Joe Juszczyk to Defend at Boyne’s Tournament of Champions

BOYNE FALLS – Joe Juszczyk of Dearborn Heights wishes he had won a major Michigan title sooner in his career.

“I definitely feel like I was missing out on a really fun event,” said the 38-year-old PGA Tour ...Americas player.

Juszczyk, 38, returns as the defending champion for the 33rd Tournament of Champions starting Monday and continuing through Wednesday on the Alpine Course at Boyne Mountain Resort.

A year ago, he made a six-foot birdie putt on the first hole of a three-way sudden-death playoff to win the 32nd Tournament of Champions.

The 2023 Hall Financial Michigan Open champion shot a final 4-under 68 on the Alpine for 11-under 205 and was tied at the end of regulation play with Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member Tom Werkmeister of Hudsonville, who closed with a 69, and the 2022 and ’23 Michigan PGA Professional champion Kyle Martin of Grosse Pointe Woods and the Lochmoor Club, who shot a final 67.

He earned $11,000 from the $75,000 purse, had his name added to the historic Walter Burkemo Trophy, and was awarded a traditional green dinner jacket as a new lifetime member of the Country Club of Boyne, all in his first visit to the unique championship that brings together men, women, professionals, amateurs, seniors and juniors – all who have won significant Michigan championships – playing for the same title from different tee positions.

“I remember my wife (Lynnsey) being there to see it and that was cool, but I’m also upset I’ve been missing out on it for the last 15 years or so,” Juszczyk said. “I should have won one of those championships earlier in my career because it was fun getting to play with most of Michigan’s best players. Michigan has a lot of great players, it has been represented on various tours, and the mix of the ladies, seniors, amateurs and professionals makes it a great experience. Winning it is definitely one the fondest memories of my golf career.”

This year he leads a field of 107 champions, including 13 Michigan Golf Hall of Fame members and seven former winners of the Tournament of Champions. The professionals will play for a purse of $75,000 and everybody plays for the trophy and green jacket.

Juszczyk, this spring, took advantage of the membership at Boyne. He headed north to Boyne country and played several rounds of golf to help prep for the summer season.

“A membership is such a great thing to win, and those rounds were great, and I think that’s one of the reasons my game is in pretty good shape,” he said. “I’m definitely looking forward to getting up there to play again.”

He joins six-time winner of the Tournament of Champions and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member Jeff Roth, who teaches at the BOYNE Golf Academy at The Highlands in Harbor Springs, as one of the former winners in the field. The roster of past champions looks like this: Roth (winner in 2019, ’12, ’08, 1999, ’96 and ’95), Juszczyk (2024), Otto Black (2021), Korey Mahoney (2016), Andy Ruthkoski (2013 and ‘14), Scott Hebert (2009) and Tom Harding (1997).

The Michigan Golf Hall of Famers playing, in addition to Roth, are Ron Beurmann, Steve Brady, Brian Cairns, Greg Davies, Randy Erskine, Harding, Hebert, Dave Kendall, Randy Lewis, Jack Seltzer, John Traub and Werkmeister.

The field also includes a host of recent champions from the Michigan Open, the Michigan Amateur, the Michigan PGA Professional Championship and the GAM Championship. A notable returning player this year is Joey Garber of Petoskey, a PGA Tour and Korn Ferry Tour player in recent years.

LPGA Epson Tour player Sarah White, a BOYNE Golf ambassador, headlines the women playing.

The unique field also includes relatives competing against each other. The brother-sister combination of Evan and Elayna Bowser are joined by father-son Jack and John Seltzer, father-son Jim and Austin Dieters, father-son Frank and Frank McAuliffe IV and father-son Gary and Bradley Smithson.

“It’s another amazing field with great champions, professional and amateur, college players, mini-tour professionals and several of our top Michigan PGA Section players and Hall of Fame members,” said Justin Phillips, the tournament director for the Michigan Section PGA, which sanctions and administers the unique championship. “It is the 33rd year and it remains the most unique tournament in the country at one of the top resorts in the country.”

The field will play each round of the 54-hole stroke play championship on the Alpine. A 36-hole cut to the low 60 scorers and ties will be made after the second round.

Juszczyk called the Alpine a great golf course.

“It has a great rhythm to it and the cool thing is if you are hitting the ball well, outside of the 17th hole which is so tough, you are going to have a chance to make birdie,” he said. “If your game is off it is challenging and you always must be patient around the greens and on the greens. It’s a pure test of golf. I was fortunate last year, especially in that last round. I always seemed to be on the right side of the hole to have a chance at birdie.”

ABOUT BOYNE MOUNTAIN RESORT: Boyne Mountain has been a favorite Midwest destination since 1948. The family-owned, four-season resort has earned Certificates of Excellence from TripAdvisor and has been recognized by Conde Nast Traveler readers as being among the top 50 Best Places to Ski and Stay in North America. The water park is listed among Budget Travel’s Top 10 Indoor facilities, and the resort is a readers’ choice favorite of Spa Magazine. Boyne Mountain recently added Skybridge Michigan to their list of attractions, the world’s longest timber suspension bridge spanning over 1100 feet sitting 120 feet over the valley floor. Boyne Mountain is home to The Alpine and The Monument golf courses, as well as 60 runs on 415 skiable acres. Cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, Solace Spa, Michigan’s largest indoor waterpark, Zipline Adventures, disc golf facilities, lift-serviced mountain biking, beach activities, kids’ programs, lodging, meeting, and wedding facilities as well as real estate are offered at the resort.

BOYNE Golf includes a collection of 10 courses at Michigan three resorts, The Highlands, Boyne Mountain Resort and the Inn at Bay Harbor, located within 15 miles of Petoskey. Beyond the world-class golf, BOYNE Golf is centered amid one of America’s most beautiful vacation spots. The scenic Lake Michigan beach towns of Charlevoix, Harbor Springs and Petoskey are minutes away, and a side trip to Mackinac Island is easily managed. Guests can enjoy award-winning spas, waterfront dining, sandy beaches, watersports, gaming, microbreweries, wineries, hiking, biking, tennis, zip-lining, shopping and more capped by the spectacular northern Michigan sunsets. For more information on BOYNE Golf, visit www.BOYNEgolf.com.

SCORING: Find the Leaderboard at www.michiganpga.com

NOTE: Gallery is welcome. Parking and admission are free.

MEDIA CONTACTS: Connect with media coordinator Greg Johnson at 616-560-8995 or gregeeee24@gmail.com. For Boyne Mountain and BOYNE Golf information, contact Ken Griffin at kgriffin@boyne.com or 231-439-4943.

We had another exciting day at the Fortress in Frankenmuth, MI as we hosted another sold out Midwest Golf & Turf Pro Am on Monday, July 21st. With the help of our sponsor Midwest Golf & Turf the 54 teams of two were competing for the titles in a best ball format with gross and net ...divisions.

The gross division was won by the Pro-Am team of Baker Stevenson from Meadowbrook Country Club and his Amateur partner Caleb Bond. They finished at -10 under par ,62, one shot ahead of the teams of Ben Cook and his amateur and father Benjamin Cook and Dan Shattuck from Oakland Hills Country Club and his amateur partner Zach Koerner.

This win exempts Baker into the Tournament of Champions which he was able to enter yesterday and compete in next week. Caleb was already exempt from his Michigan Amateur win this past June.

Despite finishing on shot back in the Gross Division Ben Cook and his dad took home top honors in the Net Division finishing at -11 under, 61.

Once again, we would like to thank everyone for coming and participating in this event. We would also like to thank The Fortress and the Host Professional, Kyle Martin and also a big thank you to Scott Sabgash the Superintendent and all of his staff.

Finally, we would like to thank our title sponsor Midwest Golf & Turf for making this event possible. We would also like to thank Zehnders for making the day even better with their famously known barbecue chicken lunch to conclude the day.

For complete results click below:
https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11385084675551691487?back_link=true

HUDSONVILLE’S TOM WERKMEISTER WINS THIRD YAMAHA GOLF CARS MICHIGAN SENIOR OPEN TITLE

BATTLE CREEK – Tom Werkmeister of Hudsonville hit the flagstick and made birdie on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff against Doug Hoey of West Olive to win the Yamaha Golf Cars Michigan Senior... Open Wednesday at Bedford Valley Golf Club.
Werkmeister, 57 and a Michigan Golf Hall of Famer, won for the second consecutive year and the third time since 2019 in the championship. A professional since 2017 when he qualified for the PGA Tour Champions, he took home a $2,000 first-place check and earned an exemption from the USGA into the sectional round of qualifying for the U.S. Senior Open.
He shot a closing 1-over 73 to follow a first-round 7-under 65 for 138, while Hoey closed with a birdie on No. 15 and an eagle-3 on the par 5 16th to shoot 70 and force the playoff.
In the playoff, playing hole 18 again, Hoey hit his wedge approach shot to 12 feet, and then Werkmeister hit his wedge shot off the flagstick on the second bounce and it settled 10 feet away. Hoey just missed his birdie attempt and Werkmeister rolled his in.
“Winning again this year is really, really cool, but it was a struggle out there all day,” said Werkmeister, who managed to hold at least a one-shot lead until Hoey’s eagle at 16.
“For some reason, I was comfortable in the playoff. I don’t know if it is because I’ve had success in them before, but while I had anxiety early in the round and hit a lot of bad shots, I hit three really good shots in the playoff.”
Frank McAuliffe, a teaching professional at Meadowbrook Country Club in Northville, shot a final 68 for 140 and third place.
A fivesome tied at 141, including Scott Hebert of Traverse City Golf & Country Club, who shot 69, amateur Greg Davies of West Bloomfield, who shot 70, Andy Walker, the head golf coach at Eastern Michigan University, who shot 71, James Dieters of Midland Country Club, who shot 71, and Jay Jurecic of Crystal Falls, who shot 73.
Hebert and Davies are Michigan Golf Hall of Fame members, and McAuliffe (2017) Hebert (2023), Jurecic (2021) and Deiters (2015) are past Senior Open winners.
Another champion was also determined Wednesday. Tim Matthews of Scotts, 65 and playing for the first time in the Super Senior Division, shot a closing 70 for a 5-under 139 total and won among the over-65 set.
Greg Zeller of Jackson, the Super Senior champion last year and the Senior Open champion in 2022, shot 71 for 141 and second. He was the low amateur in the division.
Another amateur, Kerry Buettner of Grandville, finished third at 143 with a closing 75.
Rounding out the top five were Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member and 2009 Senior Open champion Dave Kendall of Washtenaw Golf Club who shot his age, 70, for 145, and amateur Ian Harris of Bloomfield Hills, the 2014 Senior Open champion who closed with a 75 for 145.
Werkmeister said he started looking at the leaderboard at the 14th hole and was surprised to find he still had the lead.
“I thought somebody must have passed me,” he said. “I knew when Doug made eagle on 16 that we were tied. Then he had a great shot on 17 and I had a great shot there, but we both missed our birdie putts.”
At 18 Werkmeister’s tee shot found a stand of trees right of the fairway, and Hoey was just in the rough. Werkmeister punched a shot through branches to the front of the green and then two-putted from about 70 feet, while Hoey missed a 20-footer for birdie and tapped in for par.
“I learned something from Doug’s putt in regulation that helped me in the playoff,” Werkmeister said. “His putt in regulation was on a similar line that I had in the playoff and that told me it was a straight putt.”
Werkmeister said he felt fortunate to win because he has been struggling with this game this summer.
“The 65 in the first round was kind of a fluke,” he said. “The way I had to grind today is really the way I’ve been playing.”
Hoey, an emergency physician at Holland Hospital and a former Michigan Amateur Champion, said he and Werkmeister have competed against each other since junior golf. Hoey grew up in Dearborn and Werkmeister in Warren. They played against each other in junior golf, high school golf, amateur golf and then years later ended up playing against each other in West Michigan tournaments.
“I beat him when we were in junior golf, but he has more than made up for it since,” Hoey said and laughed. “We have a great time when we play together. We seem to bring out the best in each other.”
Hoey said he thought he was one shot behind even after the eagle on 16 that he crafted with a long second shot to inside three feet. He didn’t check the leaderboard.
“It wouldn’t have changed anything I did,” he said. “I was surprised on 18 when he told me after we were done that we were tied and going to a playoff. I really thought he had me by a shot.”
RESULTS: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11367381798704153257?back_link=true

TIM MATTHEWS OF SCOTTS WINS SUPER SENIOR TITLE AT YAMAHA GOLF CARS SENIOR OPEN

Tim Matthews of Scotts, 65 and playing for the first time in the Super Senior Division, shot a closing 70 for a 5-under 139 total and won among the older set at the Yamaha Golf Cars Senior Open Wednesday at ...Bedford Valley Golf Club.
The 1986 Michigan Open champion said it was nice to be in the winner’s circle even if it took a few years.
“Big state tournaments like this, I won the Michigan Open and this one,” he said. “It feels nice. I’ve won my share of club championships over the years and played in this one since I turned 50. It’s nice to play well. I was leaking oil coming up 18, but I’ve been hitting the ball well and I had two pretty good days.”
The Super Senior Division finished ahead of the overall championship field, which was still on the course. Matthews, a professional, won $800.
Greg Zeller of Jackson, the Super Senior champ last year and the Senior Open champion in 2022, shot 71 for 141 and second. He was the low amateur in the division.
Another amateur, Kerry Buettner of Grandville, finished third at 143 with a closing 75.
Rounding out the top five were Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member Dave Kendall of Saline who shot his age, 70, for 145, and Ian Harris of Bloomfield Hills, who closed with a 75 for 145.

Yamaha Golf Car
YAMAHA GOLF CARS SENIOR OPEN FINAL ROUND TODAY

The Michigan PGA's state championship for seniors concludes today at Bedford Valley Golf Club in Battle Creek. Follow live scoring by clicking on it a michiganpga.com

Round 1 of the Yamaha Golf Cars Plus Michigan Senior Open was underway today!

Follow along the leaderboard to see who will take home the win tomorrow: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11367381798704153257?back_link=true

Yamaha Golf Car

Top Michigan Senior Golfers head to Bedford Valley for the 2025
Yamaha Golf Cars Plus Michigan Senior Open

BATTLE CREEK – Our field of 111 golfers includes PGA Professionals, 12 Michigan Golf Hall of Fame members, 14 past champions, and top amateurs that will all compete at the ...2025 Yamaha Golf Cars Plus Senior Open set for the 15th and 16th of July at Bedford Valley Golf Club.

Defending champion and Michigan Golf Hall Of Fame member Tom Werkmeister of Hudsonville , will look for back-to-back wins after shooting a 64 last year in the rain shortened 18-hole event picking up second Yamaha Golf Cars Michigan Senior Open title.

Werkmeister and others will be competing this week against 11 other Michigan Golf Hall of Fame members in the field including PGA Professionals Scott Hebert from Traverse City Golf & CC, Ron Beurmann of the Country Club of Jackson, Brian Cairns from the Fox Hills Learning Center, Jack Seltzer from Linden and the Jack Seltzer Golf Academy, Dave Kendall of Saline and Washtenaw Golf Club, PGA Life Member Randy Erskine from Lake Orion, Tom Harding from Carls Golfland and Jeff Roth from the BOYNE Golf Academy, who just recently competed in the 2025 US Senior Open at the Brooadmoor in Colorado Springs CO.

The two Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Amateur members include Greg Davies of West Bloomfield and Steve Maddalena from Jackson. Doug Labell II, professional from Mt Pleasant and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member is also in the field for the first time.

Werkmeister tops the list of past champs with Kendall and Beurmann, who are also former two-time champions. Cairns, Roth, Hebert, Erskine and Zeller also have Senior Open titles on their rich resumes. The other past champions in the field consist of Jay Jurecic of Crystal Falls, Steve Maddalena, Frank McAuliffe of Meadowbrook CC, Chuck Pohl of Lansing, Jim Deiters of Midland CC, and Ian Harris of Bloomfield Hills.

The field will play 36 holes of stroke play for a purse yet to be determined. This is the 44th edition of the state championship for seniors (age 50-and-over), and includes a 65-and-over super senior division. Play starts at 8 a.m. on July 15th 2025.

Bedford Valley Golf Club is part of the Gull Lake View collection of six courses near Battle Creek and Kalamazoo including the new Stoatin Brae course. Bedford Valley was a 2008-2009 Best Places to Play selection by Golf Digest and in 2010 was named the Michigan Golf Course of the Year by the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association.

It was designed in 1965 by William Mitchell and purchased by the Scott Family of Gull Lake View in 1988. The classic parkland design is known locally as “The Big Course” and features big greens, bunkers and fairways lined with large oak trees.

Bedford Valley has hosted several of the state’s top tournaments including the Michigan Open, multiple Michigan Senior Opens, the Michigan Maxfli PGA Junior, the Michigan Publinx State Match Play and the NCAA Division III National Championship.

For info and leaderboards click below:
https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11367381802932011694