Lee Houtteman of Glen Arbor to tee off at the Senior PGA Championship

The field at the Senior PGA Championship, set for the Golf Club of Harbor Shores May 24-27 in Benton Harbor, will feature 156 players from around the world.

Germany's Bernhard Langer, recovered from 2011 thumb surgery and making his impact felt again in senior golf, heads a list of 36 international players, representing 18 countries, in the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid. But there will also be a Michigander among them. Lee Houtteman of Glen Arbor (see photo above) qualified as one of the 35 club professionals. Houtteman, who is a teaching pro in Traverse City, will have his work cut out for him just to make the cut. His resume is a solid one - see below - but he hardly has the experience of some of the game's top over-50 players. Houtteman's career includes:

* Northern Michigan PGA Teacher of The Year 2005
• Northern Michigan PGA Player of The Year 2005, 2006, 2008
• Northern Michigan PGA Chapter Champion 2005
* Las Vegas Nevada PGA Chapter Champion 1999
• Qualified PGA National Club Professional Championship 1995, 1999 2004, 2006, 2008
• Member Fuller Cup Team 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• Multiple Top Ten finishes in Michigan Open, Michigan PGA, Michigan Section Match Play
* U.S. Open Local Qualifier Medalist, Birmingham Country Club 2006

There's plenty of star power teeing it up at the Jack Nicklaus course. Langer, 54, missed the Senior PGA Championship a year ago after a freak left-thumb injury suffered in an off-season biking accident. That mishap delayed his return to play until mid-June. Prior to the injury, Langer had finished among the top 25 in three consecutive Senior PGA Championships, including a runner-up finish in 2008. This year, he has posted six top-10 finishes, including two runner-up and one third-place performance.

Defending Champion Tom Watson, who grew up playing summer golf in Northern Michigan, headlines the list of seven past champions playing, including Michael Allen (2009); Jay Haas (2006, '08), Denis Watson; Mike Reid (2005); Hale Irwin (1996, '97, '98, 2004); Tom Lehman (2010); and Tom Wargo (1993).

The Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid is the oldest event on the Champions Tour, originating in 1937 at Augusta National Golf Club at the invitation of the legendary amateur Bobby Jones. The Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid will feature 12 hours of live television coverage on NBC and The Golf Channel, with viewership in more than 130 countries and territories worldwide. Tickets to the 73rd Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid are available by visiting SPGA2012.com.

Golf Association of Michigan holds busy annual meeting

The Golf Association of Michigan's annual meeting on May 7 at Franklin Hills Country Club was a busy one with the usual order of business. Two guest speakers, Rick Smith and Ford Motor Co. President and CEO Alan Mulally, were the biggest hit, however.

Mulally made comparisons between the automotive industry and the golf industry. That is, they have both gone through some tough times in recent years but have managed to persevere and emerge with a better product. Smith, a top golf instructor and managing partner at Treetops Resort in Gaylord, agreed.

“Michigan stayed steady over the past couple of years when other golf states were down,” Smith said in a statement released by GAM. “We had a record year last year at Treetops and I believe the industry is on the upswing.”

As for the GAM business, outgoing president Ron Gaines (TPC of Michigan) passed the torch to incoming GAM President John Schulte of Birmingham Country Club.

In the past year, the GAM has added a GAM iPhone application, created the GAM Scramble tournament and expanded in the Upper Peninsula.

Several GAM members were honored:

* Fritz McMullen of Forest Lake Country Club won the GAM Superintendent of Merit Award. McMullen has been the green superintendent at Forest Lake since 1973.
* Jerry Engle of Watermark Country Club won the GAM Club Representative of the Year Award. Engle is a longtime golfer and member at Watermark Country Club.
* Mark Wilson of Watermark won the GAM Distinguished Service Award. Wilson, the chairman of the PGA Rules of Golf Committee, has been the PGA Professional at Watermark for 30 years. He is a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame and the Grand Rapids Sports Hall of Fame.

The 2011 GAM Players of the Year were also honored:

* Men’s - Randy Lewis (Alma)
* Women’s – Amy Meier (Rochester Hills)
*Senior Women’s – Joan Garety (Ada)
* Senior Men’s – Bill Zylstra (Dearborn Heights)
* Girl’s Junior – Emmie Pietila (Brighton)
* Boy’s Junior – Henry Do (Ypsilanti)

Sweetgrass Golf Club prepares for its 2012 Symetra Tour event in June

The balmy spring we've experienced has even jump-started the season way up in Michigan's scenic Upper Peninsula.

The Sweetgrass Golf Club at the Island Resort & Casino in Harris has officially opened for its 2012 season, and is actively preparing for the Island Resort Championship in late June.

Building on the success of last year, the 2012 Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass ticket program has officially launched as well, benefiting more than 50 nonprofit local organizations by giving them the ability to sell golf tournament tickets and keep 100% of the profit.

Three-day passes are now on sale for $10 for the June 29-July 1 Symetra Tour - Road to the LPGA event, via participating regional organizations, which range from local Boy Scout troops to Habitat for Humanity chapters. A complete list of charities currently selling tickets can be found at www.sweetgrassgolfclub.com/lpga-2012. Children 18 and under can enter the championship gates for free.

“We’re excited to continue the positive momentum and strong community support for our 2012 tournament,” said Tom McChesney, Island Resort & Casino General Manager. “Those community leaders and ticket sales participants became our most avid fans for the inaugural championship, and we can’t wait to see them in the gallery to support these rising professional stars this year.”

The Island Resort Championship at Sweetgrass, presented by the Delta County Chamber of Commerce, will welcome 144 professional women golfers to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to vie for a $110,000 purse. This is the second of a three-year commitment by the Tour to bring professional golf to the region.

Participating organizations currently selling 2012 tickets include the Escanaba, Wells and Menominee Lions Clubs; Delta County Youth Association; Marquette United Way; Habitat for Humanity of Menominee River and Boy Scout Troop 466, among others in both Michigan and Northern Wisconsin. A complete list of participating organizations can be found at http://www.sweetgrassgolfclub.com/lpga-2012.

Those looking to play Sweetgrass can book overnight stay-and-play rates starting at $95 per night midweek. The popular Perfect Foursome golf package combines golf at Sweetgrass, and the nearby TimberStone and Greywalls courses, starting at $265 per person for three rounds and two nights’ stay, midweek.

Play Golf America day comes to Benton Harbor May 12 to celebrate the 2012 Senior PGA Championship

It's hard to believe the first major golf event in Michigan is just around the corner, the 2012 Senior PGA Championship at the Golf Club at Harbor Shores in Benton Harbor.

The club will host a fun-filled day of free golf and fitness activities during the Play Golf America Day from 1-4 p.m. on May 12 (a Saturday). The first 250 people who register online at PlayGolfAmerica.com and attend the Play Golf America Day will receive a pair of Championship practice round tickets for Tuesday or Wednesday for the practic rounds (one pair of tickets per household).

This free event will feature golf instruction from Michigan Section PGA Professionals and a fitness clinic led by PGA Director of Fitness David Donatucci. The Mercedes-Benz Mobile Performance Center will also be on-site and will feature other fun and interactive experiences for men, women and children. This event will help kick-off the Senior PGA Championship presented by KitchenAid as well as Welcome to Golf Month, a national promotion that is designed to create a welcoming atmosphere to encourage new players to try golf throughout the month of May.

Harbor Shores is located at 201 Graham Avenue in Benton Harbor. The phone number is 269-927-4653. Single day and Week-Long tickets to the Championship may be purchased by visiting www.SPGA2012.com, or by calling (800) PGA-GOLF (742-4653).

Golfers from Midland and Jackson awarded spots at Ryder Cup Junior Golf Academy

Today's world is always looking for the next big thing.

Don't pencil these kids in as the next Tiger Woods and Annika Sorenstam, but they could be your next generation of all-state players from Michigan.

Cameron Lippoldt of Midland, Mich., and Megan Klintworth of Jackson, Mich., representing the Michigan PGA Section, will participate in the 2012 Ryder Cup Junior Golf Academy, originally developed in response to recommendations from past United States Ryder Cup Team Captains, and part of the 2010 Ryder Cup Outreach program.

After a successful debut, the Academy returns July 1-8, at the PGA Center for Golf Learning and Performance in Port St. Lucie, Fla. A total of 84 juniors have been selected to participate.

“We had a tremendously successful first year of the Ryder Cup Junior Academy,” said PGA of America President Allen Wronowski. “I was able to see first-hand the impact this had on a special group of junior golfers from across the country. I am sure that this year will have the same positive impression on the future of our great game.”

The Ryder Cup Junior Academy is a week-long program that emphasizes a variety of skills, including playing and competing in both stroke- and match-play formats, swing mechanics, competitive course management, as well as fitness and physical assessments.

The initiative is designed to expand the outreach of the Ryder Cup and provide aspiring young players an opportunity to experience an elite player development academy, while targeting those who may not have the resources or means to attend. It will also offer the juniors expert instruction from past U.S. Ryder Cup Captains and award-winning PGA Professionals.

As part of the 2010 United States Ryder Cup Team’s charitable commitment — which has already impacted U.S-based charitable organizations and students at colleges and universities nationwide — the team designated a total of $650,000 to create and support the Ryder Cup Junior Golf Academy.

Each of the 41 PGA Sections nationwide were given the opportunity to nominate one boy and one girl each, with the remainder of the juniors selected through an at-large process. Also receiving invitations were boy and girl participants from the Notah Begay III Foundation, Lorena Ochoa Golf Foundation, Bill Dickey Scholarship Association, Pan-American Golf Association, and the AJGA Ace Grant Program.

Forest Dunes joins forces with Boyne USA Resorts

There's another reason to book a great golf vacation with one of the three Boyne USA Resorts in northern Michigan this summer.

Golfers staying on any Boyne 2012 golf packages now have the option to add a round of golf at Forest Dunes for significantly discounted rates starting at $59.

Forest Dunes Golf Club is a 7,104-yard, par 72, Tom Weiskopf course that has drawn comparisons to Augusta National and Pine Valley. Forest Dunes was named one of America's Greatest Golf Courses by Golf Digest in 2011/12 and Golfweek listed it among the Best Modern Courses in the publication's 2012 list.

Guests driving to or from Boyne properties along I-75 can easily book a round at Forest Dunes on the first, or last, day of their golf trip. The course is located in Roscommon just 60 miles south of Boyne Mountain Resort in Boyne Falls and 90 miles from Boyne Highlands Resort in Harbor Springs. Call BOYNE Central Reservations at 800-462-6963 to book.

As good as Boyne's other top courses are - namely Bay Harbor Golf Club designed by Arthur Hills and The Heather designed by Robert Trent Jones, Sr. - Forest Dunes might be the best of the bunch.

Michigan off to a rousing start to the 2012 golf season

I look out my office window and can't believe what I see.

I see green and sunshine and blooming flowers and budding trees. Last year at this time, all I saw was white snow and black mud.

I haven't hit a tee shot in Michigan yet, but I know dozens of friends who have played a bunch. March was wonderful weather. April has started off a little wetter and colder, but I'm not complaining. Neither are courses south of Lansing. They've seen hundreds of bonus rounds, a real boost to the bottom line.

I have my first tee time set for tomorrow at Eagle Crest Golf Club, the place where I learned the game. I started working there in college and played every day I got the chance. It's where I got hooked on this beautiful game.

I hope the good weather continues. It should be a great season this year. We've got two Champions Tour majors in the state - the Senior PGA Championship at Harbor Shores Golf Club in Benton Harbor in May and the U.S. Senior Open at Indianwood Golf & Country Club in Lake Orion in June. The Gaylord Golf Mecca celebrates its 25th anniversary.

I doubt I can top last season on the course. I sank my first hole in one and shot a career low 76, but I sure am going to try.