Lead Story

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Raymond III Breezes To Win

Bests Carter in Traverse City Open by 5 shots

July 9, 2008

John Raymond III

Well, it was a little more than a breeze. In fact, it wouldn’t have been surprising if small craft advisories were posted on nearby Grand Traverse Bay. And with deep fescue and other hazards waiting for even the slightest missed shot on the 7,043 yard Wolverine course at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, the 68 posted by John Raymond III to win the Traverse City Open on July 9th was a very impressive round indeed. Raymond III received $500.00 for the win.

Second place went to Tour Director Ken Carter, who barely edged out 1994 Club Car Michigan Senior Open champion Larry Clark with a 73.

A Gary Player design, The Wolverine was in immaculate condition for the event, with the greens running at about 11 on the Stimpmeter. Although the fairways and greens are generous in size, it is the combination of dangerous patches of fescue in close proximity throughout the course, strategically placed bunkers and wetlands which give the Wolverine its teeth.

“In the kind of winds we had, some holes which normally require a wedge suddenly took a 3 or 4 iron, and if you were 10 feet too far off line, you were looking at double,” Carter said. “The Wolverine is no pushover.”

The event was held in the midst of the National Cherry Festival, an annual gala that is the highlight of summer in Traverse City. The Tour is working to build this event into a sponsored 54 hole tournament in the coming years.

For the complete story and scores, please see the Results page.

Growing The Tour In 2008

May 25, 2008

Some thoughts concerning the 2008 season on the Michigan Player's Tour:

Players desire Tour to succeed

Despite growing pains and a weak economy, the Michigan Player's Tour continues to receive numerous inquiries and encouragement from interested players. "In all of my contacts with players around the state and the country, everyone wants to see the Tour succeed," says Ken Carter, Director of the Tour.

"The Michigan Player's Tour offers one of the most challenging and beautiful selections of courses of any professional tour in the world, and they are all within three hours driving time of each other," Carter says. "If we can get decent fields and purses, the Tour will be one of the most affordable and effective places to develop one's game in the country. If a player can come out here and consistently post scores one or two under par on these courses, they will definitely be ready to compete at the highest level."

Tour will no longer publish number of entries

Since the Tour began operations in 2006, it has published the number of entries for each event on the Schedule page of the web site. Unfortunately, this has actually led to smaller fields in events.

"As you know, every tournament starts out with zero entries," Carter says. "The problem is, players see this number on the web site and decide not to enter until the number grows. With everyone waiting for everyone else to enter, nobody enters."

To break this cycle, Carter offers this suggestion. "If you want to play, just sign up and place the $50.00 deposit down for the event. When the deadline arrives, the Tour will notify you how many entries have been received. If you do not like the projected number of players, you can withdraw and receive a full refund."

"Once we have a few events where everyone who wants to play actually does, the Tour will start realizing its potential," Carter says.

Deadline changed to enter events

Effective June 9th, the deadline to enter events on the Michigan Player's Tour will be moved to 5 pm the week before each event. This will allow the Tour to notify courses of changes in the number of tee times or cancellations with enough advance warning to minimize disruptions.

"If we do not receive at least 12 entries by the deadline, the Tour will be forced to cancel the event," Carter says. "If we get the 12, we will continue to take additional entries until we run out of tee times. So get those entries in ASAP."

Sponsorship possible with increased participation

With small fields, the Tour has been a tough sell to sponsors. "We're in the classic 'catch-22' situation for startup tours -- the Tour can't attract sponsorship without player participation, and players are waiting for the Tour to obtain sponsorship before they participate," Carter says.

Despite this, the Tour has been contacted by two Michigan casinos interested in sponsoring events, and the Tour is developing proposals for these events. "Given the state of the economy right now, it is very encouraging to see these resorts express interest in the Tour," Carter says. "If the players start showing up, we will definitely see sponsors jumping on board."

Tour To Publish e-Newsletter

May 5, 2008

The Michigan Player's Tour is now publishing an e-newsletter containing news, results, and "inside information" about the Tour's efforts to build top level tournaments in Michigan.

The newsletter will be published monthly, and will link to the Tour web site. To subscribe, click on the button below.

Format of the Tour

Once fully operational, the Michigan Player's Tour will be a membership organization with both a Men's and Women's Division. The schedule for each Division will consist of 8 to 12 multi-round events per year, plus several 18 hole events to fill in off weeks. Multi-round events will generally be 36 or 54 holes, with an occasional 72 hole event. In 36 hole events there will be no cut.

Events will be conducted during the weekdays, and will be open to both professionals and amateurs with a verifiable handicap of 5.0 or less. In al events, the top 30% of scorers and ties will receive a check, with the winning professional receiving at least 20% of the purse. Amateurs finishing "in the money" will receive an award consistent with the Rules of Amateur Status. Prize money will be generated through player entry fees and sponsor contributions.

The schedule of Michigan Player's Tour events will be designed to compliment, rather than compete against, the schedule of existing PGA Tour, LPGA Tour, Nationwide Tour, Canadian Tour, Hooters Tour, Futures Tour, and PGA Section tournaments in the region. Players preparing for Monday qualifiers or other events on these tours will find the Michigan Player's Tour an excellent way to enhance their playing schedule.

The primary goal of the Michigan Player’s Tour is to create an environment in the Great Lakes region conducive to the development of professional players. Prior to the formation of the Tour, the top players based in this region were forced to move to other parts of the country to find a schedule of competitive tournaments to help develop their games to the level required for success at PGA Tour School.

A secondary goal of the Tour is to help build the game of golf throughout the Great Lakes region by creating an opportunity for all players to compete at a higher level than currently available. In addition to players working to become touring professionals, every golf league, public course, or private club has an "ace," the top player everyone tries to beat. The Michigan Player's Tour wants to give these players (as well as anyone aspiring to play better) the opportunity to compete at a higher level.

By creating this opportunity, the Tour hopes to motivate golfers throughout the region to work harder on their games, take lessons, upgrade their equipment, and play more rounds. This should help increase business at many courses, teaching facilities, driving ranges, and retail establishments.

A final goal of the Tour is to build public awareness of the game and the players at the mini tour level, an awareness that is largely lacking in the sport right now. The players who excel at the mini tour level today will be the stars of the PGA Tour tomorrow.

For a complete list of the Tour's goals, please see the Additional Information page.

As a professional golf tour showcasing some of the top up-and-coming talent in the Great Lakes region and from other parts of the country, the Michigan Player's Tour will be creating a number of excellent sponsorship opportunities for businesses and corporations seeking to associate itself with professional golf. As of this writing, the Tour is seeking sponsorship at all levels, ranging from Tour Title Sponsor (i.e., an overall "umbrella" sponsor) to individual Event Sponsors and Associate Sponsors.

For additional information regarding sponsorship opportunities, please see the Sponsors page of this web site, or contact the Tour office.

The Michigan Player's Tour will be developed over time, with each event being created only when participation and funding are sufficient to justify it. For a full discussion of how the Tour will commence operations, please go to the Information page of this web site.

In 2008, the Tour will conduct a full schedule of 18 hole tournaments in the Men's Division, and will attempt to secure sponsorship of the Tour and for individual events. Depending on the success in sponsorship sales, the Tour hopes to create a schedule of events for women in 2009.

If at any point the Tour is able to sign a Tour Title Sponsor, the timeline for developing the Tour will be accelerated, with multi-round events and increased purses added as soon as possible. To keep up with the latest developments and additions to the schedule, log on to this web site frequently.

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