The Golf Association of Michigan’s president for 2020, Mark McAlpine of Highland, Michigan, said for many years the hustle and bustle of a short Michigan golf season has always reminded him of the rolling boulder scene from the Indiana Jones movie Raiders of the Lost Ark.
“The season starts, the boulder comes rolling down the chute and you better keep moving so you don’t get crushed,” he said. “I used to use that analogy when I was with Club Car. Then this summer happened, and I really was afraid we might get crushed.”
Instead, McAlpine points out, the GAM’s staff and volunteers pulled off a heroic Indiana Jones effort, a Michigan Jones effort if you will.
“I couldn’t be prouder of the staff and volunteers for what they were able to accomplish,” he said. “All of us were staring at a complete unknown. At one point we didn’t know whether there would be an open golf season, if we would have tournaments, if we could do course ratings.”
In the early months of his presidency McAlpine said there were sometimes multiple daily phone calls, especially during March, April and May as the coronavirus pandemic caused pandemonium.
“It was stressful as executive orders went through and we would have to try and seek clarification for our members courses and clubs,” he said. “We had to understand it, then analyze and make changes. Chris Whitten (GAM Executive Director) did the heavy lifting, the heavy worrying and working tirelessly with the other golf organizations in the state. I tried to serve as normal of a role as possible as president and advise. I found out Chris and his staff had their act together.”
Whitten, in his first year as the Executive Director, said McAlpine was an active leader in the process.
“I think the main thing is that Mark wanted to be informed so that he was in the best position to support what we were doing and offer suggestions along the way,” he said. “It felt like we were all on the same team moving forward.”
Three times the GAM budget faced revision as the year turned to May and June.
“Financially the executive committee prepared the GAM for a tough financial year, we took some hits like not doing the USGA qualifiers we do each year, but in the end that big financial loss did not happen,” McAlpine said. “By next April we should be able to finish our (fiscal) year in a positive position.”
The president noted the golf industry was rescued by the game itself in a way.
“The season turned out for the entire industry a lot better than anybody imagined,” he said. “The number of players returning to the game was surprising. Our tournament players came back, and some tournaments increased in numbers. Our GAM Foundation goals with Youth on Course were met and exceeded. Families played golf. People took lessons. Everybody felt like it was the perfect outdoor activity with social distancing built in. The equipment makers were tapped out of supplies. By September there was a very positive story for the golf industry, the course owners, the private clubs, everybody.”
McAlpine, one of the original members at Prestwick Village Golf Club in Highland, said he was pleased with progress being made despite the pandemic in almost all phases of the GAM’s operation, including Youth on Course, course rating and tournaments while Michigan golfers were also kept safe.
“Our tournament staff came up with very detailed safety protocol and more importantly kept executing that protocol,” he said. “I volunteered one of the days of double matches at the Michigan Amateur at Boyne Highlands, our first tournament with a huge field, and I was so impressed with how we handled things with electronic scoring, with making people feel safe and we had a few days of bad weather, too. That’s when I knew we would be alright, that at least we would have a tournament season in that form.”
The president’s biggest concern as the season marched through July, August and September was that the staff was working long hours.
“We had packed so many of our services and tournaments into a smaller time frame that we had tournament staff and volunteers like our rules officials working several days in a row to make it happen,” he said. “That’s when the boulder image from the movie really hit me. The GAM worked so hard and ran away from it. Our tournament staff was amazing.”
McAlpine is not sure what impact the 2020 season amid a pandemic will have in the future.
“I don’t know how much we will be able to build off of it because it has been such a unique year, but we should feel good about the accomplishments,” he said. “We will analyze and there were good things I’m sure we can translate into better practices for any year. Maybe we can build off it for the future. I know the GAM will try.”
Whitten said McAlpine’s background with Club Car and as a member golfer, GAM governor and volunteer proved beneficial.
“Being on the equipment side he had built-in relationships at member facilities, and he could also look at us from the member facility point of view,” Whitten said. “As a golfer at a member facility, he also had that point of view.
“There was so much uncertainty at the start. Nobody had been through a pandemic in our lifetime. There was no blueprint. With Mark’s guidance we stayed conservative, not knowing what the season might bring. We’re happy golf ended up being one of the industries that could welcome people back safely. The GAM is in a strong position going forward to keep promoting the game for everybody.”