Top Ten Michigan Golf Stories for 2025 by Terry Moore
In a modest contribution to the 2025 golf season, here are my Top Michigan Golf Stories of the Year. In chronological order:
The Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) reached a milestone in May by welcoming over 100,000 members. Ignited by the pandemic five years ago, golf has continued its strong growth and attraction across demographics. In particular, daily fee, USGA Club and junior golfers have swelled in numbers over the last few years.
In June, veteran Carlota Ciganda birdied the final two holes to win the Meijer LPGA Classic for her first LPGA Tour victory in more than 8 1/2 years, while Lexi Thompson had two late bogeys to spoil her bid to end a long drought of her own.
At Midland's Dow Championship in June, Jin Hee Im holed in an 8-foot birdie putt on the first playoff hole to team with fellow South Korean Somi Lee to win the title. Lexi Thompson and Meghan Khang finished runner-up.
At the Rocket Classic in late June, 20-year-old South African Aldrich Potgieter earned his first PGA TOUR title at the Rocket Classic, holing an 18-foot birdie on the fifth playoff hole to best Max Greyserman. After the tournament, host Detroit GC promptly began its $16 million renovation to its Donald Ross layout which will be completed in time for the 2027 event.
In June, Michigan hosted three consecutive stops for the Epson Tour, qualifying tour of the LPGA Tour, in Battle Creek, Harbor Springs, and Harris. Victors respectively were: Samatha Wagner at the Firekeepers Casino Hotel Championship; Riley Smith at the Great Lakes Championship at the Highlands; and Melanie Smith at Island Resort Championship.
At the Ally Challenge at Warwick Hills in August, Stewart Cink successfully defended his title for his second PGA TOUR Champions victory of the year, beating Ernie Els with a par on the first hole of a playoff. Cink opened with a 62 and shot a 71 on Friday to enter the final round a stroke behind Els.
Scheduled opposite the Ally Challenge, Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton each birdied the second playoff hole to outduel Crushers GC’s Bryson DeChambeau and Paul Casey for the LIV Golf Michigan Team Championship at The Cardinal at Saint John’s. Incidentally, Tony Paul of The Detroit News observed larger galleries at LIV Golf than at the Rocket Classic.
Solid closing rounds at American Dunes in September produced two clear champions at the Folds of Honor Collegiate in Grand Haven: Texas A&M claimed the women’s team title while Alabama took the men’s competition. Kentucky’s Anastasia Hekkonen went wire-to-wire for the women’s medal, and Alabama’s William Jennings captured the men’s individual crown. All rounds were on Golf Channel.
In September, Scott Hebert of Traverse City Golf & Country Club won the Michigan PGA Match Play Championship for the third time, and thereby set a record for the most major championship wins in Michigan Section PGA history. It was a record 18th Michigan Section major title for Hebert. In addition to his three Match Play wins, Hebert counts eight Michigan PGA Professional Championship titles, six Michigan Open Championship titles and a Tournament of Champions win.
In October, Mike Harris, a championship winner at the junior, collegiate and professional golf levels, John Lindert, a PGA golf professional whose dedicated service to the game includes being elected President of the PGA of America, and the late Roger Ostrander, a respected rules official respected rules official, became members of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (MGHOF.) Also, MGHOF presented just its seventh Special Award in history to Loretta Larkin of Dexter, who has served as the administrator for the MGHOF for 29 years.