing off in a tournament named after him or driving on the right side of 28th Street was a classic. And then when he quoted his sister-in-law who upon hearing he and Jean were going on the trip said, ‘It’s the first time I remember Maurice and Jean being out of the house together since their gas oven exploded!’ It brought the house down.”

Moore said he hopes the movie captures the humor and the light side of the story behind the reason Flitcroft, the Moore brothers, Blythefield and Grand Rapids, Michigan, ever were connected.

“Think about all that had to happen,” Moore said. “Maurice taking up golf then making his tournament debut in an Open qualifier, shooting 121, Tim reading it and Blythefield naming the tournament after Maurice…“It’s surreal. No other word fits.”

Miami Valley ‘punches above its weight’ when it comes to amateur stars like Marissa Wenzler, Austin Greaser

A small golf market like Miami Valley can have its challenges but as executive director Steve Jurick says, “we punch way above our weight.”

After Marissa Wenzler collected the Women’s Western Amateur trophy, a colossal piece of hardware both physically and symbolically in the amateur golf world – on July 24, she was headed back home to Dayton, Ohio to a family reunion already underway. Safe to say the family was watching that week-long performance at Park Ridge (Illinois) Country Club from afar.

Safe to say some Wenzler fans in the greater Miami Valley Golf Association were watching, too.

“I think everyone is going to be pretty excited,” she told Golfweek at the end of that week. “I have a great support system, my family, friends, teammates, coaches, everyone.”

Wenzler, a junior on the University of Kentucky roster, is a bright spot for one of the country’s smaller golf organizations. Miami Valley numbers only 10,577 members. A smaller golf market can have its challenges, including a small inventory of courses and smaller membership numbers, but as executive director Steve Jurick says, “we punch way above our weight.”

Perhaps that’s never been so obvious as it has been these past few months. After Wenzler marched through five head-to-head matches to victory at the Women’s Western, she teed it up two weeks later at the U.S. Women’s Amateur. She advanced through a 12-for-2 playoff on the match-play bracket, and then her first match-play victory was over stroke-play medalist Rachel Kuehn.

Wenzler ended up advancing to the Round of 32 at the U.S. Women’s Amateur, and a week later, another player with Miami Valley ties did even better at the U.S. Amateur. Austin Greaser, of Vandalia, Ohio, played his way to the final match before falling to eventual champion James Piot.

Greaser, a junior at North Carolina, told Golfweek after the quarterfinals at Oakmont (Pennsylvania) Country Club that he just loves a good, Midwest-style golf course, noting how Oakmont reminds him of Inverness in Toledo, Ohio, where he lost to eventual champion Preston Summerhays in the quarterfinals of the 2019 U.S. Junior.

James Piot, left, and Austin Greaser pose with the Havemeyer Trophy before the start of

the final match at the 2021 U.S. Amateur at Oakmont Country Club. (Chris Keane/USGA)

“These courses just fit my eye, man,” said Greaser, who was making his third U.S. Amateur start.

Courtesy of his trip to the final match at Oakmont, this Miami Valley native will now have the opportunity to play in both the 2022 Masters Tournament and the U.S. Open.

Greaser and Wenzler certainly stand out on the national stage, but

Britt Platt was the medalist and lost in the finals of the Women’s State Mid-Amateur Championship, Dhaivat Pandya, lost in a playoff in the Ohio Amateur and Jordon Gilkison won the State Boys DI High School Championship.

There is much to celebrate about Miami Valley golf.

Competition drives Michigan golfer Jerry Gunthorpe

The extremely competitive Jerry Gunthorpe made golf headlines in Michigan and beyond with a runner-up finish in the U.S. Senior Amateur.

Jerry Gunthorpe, who grabbed the attention of the golf audience in Michigan and across the country with a runner-up finish in the recent U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at Country Club of Detroit, describes himself as very competitive.

“I’ve always been that way,” he said.

It was seeking an outlet for his competitiveness that first brought him to golf. When he started the 10th grade at Lansing Everett High School he stood just 5-foot 2-inches tall and was declared anemic by the doctor in his annual physical.

“I could shoot and handle the ball, and I could run, but I wasn’t going to play football or basketball at the Class A high school level at 5-2,” he said. “I had to find something else as a competitive outlet, and golf was that outlet. I wasn’t driven to play golf really. I was driven to be competitive, and golf fit that competitive aspect for a guy who was 5-2 at the time.”

A growth spurt, ironically, happened in the very next year with iron pills prescribed by the doctor.

“I went from 5-2 and 98 pounds at the start of my sophomore year to 6-foot and 98 pounds at the start of my junior year,” he said.

He added some weight and filled out over time, and today Gunthorpe, 58, fit and standing strong at 6-foot, still finds his competitive outlet in golf.

His recent run to the finals in the U.S. Senior Amateur might have been as surprising as a 10-inch growth spurt on the national level, but in Ovid, where he lives, at Owosso Country Club where he plays, in the Lansing area and in Golf Association of Michigan tournaments where he normally competes, it wasn’t as much surprise as it was verification.

“Jerry has a lot of game, and it’s just great he’s making a run,” said Bill Zylstra of Dearborn, who on the day Gunthorpe was competing in the finals at CC of Detroit was at Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs competing in the GAM Mid-Amateur Championship.

Zylstra, who is a former top-ranked national senior player, wasn’t surprised.

“It’s great they are playing it in Detroit,” he said. “It gives more Michigan guys a chance to see what they can do.”

Five Michigan players were in the starting field and three – Gunthorpe, Tom Gieselman and Rick Herpich, making it through stroke play to match play. Gieselman, in fact, reached the quarterfinals along with Gunthorpe.

Gunthorpe didn’t surprise himself reaching the finals. In a move to take his game national he had played in a trio of senior Golfweek tournaments in Florida last winter, had a top-five finish in the very first, and built enough ranking points to be in the top 30 at one point.

He had already met and competed against Gene Elliott of Iowa, who beat him 1-up in the title match of the U.S. Senior Amateur as a lead he held most of the match slipped away with bogeys on the final two holes.

“I don’t want this to come off as arrogance or anything like that because that’s not what this is,” he said, “but I believed I could play with and beat anybody my age. I still have the distance, I have longevity in the game, I’m in good shape at this age and I wouldn’t say I felt like I belonged there. It was more I never felt like I didn’t belong. It wasn’t a Genie in a bottle, a lucky swipe. You have to have a certain amount of luck to get that far in any tournament. That’s a function of the game, especially in match play, but as we went through the week I was trying to win it and thought I could.”

He almost did win it, and he said the most remarkable thing he will remember is the reaction of others to his accomplishment.

“The amount of congratulations has been amazing and humbling, and the amount that came from people I never even thought paid attention to me or golf was amazing,” he said. “So many people have told me they were riveted to the on-line scoring from the middle of the week to the end, and that others were, too. All over the country somebody that knew somebody who knew me, was pulling for me. I was so much in my own thing, competing, and to find out so many people cared about it, that is almost overwhelming. I never knew I could be the focus like that for so many people.”

Gunthorpe’s biggest takeaway from the experience, the thing he thinks he will remember most is having his son Nate caddie for him.

“He worked so hard and made it easy for me to play consistently well and not get caught up in whatever outside influences were going on. His demeanor, the interaction we had and my ability to hit quality golf shots came together. He was such a positive influence, helping me through warm-ups, being prepared to play and he was there to navigate whatever outside influences that were going on. I don’t think I will ever forget that experience.”

Golf is the competitive outlet for much of the family, and it is very competitive. Nate played collegiate golf at Michigan State University, and his son Nick played at Grand Valley State University and both are competitive amateur players at the state and national level. Gunthorpe figures the family battles with his boys and other top players at Owosso Country Club prepared him well for the championship run.

“Having your kids play golf has been a huge benefit,” he said. “They kept me in the game, kept me on the competitive side. I coached them in high school for seven years when they didn’t have a coach for the program. It was really about 15 years there where I was with them and golf was part of it.”

Gunthorpe and his wife Joani also have a daughter, Casey, who was a standout in competitive cheer in high school and also a cheerleader at Michigan State. He referred to her as the best athlete in the family.

“I met Joani back when I was in my second year of college (Lansing Community College) and I knew I wanted to get married and have her be a part of my life,” he said. “We had kids young because we wanted to have kids and saw no reason not to have them while we were young. The family was my focus. Yes, I still played golf, but the family and work were priorities for us.”

Gunthorpe is the president and owner of Gunthorpe Plumbing & Heating Inc., which is headquartered in Bath near East Lansing. His grandfather was a mechanical contractor. His father chose that path, too, and started Gunthorpe Plumbing & Heating in 1980. Gunthorpe and his late brother took it over. Nick and Nate now work in the business, too.

“Like with any family business you work 24 hours a day at it,” he said. “It’s doing really well, and I enjoy what I’m doing. It’s competitive in the business world like anything else, and that fits me and the family.”

Gunthorpe, who also likes to bow hunt and fish when he can find the time, said only so much time was carved out for golf over the years. He is going to take advantage of the exemption perks in the U.S. Mid-Amateur this fall and the U.S. Amateur and U.S. Senior Amateur next summer, but he isn’t planning dramatic changes in his life because of his run at CC of Detroit.

“I’m looking forward to the competition, that’s really it,” he said.

For talented senior Julie Massa, golf has been the family game for life

Julie Massa of Holt, Michigan, returned recently from her sixth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur, which was played in Point Clear, Alabama.

Julie Massa of Holt, Michigan, returned recently from her sixth U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur Championship, which was played in Point Clear, Alabama.

She made match play and was disappointed with a first-round loss, but she plans to keep working on her game and return next year.

“I practice with the USGA tournaments in mind,” she said. “They are special for me.”

The USGA national tournament challenge clearly appeals to her as evidenced by her 21 USGA tournament appearances dating back to two U.S. Girls’ Junior tournaments and including two U.S. Women’s Amateurs and nine U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur appearances.

“The courses are always challenging, there’s always a great field, it tests your game completely and I like that,” she said. “And like when I went to Alabama and played Bermuda grass greens, I like playing different conditions in different parts of the country. It’s the challenge of it I think.”

There was something different with this trip, too. Her husband Daryl, who retired last year, was able to go along and serve as caddie.

“That was really special,” she said. “I would hire him again if he wants to do it. I told him no firing and no quitting. It was fun to have him be a part of it.”

Golf is the Massa family game and mom is the star. She’s been the GAM Senior Women’s Player of the Year the last six years and was named the GAM Women’s Senior Player of the Decade in 2020. In early October she will be inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.

She learned the game from her father Al Cross, a PGA golf professional who turned 90 in July and still plays nine-hole rounds of golf a couple of times each week.

His star pupil, which also happened to be his daughter, won the 1983 Oregon Women’s Amateur and played for the Arizona State University golf team for four years and turned professional briefly before getting her amateur standing reinstated.

Massa met her husband along the way, brought her golf game to Michigan and they raised three daughters who play golf, too.

In Michigan her game has blossomed, first in mid-amateur tournaments and later in senior competitions. She said the most satisfying national event was teaming up with her daughter Mariah and qualifying for the 2016 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.

Golf has been a central activity throughout her life.

“Just growing up playing golf I liked to play well,” she said. “When I was a teenager I played with my brother and his friends, with other girls and guys, and we would have matches. It makes it fun when you play well and others around you play well. That’s where I learned to like competition.”

Massa is humble and deflects praise even as she continues to be the top senior female golfer in Michigan. She considers golf a privilege.

“Dad taught us to play, but he also taught us golf is a game,” he said. “I feel lucky to get to play this game, fortunate to be able to go places and play. I get disappointed, and it feels great to win, but I really enjoy just getting to play.”

She recovered quickly from her recent first-round match loss and said she learned from it.

“I’m always learning,” she said. “I played well in Alabama, hit a lot of good shots but I also learned more about some of the things I didn’t do well.”

Her frequent national tournament appearances have also helped her cultivate a group of national friends. She noted she grew up playing in Oregon with the family of three-time winner and this year’s champion Lara (Mack) Tennett, and former champion Terry Frohnmayer is a former student of her father.

“Terry was working with dad when she won in 2011,” she said. “I played two practice rounds with her this year. It’s great to see the people I’ve competed with over the years, just like when I play in Michigan. You compete, but you become friends, too.”

Practice makes perfect for GAM women’s champion Mikaela Schulz

Mikaela Schulz of West Bloomfield, Michigan, used to think she was a pretty good golfer, but she wanted more and practiced, and then practiced some more still searching.

Then college golf at the University of Michigan came along.

“College golf has helped me mature in my golf game,” said the winner of the recent GAM Women’s Championship at Klinger Lake Country Club in Sturgis.

“I’ve identified how to practice, really redefined my practice and that helped me improve a lot this last year. I worked on what I needed to work on. Growing up, I put in the hours, but I didn’t necessarily work on what I needed to work on. I practiced what I wanted to practice.”

Schulz said she approached the GAM Women’s Championship in a completely different way than her usual approach to competitions, even the Michigan Women’s Amateur where she was runner-up to Kimberly Dinh of Midland earlier in the summer.

“It was interesting, I didn’t get as much thrill from winning as I usually do and that was because of my mindset that week I think,” she said. “I decided not to play anyone else, but to play myself and just play the best I can. I didn’t want to feel like I had to go out and beat someone or the other golfers in the field. I just played.”

She held on for a wire-to-wire win shooting a final-round 74 to go with a first-round 69 for a winning total of 1-under 143, just one shot ahead of Northern Illinois University golfer Jasmine Ly of Madison Heights, who rallied with a 70.

“I didn’t feel as excited as usual, but there was more satisfaction,” Schulz said. “I knew I played the best golf I could in the tournament and it was good enough. It was cool and winning a super special GAM event is good momentum going into my college season. It was a good end to the summer.”

Jan Dowling, the golf coach at Michigan, said she is always thrilled for her players who find success in the summer.

“There’s a point of pride, but mostly I’m just really happy for them,” she said. “I’m especially happy for Mikaela because earlier this summer she came so close in the (Michigan Women’s Amateur). I think this could be a breakthrough win for her. She is such a committed young woman and it was great to see her win. It was awesome.”

Dowling said Schulz continues to improve her game, and that it is a testament to hard work and dedication.

“She was really a huge contributor this spring,” she said. “Her record this spring showed a lot of even par rounds in the final rounds. She tended to get off with slow starts and then finish with a bang. She was often in our fifth spot so to get an even-par round in the final rounds of tournaments really helped.”

Dowling expects her to continue to improve and perhaps finish her college golf career with a bang, too.

“She loves the game so much and her work effort never falters,” she said. “She’s also really inquisitive, a smart person. You follow her around for a day and you will see someone who is very dedicated. She takes a holistic approach. She loves to improve, reads a lot and works on her mental game.”

Schulz has worked with two golf teachers on her game – Martin Hall in Florida, and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame teacher Dave Kendall of Ypsilanti.

“With Martin I send him videos and we work more on swing fixes,” she said. “I work on similar things with Dave, but with him I also work on the whys — why do my shots shape this way or that and just what that means.”

She also works with lifetime fitness and yoga coaches Alex Schimmel and Alex Sheth.

“That has been impactful on my life,” she said, “and my golf, too. I feel like I’ve developed and see things coming together. My mind has shifted a bit. It’s been really cool and now I feel everything happens at the right time, nothing too late or too early.”

Clearly a thinker, she is a standout student and recently declared her major – bio psychology cognition and neuroscience. She said one of the reasons she picked Michigan was for the education the school promised.

“It’s a great school and a degree from there means a lot,” she said. “I will have career options with this direction.”

Of course, golf will not end with the college career for the two-time GAM Junior Girls’ Player of the Year. She has the dream of being an LPGA player like her cousin Morgan Pressel.

“With Morgan I’ve been around it and she is inspirational to me,” Schulz said. “It is my dream to travel the world and play professional golf like her. I will most likely try it and see how it goes.”

James Piot makes Michigan golf history with U.S. Amateur win

Piot is the fourth GAM member golfer to win a USGA national championship in the last 20 years.

Michigan natives have won major championships in golf, played on Ryder Cup Teams and competed on the grand stages of golf like St. Andrews, Augusta National and Pebble Beach.

Until James Piot of Canton, a Michigan State golfer, rallied from a 3-down deficit on the last nine holes to win the 121st U.S. Amateur Championship at Oakmont Country Club there had never been a Michigan native bring home the Havemeyer Trophy.

Nick Carlson, a University of Michigan golfer from Hamilton, made an especially exciting run to the semifinals in the 2016 U.S. Amateur, which was played in Michigan, at our grand stage of golf, Oakland Hills Country Club.

And back in 1956 Michigan golf legend Chuck Kocsis reached the final match of the U.S. Amateur before falling to Harvie Ward. Only Kocsis really wasn’t a Michigan native. He was born in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, and the family that included 14 children moved to Redford shortly after he was born, victims of the historic Johnstown Flood.

Piot, when he rolled in that 20-footer on the 35th hole to save par and close out his 2 and 1 win over Austin Greaser of Vandalia, Ohio, made Michigan golf history with a few exclamation points!

The week before he has won the GAM Championship for the second time, this time at Franklin Hills Country Club. He said then it would be good momentum going into the U.S. Amateur and that he was excited to see what he could do at Oakmont.

“You dream of it, but you don’t really think it’s going to happen,” Piot said. “But you know, I had some momentum rolling when I won the GAM Championship, and it was like, you know I’m playing well right now. I told myself to stay in the moment, take one shot at time and keep it rolling.”

He rolled, and Michigan’s golf community rolled with him.

Fellow Spartans, teammates and coaches he has had at every level, friends, opponents and just happy golf fans from Michigan made their way to Oakmont if they could or stay glued to a television to cheer him on.

The reactions were filled with joy and respect for his accomplishment.

From Dan Ellis, the MSU associate head golf coach who served as his caddie for the week: “It is special and you know James Piot is a big deal now. On the board inside they show who has won championships at Oakmont. Bobby Jones, Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, so it’s kind of cool James will have his name up there now.”

From his head coach at MSU, Casey Lubahn: “The only limits are the ones we put on ourselves, but when you work as hard as he does, and push up that sand hill, you can get to the top. That’s James. He was calm, he was confident and this is what happens.”

From his long-time teacher at Fox Hills Golf & Banquet Center, Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member Brian Cairns: “The prize at the end for him is the PGA Tour. Sorry, I’m emotional. I still can’t believe he just won. It’s a stepping stone on the journey to where he wants to be, but what a huge stone. There is just something different about that kid. I’ve been saying that for a long time.”

From his high school coach at Detroit Catholic Central, an accomplished player himself, Mike Anderson: “I’ve been fortunate to have several good players at Catholic Central but James’ work ethic is second-to-none. I always thought he would make it on tour. This though, the opportunities it affords him are incredible. The very best players in the world have won this event. I’m so happy for him, so proud for him and his family. He deserves it. He works and works and works.”

Even Michigan State’s famous basketball coach, Tom Izzo, and its most famous basketball player and athlete ever, Magic Johnson, got in on the celebration.

Izzo texted to Lubahn: “It’s a golf school now.”

Johnson went on Twitter and congratulated him with a “Go Green, Go White” message.

Piot, himself, used Twitter to offer a thank you: “Still can’t believe this is real, thank you so much to everyone who has reached out and all those who have been there to support me from the start. Couldn’t have done it without y’all.”

He added a heart emoji and the hashtag “#GoGreen.”

After the trophy ceremony he was moved that so many people had ventured to Oakmont, a little less than a five-hour drive from metro Detroit.

“Aside from golf, it lets me know I’m blessed to have people that support me in my life. It just means everything to have that. All my close friends and family out here makes it so much better and I’m so happy they were here.”

Piot is the fourth GAM member golfer to win a USGA national championship in the last 20 years. Greg Reynolds of Grand Blanc won the 2002 U.S. Senior Amateur, Randy Lewis of Alma won the 2012 U.S. Mid-Amateur and Tom Werkmeister of Hudsonville was medalist as Team Michigan won the USGA State Team Championship in 2016.

They made some history and Piot historically topped them all. He will be exempt into the U.S. Open, the British Open and probably invited to the Masters Tournament, and he will forever be the first from Michigan to win the U.S. Amateur.