The North course at Oakland Hills Country Club set to host the 2012 Michigan Amateur

It's hardly "the other course."

But that's how the North course at Oakland Hills Country Club is essentially treated by most golfers. It hasn't hosted the U.S. Open, the Ryder Cup or the PGA Championship like the South has. But club members and golf insiders know the North course is just as strong as its sister, albiet a little shorter and a little more forgiving.

Yet it will still be plenty of a challenge for players in the 101st Michigan Amateur, set for June 18-22. Randy Lewis, the Alma resident who played in The Masters this spring, will return to the course where he won his only Michigan Amateur, way back in 1992.

"It's too bad it's an alternate course to the South. It is one of the best courses in Michigan by far," Lewis said at a recent media day. "It should set up well for match play. There are a lot of good holes. You don't have to kill it (with the driver). It is all about where you place it (the ball)."

The par-70 design will play shorter than most Michigan Amateurs - at roughly 6,700 yards - but Golf Association of Michigan tournament setup man Ken Hartmann, the senior director of rules and competitions for the GAM, said it will give players all they can handle. Tricky slick greens - many are elevated - demand precision. The two par-5s are the course are no gimmees, either.

"No one is going to tear it up," he said about the two-day stroke play event that serves as qualifying for match play. "It is going to be a good test. If you get above the hole, it is going to be dicey."

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Dan Pohl at home in Michigan this summer

One of Michigan’s golf legends has been hanging around this summer, probably under the radar a bit more than he’d like.

Dan Pohl, a Mount Pleasant native who is probably most famous for losing in a playoff to Craig Stadler at the 1982 Masters, has been a regular at The Huntmore Golf Club in Brighton Township, giving lessons and playing golf with friends. He’d love to be back on the Champions Tour, where he won $786,093 the past four years before injuries halted his career. Pohl, 54, is a two-time winner on the PGA Tour in 1986, earning roughly $3 million in his career.

But he’s endured 11 surgeries, including elbow, knee, neck and back operations. Pohl, who played in five Champions Tour events in 2008, said doctors told him he might need another back surgery if he didn't quit the grind of professional golf.

"Golf is demanding on the body," he said. "If you play professionally, you can't play halfway."

The July day I met Pohl for the first time, he was in rare form, jovial and friendly in recalling his playing days. He took me out to the range at The Huntmore and demonstrated his shot-making by working with a young golfer who had never even picked up a club before. Pohl told his pupil to swing hard – “We can teach control later, but you can’t teach distance” – and demonstrated a drill or two about balance. Pohl even hit shots standing on one leg, then on the other, to showcase his balance and rhythm in the swing.

"It's been exciting to have Dan," said Ron Cortese, the club's general manager. "To have a PGA Tour pro of Dan's caliber in Brighton is unheard of. Everybody loves him. His personality makes people drawn to him."

Pohl has experience in all areas of golf. He’s been popular at corporate outings in the Phoenix area where he lives and he’s even designed a few courses, notably the Pohlcat in his hometown. He’s having to reinvent himself in this down economy, but if anything, he’s shown he’s resilient.

He might beat himself up once in a while about that Masters loss – he admits wondering how different his life would have been had he won – but he’s content with a solid career that was longer than most players could ever dream. For information on lessons with Pohl, contact the club at 810-225-2498 or visit thehuntmoregolfclub.com.