Michigan Golf Scene

Golf-Related Program Creates Opportunities for Michigan Youth

What would you say about a golf-based program whose members get more college scholarships for their academics than their ability to hit a 5-iron? Maybe you’d say “where do I sign up?

Golf Broadens Horizons for Inner-City Michigan Youth

When was the last time you heard some good news about inner-city Michigan kids between 17 and 22? An emerging program involving the Michigan PGA is writing a new and positive story using golf as the vehicle to motivate Michigan kids to succeed at the game, but more importantly, in life.

The Midnight Golf Program, now in its sixth year, currently brings a group of innercity youth in their late-high school/early collegiate years together in a program that meets twice-a- week for 30 weeks and features life skill training, a hot meal, and golf lessons from Michigan PGA pros. The sessions, currently held at Marygrove College, teach resume writing, etiquette, conflict resolution and other valuable life skills.

Golf With a Greater Goal

Grand Haven Golf Club owner Dan Rooney has done a lot more than just talk the talk of supporting our heroic troops in harm’s way. The Oklahoma Air National Guard Captain and PGA Class A Professional has spent two tors of duty flying F-16s in Iraq and has seen first-hand the sacrifices made by our gallant troops. With a third tour in his future he is committed to support the ground forces and defend our freedoms against enemies foreign and domestic.

Rooney, who grew up in Stillwater, Oklahoma, played college golf at the University of Kansas (playing against, and occasionally beating another amateur named Tiger) and battled professionally on the mini-tours before answering an inner call to trade in his Ping I-3s for F-16s. He is a decorated military aviator but his contributions to the war effort do not stop when he hops out of his supersonic fighter. He has founded the Fallen Heroes Foundation. 

America’s Most Patriotic Golf Course

Grand Haven Golf Club is considered by many to be the Pine Valley of Michigan for its spectacular routing through the towering pines and rolling sand dunes along the Lake Michigan shoreline. Grand Haven Golf Club has another title worthy of your consderation as you plan your next golf excursion into Western Michigan. It may just be America’s Most Patriotic Golf Course.

This old club was designed and originally operated by its resident owners, the famed Michigan design family of Bruce Matthews, Sr. Since 1998 when the Rooney Golf Group LLC purchased the property, it has undergone a $4.5-million revitalization. A spectacular new clubhouse inspired by the beautiful Shinnecock Hills facility was constructed in 2002. A new irrigation system, new and extended tee boxes and cart paths were completed in 2006. 

“We Care About Your Game”

You’ve been conditioned over the last few years that the best golf “deals” came from the biggest name with the biggest advertising budget, and that you had to sacrifice personalized service to get that deal. It doesn’t hae to be that way. Tom Deaton’s Golf Center, on Grand River Avenue between Howell and Brighton, is a throwback to another time, where the best deal came from the locally- owned store, not the big national chain; with professionals that got to know you and your game, and then took care of you the way they would their friends and family, because they considered you one of them.