With the Tigers’ in the mix of a nearly three month playoff battle, Detroiters are optimistically looking forward to upcoming battles with the Twins and White Sox. Local parents are counting down the days until the kids are back pounding away at textbooks. Fans of summer are wondering if we’ll ever have a heat wave come through the area again. Michigan golf fans have an unusual worry this year – whether a PGA Tour event will return to Michigan in the future.
Golf in Michigan has a different feel to that of other states. Our local tourism boards pour oodles of money into advertising golf courses based in other parts of this state! Have you seen the ads for Boyne or Tullymore behind home plate during a Tigers game? They are not marketing to White Sox or Royals fans – they’re marketing to you, Tigers fans who want to spend a relaxing (NOTE: golf can be extremely stressful, one must remember that unless your name is on a golf bag being carried by a caddie wearing your name, this is a leisure activity meant to be taken lightly) few hours on grass undoubtedly nicer than that found at Rangers Ballpark at Arlington.
We also happen to be a state passionate for golf, as much we are for any other sport, and that’s why it hurts to think that we may lose another professional golf tournament to an area that has hosted so many great championships over the years. It wasn’t long ago that the Champions Tour ended their major championship run with Ford at the TPC of Michigan in Dearborn. The ladies used to be frequent visitors for a major to Essex, Ontario – now just a faded memory. The latest news has the Jamie Farr Classic in Sylvania, Ohio being cancelled next year due to Owens Corning pulling out of the event. With these events came exposure and tremendous charitable funds that are lost in the mix of corporate struggles in this difficult economy.
Throughout the weekend coverage of the event we should be hearing about how Tiger is doing and what great crowds are turning out to the event, instead we are bound to hear that the half-century run of the Buick Open will be no longer come Sunday evening. The event has been such a fantastic spot of pride for the citizens of Grand Blanc and Flint, and much like the charities and schools that will miss out on parking fees in the future, so too will golf fans hoping to make a venture to another Michigan course to see the world’s best.