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.