Lopez sat down with Golfweek during the PGA Show this week.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Nancy Lopez has never been one to do anything half-heartedly.
When she realized her game was good enough to compete with the pros, Lopez left the University of Tulsa, and she won nine times in her rookie year on the LPGA, including an incredible stretch of five straight victories in May and June of 1978.
She finished her career with 51 professional wins, including three majors, in 25 full-time seasons on the tour. On one of women’s golf’s biggest stages, the Solheim Cup, Lopez helped the U.S. win the first Cup in 1990. She later captained the team to victory in 2005.
Now she’s joined forces with Lt. Dan Rooney and Folds of Honor, a non-profit organization that provides educational scholarships for children and spouses of fallen or disabled military service members and first responders.
Since the foundation started, it has granted 51,000 scholarships or about $240 million worth of education.
Rooney, the group’s CEO and founder, and Mike Arbour, who is the chairman of the board of directors, recently asked Lopez to become part of the board. She accepted.
“We never dreamed, especially 16 years ago when I was above my garage, that Nancy Lopez would say yes to joining our national board,” Rooney said. “I just think it’s a testament to the mission that brings people together, and that’s taking care of our military and first responders. In a world where you have to pick red or blue, this is red, white and blue. And I think people are starving for common ground.”
Lopez sat down with Golfweek during the PGA Show this week at the Orange County Convention Center to discuss why she became part of the organization, what she thinks of phenom Rose Zhang and what the Americans need to do to recapture the Solheim Cup.
The event began as something between an idea and personal mission for Michigan State men’s golf coach Casey Lubahn.
EAST LANSING, Michigan – What began as something between an idea and personal mission for Michigan State men’s golf coach Casey Lubahn has turned into one of the bigger events in college golf. Certainly as important as any invitational.
MSU is hosting the second annual Folds of Honor Collegiate this Monday through Wednesday at the famed American Dunes Golf Course in Grand Haven, featuring 18 schools, including highly ranked programs such as Florida State and Arizona, along with all three service academies, two HBCUs and one Division II program, Grand Valley State.
The tournament, in conjunction with the Golf Coaches Association of America, benefits Folds of Honor, a nonprofit that gives scholarships to families of military members who’ve lost their lives or been disabled in action and recently began including families of first responders. To date the organization says it’s given out 44,000 scholarships.
MSU golf coach Casey Lubahn and his father Dale at USGA Qualifying in 2003. Dale is a Vietnam War veteran, giving extra meaning to Casey in having his MSU team host this week’s Fields of Honor Collegiate event at American Dunes Golf Course in Grand Haven.
“The golf course has been opened about a year and I hadn’t been there,” Lubahn said. “And when you get to the golf course (they take your clubs and) you walk through this living memorial, with all the folks that they honor there, and I just kept thinking (how) college athletics is growing very quickly. It’s about a lot of things, some of those good things and some of them maybe are about money and other things like that. What can we do to broaden our reach as a college golf community?”
Lubahn reached out to Folds of Honor founder Lt. Col. Dan Rooney with the idea for the tournament. Three days after MSU’s James Piot won the U.S. Amateur, Lubahn flew to Oklahoma to meet with Rooney.
“It (quickly) went from a very minor thing to the biggest thing in college golf,” Lubahn said.
It’s also an organization and cause dear to Jack Nicklaus, who designed American Dunes, giving it the nickname, “The church that Jack built.” Nicklaus was scheduled to meet with the teams on Sunday. “That’s how much he believes in this event,” Lubahn said.
And of course, it’s an event that means a lot to Lubahn’s father, Dale.
“It was so emotional,” Casey said of when he first told his father about it. “There’s not a day that goes by he doesn’t wear a veteran hat or has a veteran sticker on his on his truck. It’s just something that our veterans don’t talk about a lot. And to see kind of a rejuvenation of that pride in their service, and he’s certainly gone full circle. When I was growing up, I didn’t hear him talk about his service and now we talk about it a lot. And this event becomes special to him. He just walks around beams and talks about it with such pride.”
Contact Graham Couch at gcouch@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @Graham_Couch.
The foundation collects donations that goes towards scholarships to military families.
At 12 years old, Dan Rooney had dreams of being a golf professional and a fighter pilot.
Fifteen years ago above Lt. Col. Dan Rooney’s garage, Folds of Honor was born. The goal was to give back to military families who has had someone killed or disabled in combat through the power of the PGA of America and the sport everyone loves.
The foundation collects donations that goes towards scholarships to military families. Since the foundation started, it has granted 44,000 scholarships or $220 million worth of education.
Our Averee Dovsek sat down with Lt. Col. Dan Rooney to learn more about what Folds of Honor does. Take a look below.
If you love golf, your country and want to thank the 1% that has fought for this country visit Folds of Honor’s website here to learn more or make a donation.
Skenes is donating his NIL earnings to Folds of Honor, which supports families of fallen or disabled military members and first responders.
In an ever-changing landscape of college athletics, the NIL was introduced to help athletes benefit from their name, image and likeness. There are a lot of guys who are using that money for all different types of things, and some of them are using that money for good causes.
Paul Skenes is one of those guys.
Skenes transferred to LSU after a couple of years at Air Force where he starred as a pitcher and as a hitter. He is one of the best pitchers in the country, and he is projected to be an early-round draft pick in this year’s MLB draft.
When he was asked what he would do with his NIL money he chose to donate it to Folds of Honor, which provides educational scholarships to spouses and children of fallen or disabled military and first responders. He put a link on his Twitter page that re-directs people to Folds of Honor where they can donate if they choose to.
Just a few hours after he posted that link, the donation page jumped from $234.80 to $2,156.80. It’s always good to see people using their influence for a good cause.
LSU fans! Join me this season as I support Folds of Honor in providing scholarships to the spouses and children of American heroes. We owe a debt to those who protect our freedom and families. pic.twitter.com/vHgLdyJknY
A new men’s collegiate golf tournament is set to hit the schedule in 2022.
The Folds of Honor Collegiate will debut Sept. 26-28 at American Dunes Golf Club, a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in Grand Haven, Michigan, along the coast of Lake Michigan. Proceeds will benefit the Folds of Honor and the Golf Coaches Association of America Presidential Scholarship Fund.
“When we dreamed of building American Dunes with Mr. Nicklaus and hosting a collegiate tournament that represented our values of God and country, golf was a top goal,” said Folds of Honor founder and CEO Lt Col Dan Rooney via a release. “The Folds of Honor Collegiate will be a trailblazing event with great college golfers playing the game for a greater purpose supporting Folds of Honor recipients.”
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Michigan State will host 17 other schools for the inaugural event: Air Force, Arizona, Army, Central Michigan, Clemson, Eastern Michigan, Florida State, Grand Valley State, Illinois, Kansas, Liberty, Navy, NC State, Oregon State, Texas Southern, UCLA and Virginia Union. Forty-one percent of Folds of Honor recipients are minorities; each year the tournament will feature two Historically Black Colleges and Universities programs. In 2022, the HBCU teams will be Virginia Union and Texas Southern.
“Being the host institution for the Folds of Honor Collegiate is one of the greatest opportunities of my career,” said Michigan State head coach Casey Lubahn. “We look forward to working tirelessly to make this event impactful to all those involved.”
“Freedom does not come free … and we just can’t forget that.”
One day years ago in the early 1990s, when Rocky Sickmann’s daughter was still in grade school, she came home and asked her father to speak to her class.
He asked why. She grabbed her history book that was wrapped tight with a brown Kroger shopping bag, opened it up and said, “Because we’re learning about you.”
The son and brother of men who served in the Army, Sickmann served in the Marines from 1976-1981 and was one of the 65 Americans taken hostage for 444 days during the Iran Hostage Crisis.
After the Marines, Sickmann worked 34 years for Anheuser-Busch before his retirement, where he now oversees the Budweiser account for Folds of Honor, a non-profit organization that provides academic scholarships to the children of wounded or killed soldiers. Since 2007, the group has provided 35,000 scholarships.
Working with Folds, which now has 32 chapters across the country, allows Sickmann to continually aid military dependents and honor the eight soldiers who died in an unsuccessful rescue attempt.
“Along with 65 other Americans our freedom, dignity and pride were stripped on November 4, 1979, and little did I know that I would have to spend the next 444 days in the darkest times of my life,” said Sickmann.
‘Death to America’
For the first 30 days, the hostages’ arms and feet were tied to a chair. The 400 days after that Sickmann was locked in a room with two other Americans. Over that span, the three went outside just seven times for 15 minutes. After a failed rescue attempt, known as Operation Eagle Claw, resulted in the death of eight service members, the hostages were moved from Tehran and sat for four months waiting until the Iran-Iraq War started. They were then brought back to prison for another four months from September through December in 1980.
Sickmann spent two Thanksgivings, two Christmases and his 23rd birthday as a hostage, dreaming of his freedom each and every day.
“It was 1981, January 20, and they came into our room and after 444 days … they take us from our room, blindfolded, take us in, they lead us outside, I walk into something I hadn’t felt for two years, snow through my open-toed shoes,” remembered Sickmann. “They put us in a vehicle, drive about 30 minutes and all of a sudden, we hear the sound of an airplane. This was something you had prayed for, you had hoped for, you had cried for an opportunity just to have the second chance in life.”
“The vehicle stops right behind the airplane, the force of the jet is pushing against the vehicle that we were in, and they tell us to un-blindfold. We only saw a total of five people of the 65 for the 444 days. And here you are looking at people that you had breakfast with on November 4, 1979,” he explained. “And they take us one-by-one to the plane and they’re chanting, ‘Death to America.’ I hadn’t seen a woman in 444 days and a stewardess takes me up and puts me down and you’re freed, and you would think that you would be excited, jumping up and down, but they’re chanting, ‘Death to America’ and you’re boarding this airplane and you just don’t understand what’s going on.”
As a hostage, Sickmann experienced it all: mock executions, blindfolded trips just to use the bathroom, beatings and malnourishment, the tragedies go on. After all that, the captors still had one final trick up their sleeve.
“The plane gets to the end of the runway and they’re getting ready to take off and all of a sudden, the pilot comes on and says they turned the runway lights off. For 444 days, it’s the mind games that were played,” said Sickmann. “They waited 20 minutes until President Carter was out of office, and President Reagan was in, to turn the runway lights on and then taxi down the runway. And it wasn’t until the plane got off the ground and into Turkish airspace that the pilot had told us that we were now freed and we came unglued.”
Homecoming
Sickmann had met a girl before he left the States and told himself he’d marry her if he got the chance when he returned.
“And so I call home to speak to my mom and dad, my dad said, ‘Rocky, Jill’s here. And I said, ‘She waited?’ And he goes, ‘No, she wants to talk to you.’ And I said, ‘Well, that doesn’t sound good.’ She gets on the line and she says, ‘Rocky, you got to make a decision, either me or the military. But I can’t do this.’ I chose wisely,” said Sickmann with a laugh, and 40 years later the two are still together.
“For me, Veterans Day is thinking of those eight individuals that paid the ultimate sacrifice, their life, for my life. I now have three wonderful children, four grandchildren, and I can tell you that those individuals that died that morning of April 25 would never again be able to go fishing with their sons, walk their daughters down the aisle and hold their grandkids, as I have been able to do. I think about all those that have served, and especially those served giving their life for my life, how do you forget something like that?”
Rocky Sickmann and his family. (Courtesy photo)
Ben Affleck and ‘Argo’
Sickmann and his wife were in Columbus, Ohio, in 2011 at a wedding when the father of the bride called him over and says, ‘Rocky, I want you to meet my sister, she’s a casting director out in LA, you never know maybe someday she’ll be able to help your son,’ who had grown with the dream of becoming a movie star.
“So what’s the chances three days later (the casting director) flies back out to LA, she’s emailing her friend asking her, ‘Hey, what are you working on?’ Her friend comes back and says she’s working with Ben Affleck, George Clooney, John Goodman and a cast of others about a hostage movie on the Iran hostages. And the girl we just met, she goes, ‘That’s interesting. I just met one of the hostages.’”
Just five days later Affleck — the director and star of the movie — had invited Rocky and his son, Spencer, to the set as well as the premier. Spencer was even in the movie briefly as an extra.
A stepping stone
Sickmann has been working with Folds of Honor since he retired in 2016, and the non-profit work as Senior VP of Budweiser accounts has been therapeutic for his downtime. It allows him to not only give back but also stay connected with those he used to work with. If anyone deserves to have his cake and eat it too, it’s someone like Sickmann.
That says, he still has his down moments. Being a hostage for 444 days and having eight people die trying to rescue you is a heavy load to handle and carry, but that’s why Sickmann tells his story every chance he gets. A psychiatrist once told him there are two ways he’d deal with the tragedy: keep it inside, but something’s going to cause you to break and one day talk about it, or use it as a stepping stone.
“Whenever I feel like I’m having a bad day, I think of those eight, and the man upstairs reminds me, ‘Would you rather be here having to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight, or would you rather be over in Iran where you had three rifles to the back of your head?’ ” he said. “If I can go through a mock firing squad, I can go through anything.”
This isn’t a story about golf – though Sickmann is frequently on the course for events and did make his first hole-in-one three years ago at Osage National Golf Resort in Lake of the Ozarks – it’s far more important. No matter where we fall on the political spectrum, we can all agree how important it is to take the time, not only on this one day a year, but to constantly remember and be thankful for those who served.
Said Sickmann: “Freedom does not come free, and these individuals are out there willing to sacrifice their lives and their years and we just can’t forget that.”
Todd Greene teed off in Augusta at 5:45 a.m. He didn’t plan to stop playing until the sun went down and he had to leave the course.
Todd Greene teed off at Augusta Country Club at 5:45 a.m. He didn’t plan to stop playing until the sun went down and he had to leave the course.
By 10:30 a.m., he had completed five, 18-hole rounds of golf. Greene, an assistant pro at ACC, was trying to raise money through an all-day golf marathon for Folds of Honor, a non-profit organization that helps provide educational scholarships to the families of fallen and disabled service members.
“The idea for the Folds of Honor marathon is to play golf from sunup to sundown, play as many holes as you can because you have people that can donate money, either a lump sum of money or a flat donation or they can donate a dollar a hole that you play,” Greene said.
This is the second year Greene has participated in the golf marathon. Last year, he and another assistant pro played 216 holes in one day.
This year, he hoped to play more than 280 holes in one day and raise $23,000 to provide five scholarships to military families.
“I enjoyed (last year’s marathon). It was incredibly hard work. It was very extraneous on my body for sure. You get that adrenaline rush and you know what you are out there doing and why you are doing it, it kind of pushes you through,” he said.
Greene said he was sore for two weeks after the marathon and expected to be sore for a longer this year. The goal is to raise enough money to provide five scholarships to military families.
Folds of Honor Recipient
US Army Staff Sgt. Jeremy Katzenberger enlisted in the Army in his hometown of Weatherby Lake, Missouri in October 2004. In 2011, Katzenberger left for his eighth deployment and never returned.
He was killed during a heavy firefight while conducting combat operations in Paktika Province, Afghanistan on June 14, 2011. He was 26 and survived by his wife, Colleen, and their son Everett, who was four months old at the time.
Every year, Colleen and Everett, who now live in Kansas City, return to Savannah and spend a week remembering and celebrating the life of Katzenberger.
“We actually stay in Tybee Island every June during the anniversary of his death. It’s pretty special. Georgia holds a very special place in my heart,” she said. “The biggest thing for me, our son, he was four months old when he left for that deployment. Unfortunately, he never got to know his dad and when we come back, we stay with old military friends.”
She heard about Folds of Honor from a friend and was able to connect with them. After moving to Kansas City, Katzenberger returned to school to get her master’s to be able to teach in high school. It was the first time she had been able to move on since her husband’s death.
“It was a really pivotal moment for me when I decided to go back to school because it was the first thing I had done since Jeremy had died that was really for me and for my future,” she said. “I made a lot of decisions around Everett and what he needed.”
While getting her Master’s degree, she thought about quitting due to the high cost. Folds of Honor stepped in, however, and helped her finish her degree.
She was a scholarship recipient in 2016 and 2017 and just finished her fifth year of teaching. Her son has a scholarship for when he goes to college. She feels if it wasn’t for Folds of Honor, she would have never been able to finish her degree and become the mom and teacher she is today.
Colleen said she always tries to say “Thank You” to people like Todd who take their time and raise funds for military families like hers. She often feels like a “Thank You” is not enough to show how grateful she is.
“Starting over was really hard for me and Folds of Honor made that happen. You are doing a lot more than just playing golf and raising money, you are telling those of us that have been left behind by the War on Terror not to give up and that we have a future and that is powerful,” she said.
Greene did not serve in the military, but his grandfather was retired Army. He decided to help out mainly because of his love of the military and country. For him, it means a lot to be able to give back just simply by playing golf.
“For me to be able to give back in this type of way to the families, it means everything to me,” he said.
Even after he finished playing, donations can still be made at www.foh.org/augustacc. For those interested in participating in golf marathons in the future, go to golfmarathons.org.
Inspired and uplifted. Thankful and touched. A most amazing 18 holes. And it had nothing to do with the golf.
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – Everything stopped.
Bartenders, cooks and waiters came from the clubhouse and stood silently on the patio at American Dunes — a new golf course that feels like a July Fourth party held at a monument for fallen soldiers.
Up and down fairways, golfers paused and took off their caps. Those on the patio faced a giant American flag that loomed over the course.
A trumpet played “Taps” over the loudspeaker system, which happens every day at 1 p.m. – 1300 hours, standard military time. It was followed by 13 chimes, representing the 13 times a flag is folded at a military funeral.
I kept standing, the emotion building in my gut.
I’m not much of a golfer but playing American Dunes was a surprising, incredible, inspiring and reverential experience. It’s like going to Washington, D.C., to visit the monuments — you walk away feeling pumped up with patriotism and awash with thankfulness for those who fought for our freedoms.
The golf course was designed by Jack Nicklaus and it’s simply beautiful, but the golf was actually secondary for me.
Because of what this place stands for.
Walking in the paths of those who served
You feel it as soon as you arrive at this course in west Michigan, built on the sand, not far from Lake Michigan.
You walk across the parking lot toward a memorial in front of the clubhouse. Nicklaus’ words are emblazoned on an 8-foot wall: “I love the game of golf, but I love my country even more.”
His “Bear” logo was changed to Red, White and Blue.
Nicklaus waived his normal $3 million design fee to turn the Grand Haven Golf Club into American Dunes because this course is unlike any other. The profits are given as scholarships to the children of fallen military members through the Folds of Honor Foundation.
The memorial looks like an open-air tunnel, the walls covered with 13 plaques honoring fallen soldiers. You walk down the path, reading about the soldiers — and it hits you in your gut.
You look at the ground and the soldiers’ boot prints are cast in bronze; it’s as if you are walking with them.
Or maybe, they are walking with you.
A soldier’s boot print is cast in bronze on the grounds of the American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan. Photo by Rodney Coleman-Robinson/Detroit Free Press
“This place is so special,” said Wesley Bauguess, whose husband, Army Maj. Larry Bauguess, was killed in action while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in 2007 in Pakistan.
A plaque there honors him.
“There’s just a sweet spirit there,” Wesley Bauguess said. “The course is majestic, but there is a deeper meaning. I think it is exceptional. American Dunes is pristine. Just breathe in the patriotism, breathe in the respect for our country and breathe in the respect for our service members.”
Wesley Bauguess’ two daughters have been given scholarships from American Folds, a foundation that has given out more than 29,000 scholarships worth about $145 million — 41 percent to minorities.
“A Folds of Honor scholarship far outweighs the dollar value,” Bauguess said. “It represents a group of amazing patriots who are remembering Larry. They’re remembering his daughters. They’re remembering us as a family.”
A most patriotic welcome
The pro shop reminded me of a Team USA store at the Olympics. Everything is Red, White and Blue.
The bar is decorated like a fighter pilot lounge. A missile is fixed to the wall and it has been turned into the beer tap. If nothing else, military people remain resourceful.
The pro shop at American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan. Photo by Rodney Coleman-Robinson/Detroit Free Press
Two miniature jets hang from the ceiling and the walls are covered with pictures of fighter pilots.
I played American Dunes with three close friends from college. Before playing, we went to the bar, and one of my friends asked the bartender to give us the full experience.
“You gotta have a shot of Jeremiah Weed,” she said.
My friend ordered a round of Jeremiah Weed, a chilled 100-proof whiskey favored by fighter pilots.
We raised our glasses and downed the shots.
Smooth as kerosene.
Golfing for a purpose
The greens fees are steep at $150 a round but easy to justify, at least in my mind: it’s for the children of fallen soldiers.
The golf carts are decked out with a fantastic speaker system, a Bluetooth connection and a video screen with a GPS system that gives yardage to the hole.
But that screen did something surprising.
As we left the clubhouse and headed to the first hole, Nicklaus automatically appeared on video and talked about the mission of the course.
American Dunes Golf Club in Grand Haven, Michigan. Photo by Rodney Coleman-Robinson/Detroit Free Press
At the first tee, a worker gave each of us a nickel without explaining why, just hinting we would need it later. I slipped it into my pocket and forgot about it.
The course was tough but fair, and nearly every hole looked like a picture out of a golf magazine.
Near each tee, different plaques honored a fallen service member and one of Nicklaus’ 18 majors.
“I wanted to put everything in this place; it was really sacred and important to me,” said Air Force Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, the founder of Folds of Honor and the driving force behind American Dunes. “It’s the culmination of my life experience. American Dunes is the manifestation of my soul, as a PGA member and a pilot.”
Last fall at a news conference, Rooney leaned over and talked to Nicklaus.
“Have you ever been to a golf course opening like this in your career?” Rooney asked.
Nicklaus paused.
“I’ve never been to anything like this in my life,” Nicklaus said.
Rooney met with Nicklaus in February 2018 to discuss his vision and construction began in March 2019. The course opened this spring.
“We had weather issues,” Rooney said. “We had COVID issues. Literally, every week, there was another challenge or setback that presented itself. We got a massive windstorm that went through and did significant damage during construction. I mean, it was crazy, right. But we made it. And thank God we did.”
An honorable 18 holes
Near the 17th tee, there is a giant cross and players are urged to toss nickels in the grass in honor of the fallen, a long-standing tradition of pilots.
So I tossed my nickel at the monument.
I never served in the military but I covered the war in Iraq as an embedded reporter. I crossed the Iraq border in a truck, sitting on a box of explosives, shoulder to shoulder with Marines. I’ve stood on an aircraft carrier, watching jets take off. And I’ve sat in a bunker, wearing a gas mask, as missiles flew overhead.
A cross sits between Nos. 17 and 18 at American Dunes in Grand Haven, Michigan. Photo by Jason Lusk/Golfweek
I’ve talked to commanders at the Pentagon, written about the injured at Walter Reed and have covered military funerals from Arlington National Cemetery to little towns across Michigan.
I can’t tell you how much respect I have for the military. They are true heroes, and I am in awe of their courage and sacrifice.
But the thing that always touched me, perhaps more than anything, was talking to the families of the fallen.
The wives — or husbands — left behind. The children growing up without a parent. Their sacrifice is profound.
When I finished this round of golf, I felt overwhelmed, thinking that in a small way, I was helping a family.
“It’s crazy because the golf course is so good but it’s the fifth thing somebody talks about,” Rooney said. “We wanted golf to be the reason they showed up but not the why. And I think that’s the thing that resonates in my heart. Most people talk about the memorial, they talk about the nickel in the grass, they talk about 1300. They talk about being in the bar. And they’re like, ‘Oh, yeah, Jack. Yeah, we played one of Jack’s courses, and it was one of the best we’ve ever played in our lives.’ ”
It was that and more.
As you leave the course, you walk through the memorial one last time, past several slogans: “Freedom is not free.”
“Honor their sacrifice. Educate their legacy.”
When I left, I’ve never felt so good after a round.
Inspired and uplifted.
Thankful and touched.
It was the most amazing 18 holes of my life.
And it had nothing to do with the golf.
Contact Jeff Seidel: jseidel@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @seideljeff. To read his recent columns, go to freep.com/sports/jeff-seidel.
On Monday, the Chiefs and GEHA announced that they will team up to support a nonprofit organization called Folds of Honor. This group provides scholarships to the family members of U.S. military personnel who have been wounded or killed in service to their country.
Here is some more information on Folds of Honor and their founder from the press release:
“Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney, a former F-16 pilot who served three tours in Iraq, founded Folds of Honor in 2007 when he realized the devastating realities families face when a loved one in uniform is fallen or disabled. Since then, the organization has awarded more than 29,000 scholarships totaling over $145 million in educational impact across all 50 states as well as Guam, Puerto Rico, Ecuador, Italy, Germany, the Philippines and the United Kingdom. The program includes private financial tuition and tutoring for children in grades K-12, as well as higher education assistance for spouses and dependents.”
“We are grateful for the life-changing support from GEHA and the Kansas City Chiefs,” Lt. Col. Dan Rooney said via press release. “These academic scholarships are given to military spouses and children who deserve and need our help. GEHA and the Chiefs recognize the importance of an education and are doing something positive about it.”
“GEHA has been a strong partner to the Chiefs over the past few years, and as our relationship has grown and evolved, we’ve remained jointly focused on creating new opportunities to give back to our local community, as well as GEHA’s member base of more than 2 million federal employees, retired military and their families,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said via press release. “We are proud to work with Folds of Honor and GEHA to recognize military families for their dedicated service and bravery throughout this upcoming NFL season.”
Additionally, the Chiefs and GEHA announced that they will support the Kansas City chapter of Folds of Honor by co-sponsoring their 10th-anniversary gala set to take place on Nov. 13, 2021.
The new course in Michigan will donate profits to the Folds of Honor, helping children of fallen soldiers with academic scholarships.
GRAND HAVEN, Mich. – American Dunes, the brainchild of U.S. Air Force Reserves Lieutenant Colonel Dan Rooney and the design product of Jack Nicklaus, officially took flight Sunday.
A fan of golf architecture should be forgiven for imagining commonalities between the course itself and many of the missions Rooney has undertaken in F-16 fighter planes.
Before a pilot takes off, the plane first must slowly taxi across level ground before hitting the throttles and blasting skyward. Free to move in new dimensions, the jet can twist and turn as the mission demands, with speed and demands increasing as the plane climbs.
American Dunes has a similar arc. After taxiing across the tarmac for the first three holes through defined corridors and past homes along the perimeter of the property, the layout climbs uphill to the par-3 fourth’s tee. From there, everything changes. The course soars into a newly revealed environment, a joyride of twists and turns through sandy dunes recently exposed by Nicklaus’ design team.
The par-3 fourth hole at American Dunes in Grand Haven, Michigan, is where the wide-open nature of much of the layout takes off. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
Previously home to the Grand Haven Golf Club, which Rooney’s family owned for more than 20 years, much of the site has been cleared of more than 2,000 trees to reveal the rises and falls of those natural dunes previously hidden in the woods.
Big skies and panoramas have replaced narrow playing corridors – as many as seven holes are in view at once on the back nine – with natural-looking sandscapes seemingly everywhere. In truth, there’s plenty of width and playability off the tee for players who choose the proper tee boxes – after decades of Grand Haven Golf Club being known for all the trees and demands on accuracy they created, it might be hard for its former players to recognize this as the same land.
“Other than sitting on the same site, it’s a complete reimagination,” said Rooney, who three years ago asked Nicklaus to get involved. “And it’s a next-level, amazing design and nothing like the bowling alley, target golf we used to play out here.”
An entrance wall displays a quote by Jack Nicklaus, who designed the new American Dunes in Grand Haven, Michigan. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
Rooney was speaking at the conclusion of grand-opening festivities that included Nicklaus, Kid Rock, a squadron’s worth of pilots past and present, and a lineup of singers, television personalities and more. It was all to benefit the Folds of Honor, a charitable organization Rooney founded in 2007 to benefit the children of killed and injured U.S. military soldiers. Folds of Honor has since awarded academic scholarships to more than 29,000 children.
Forget the trees, the renovation, the golf altogether for a minute, Rooney would tell you. The mission wasn’t simply to remake an old course. The goal was to raise funds for those kids of fallen soldiers, and in keeping with that, all profits from American Dunes will be donated to Folds of Honor.
To reach the new clubhouse, players will walk through a shrine of sorts, with the images and stories of soldiers who died in service – their boot prints are etched into the pavement. There is a statement by Nicklaus along the walls of the entranceway, declaring, “I love the game of golf, but I love my country more,” in giant letters. There is scripture quoted, keeping in line with Rooney’s faith. There are images of fighter planes and folded American flags (hence the name of Folds of Honor), and of course a giant American flag towering over and beyond the concrete walls from alongside the ninth fairway. The walkway leads to a golf shop full of red, white and blue merchandise.
The walkway into the pro shop displays the stories of fallen soldiers above their boot prints embedded in the pavement at American Dunes in Grand Haven, Michigan. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
There are more plaques dedicated to fallen soldiers on each tee box. There’s a white cross between Nos. 17 and 18 to further commemorate such losses. The clubhouse restaurant is set up as a fighter squadron bar. The entire place, in many ways, has the vibe of a Fourth of July parade combined with Memorial Day.
Simply put, it’s patriotism with the afterburners kicked on – just the way Rooney likes it.
“I love flying fast for freedom, and obviously Folds of Honor is God’s calling for my life,” said Rooney, who, besides still flying fighters and raising more than a hundred million dollars for charitable causes, is also a PGA of America golf professional. “And any significant thing in my life is connected to the game of golf. To be able to put those attributes all together, and to share that, well … This isn’t red or blue, it’s red, white and blue and a chance to celebrate the attributes that make this country special and that it was founded upon.”
A head cover for sale in the pro shop at American Dunes sticks to the patriotic theme of the new course in Grand Haven, Michigan. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
Rooney partnered with four other investors to establish American Dunes LLC in renovating the layout, and Nicklaus agreed to waive what Rooney said was his typical $3-million design fee. Still, large donations were needed to make the renovation happen, and Rooney is a natural pitchman who was able to garner support. He recently shied away from guessing exactly how much money might be generated by the course for donation to Folds of Honor in the form of operating profits from the course, but if all goes to plan, it should be enough to benefit thousands more children.
As of the grand opening, more than 11,000 players had booked rounds in 2021 to play a new course none of them had seen. And while Rooney said the focus should be on Folds of Honor and not necessarily the layout itself, those players are in for a treat on a layout that stretches to 7,213 yards off the longest tees.
Especially on the back nine, which used to be the front. Nicklaus said Rooney suggested flipping the nines to finish across the best duneland on the property.
After No. 10 takes players away from the clubhouse and the nearby giant American Flag alongside the ninth fairway, the landscape stretches out on the downhill stroll along the 11th fairway. From there, players can see parts of Nos. 12, 13 and especially 17 running alongside, and much of the layout opens even more from there. Gone are the trees, replaced by long views across multiple fairways and greens.
A cross sits between Nos. 17 and 18 at American Dunes in Grand Haven, Michigan. Players are urged to leave nickels in the grass at the cross, a long tradition of pilots at the gravesites of fallen soldiers. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
“He told me it was going to be named American Dunes, and I got here (the first time) and it was totally tree-lined with huge trees,” Nicklaus said. “I went, ‘Where are the dunes? Where are these things?’ And he said, ‘They’re underneath those trees. That means we had to take down some trees. … I’m usually a bit of a tree hugger, and I don’t like to take them down. But in this case, it was the appropriate thing to do.”
First to go were the trees planted in rows over the decades since Grand Haven Golf Club opened in the 1965. Rooney, the son of the course’s owners, knew there was great golf land beneath all that cover.
“This was Dan’s vision, and I said, ‘If that’s where you would like to go, then it’s my job to help you create your vision.’ ” Nicklaus said. “That’s what I do, and that’s what I enjoy doing.”
Nicklaus didn’t set out to build an overly demanding layout – don’t confuse this course with some previous Nicklaus courses built decades ago to test PGA Tour players while vexing recreational players. There are no extremely tiered greens, no overly burdensome forced carries across water. There are ponds, most on the front nine, but thoughtful amateurs can play around instead of necessarily over them.
No. 16 features a sandy cross bunker at American Dunes in Grand Haven, Michigan. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
That doesn’t mean American Dunes is a pushover. Located near but not on the shores of Lake Michigan, the course can experience substantial winds. The 16th, in particular, is a long par 4 stretching 503 yards off the back tee, playing toward the lake and into the predominant breeze. A stretch of native sand juts across the fairway some 100 yards from the green. But unlike water, players can play from such a waste area, so instead of lost balls, it’s merely lost strokes for those either unfortunate or careless enough to deposit a ball in the brown sand.
Along with the rolling elevation changes, the sandy expanses are the defining features of the back nine. The native sand is extremely soft, almost powder-like, sometimes tough to escape and requiring skill and speed to keep the clubhead moving. There is plenty of room in most cases to avoid the sand if a player thinks, but that doesn’t make a shot from the waste areas any easier after a careless or poorly executed swing.
Besides the rolling duneland, sand – as seen here on No. 10 – is the prominent feature of American Dunes in Grand Haven, Michigan. (Jason Lusk/Golfweek)
In all, the sandy waste areas and tumbling terrain create a raw, exposed sensation – very different from many of the courses Nicklaus built with plentiful water and nearly wall-to-wall grass decades ago.
“I like to let things evolve,” Nicklaus said. “… Sand is great to work with. If I could do every golf course, the rest of my golf courses, on sand, that would be my choice. …
“It’s all built on sand, so it’s going to drain fast. And we wanted to get a golf course that’s going to play fast (allowing the ball to roll), so even with some yardage it’s not going to play long. And hopefully, it’s fun.”
It all makes for a unique experience for those who might crave a mix of unfettered patriotism and solid golf.
“One thing Mr. Nicklaus always said to me, I want to get you a golf course that’s as good as the cause,” Rooney said. “I think we have that here.”
