2009 Golf Business Awards

The MGCOA is proud to recognize Jack Berry, renowned sports write as the 2008 recipient of the “Matthews Lifetime Achievement Award.”

Jack has written about Michigan golf for 40 years. During this time, he has had a strong national influence on promoting the sport for all golfers. He served for more than ten years on the Board of Directors of the National Golf Writers Association of America (GWAA), two years in the mid '80s as President and eight years in the '90s as Secretary-Treasurer.

Golf throughout the state of Michigan has benefited from Jack Berry's powerful pen. He advanced the promotion of golf in our state by writing the Guide to Michigan Golf, first published in 1991 and updated in 1993. He followed this in 1992, with an influential inside back cover column for Golf World entitled, "A Convincing Case for Michigan: When it comes to golf, this Northern state is state of the art." He is a regular contributor to the Michigan Golfer and Chicagoland Golf. The GAM Distinguished Award in 1997 acknowledged his wealth of contributions to amateur golf and more than three decades of writing that inspired the growth and maintained the popularity of golf in Michigan and in 2007 the PGA honored Jack with their Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism, as the 18th individual to be recognized with this Award. The award honors members of the media for their steadfast promotion of golf.

The “Matthews Award” recognizes individuals or organizations who over a lifetime have had a major impact on the golf industry in Michigan.

MGCOA president Bill Fountain, receives 2008 “Lyle Leeke Distinguished Service Award.”

“The effectiveness of a leader can be measured by the degree to which they enable others to act: this includes those that work for them and those that volunteer,” said John Dodge, Government Affairs Coordinator of the MGCOA in explaining why Bill Fountain had been selected for the “Distinguished Service Award.” Bill's professional career has taken him many places in the state from Riverwood Resort in Mt. Pleasant, Clearbrook Golf in Saugatuck and Timber Ridge, East Lansing to name a few. Bill has the distinction of being a graduate of the turf school at Michigan State along with his business acumen achieved from his many mentors in the business. As the managing partner at the Majestic Golf Course in Hartland, Bill has accomplished some pretty amazing feats.

Fountain's golf course supports several local charities with unique events such as "Golf Ball Drop Raffle" where up to 1,000 golf balls sold for the charity at $25 each are dropped "en masse" from a helicopter 300 feet over the practice green. “Whack a Mum” weekend at the Majestic during the Thanksgiving season had people whacking flowers, ala “Caddy Shack”, when they turned in frozen turkeys for a free round of golf.

To quote Michigan media icon Art McCafferty “Bill Fountain is one of Michigan's most fertile marketing minds in golf. He has graced the pages of the likes of Wall Street Journal to Golf Business Magazine. Fountain has adapted his thinking about his golf product and how he can maintain both interest and the rate card.”

In addition to running the successful business in a down economy, Bill is the elected Supervisor of Hartland Township. Bill has served on the Board of Directors of the MGCOA for eight years. Bill spearheaded the Michigan Golf League Championship (now in its 5th year) with technology partner Handicomp, served for 6 years as Chairman of the MGCOA Government Affairs and PAC Committees. Bill current serves as president.

“Player Development Leadership Award” goes to Saskatoon Golf Club Pro.

The commitment to growing and sustaining the new golfer embodies the spirit of the “Dul Family Player Development Leadership Award”. The trustees of the Educational Support Foundation award a $1500 grant to the winning applicant. The winning program will be featured in an edition of the MGCOA's Tee Off Times in 2009. This year's winner, Carol Farquhar, is a PGA master professional from Saskatoon Golf Club in Alto. Carol submitted the club's Junior Golf Program.

Oakland Hill Country Club is MGCOA 2008 Golf Course of the Year Award

Having a beautiful golf course is not all it takes to earn the distinction of Golf Course of the Year. The Course of the Year Award honors a member in good standing with the MGCOA demonstrating four criteria:
1. exceptional quality of the course
2. exceptional quality of ownership and management
3. outstanding contribution to its community
4. significant contribution to the game

Founded in 1916, Oakland Hills Country Club has, and will continue to play a significant role in the history of golf in the United States. Walter Hagen, five time PGA Champion, was the club's first head professional. The South Course has played host to 16 Major Championships including: the 35th Ryder Cup in 2004; three PGA Championships -- including the 90th PGA Championship in 2008; six U.S. Opens; two U.S. Senior Opens; U.S. Women's Amateur; U.S. Men's Amateur; Western Open; and the Carling World Open. Some of the greatest players ever to play the game including Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Ben Hogan have competed and won on the famed South Course, also known as "The Monster". The state of Michigan and the MGCOA is proud of the heritage of this MGCOA member club and consider it a Michigan and national golf treasure. The accolades for Oakland Hills go deep. Rick Bayliss, chief operating officer has been “Club Manager of the Year” and currently serves on the Club Managers Association of America's Board of Directors. The executive team at Oakland Hills combines 175 years in the golf and private club experience focusing on making every moment memorable for the customer.

From the 35th Ryder Cup matches in 2004 and the 90th PGA Championship alone, over $4.5 million dollars were directed to local and regional charities. They partner with YMCA of Metro Detroit, “For the Kids” Foundation, Junior Achievement of Birmingham/Bloomfield Hills, Vattikutti Foundation for William Beaumont and Henry Fort Hospitals and Illitch Children's Charities to raise over $2.3 million annually for their respective charities. In addition to hosting numerous national and international events that showcase our state, Oakland Hills staff has dedicated time to Midnight Golf in Downtown Detroit, invests in the Evans Scholarship Foundation and has its own Scholarship Trust. It has made contributions to the USGA for the Arnold Palmer History Museum, the World Golf Hall of Fame and the Tufts Archives in Pinehurst, North Carolina that memorializes Mr. Donald Ross. These are some of the many contributions this great golf organization has made to the local and state community.

Oakland Hills Country Club is an icon for the state of Michigan's proud golf industry and the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association.