We had an incredible day on Thursday at our 3rd Annual Operation: Hero Challenge at Bedford Valley Golf Club! 🇺🇸⛳

The Operation: Hero Challenge is all about supporting PGA HOPE Michigan — growing the game of golf while serving those who have selflessly served our country. This ...year, 40 teams of two PGA HOPE Graduates came together for an 18-hole scramble and a unique skills challenge featuring driving, chipping, and putting.

Most importantly, our Veterans rallied behind this event in an amazing way — raising over $20,000 to directly support PGA HOPE programs across Michigan. Their efforts will help expand opportunities and create more life-changing experiences for the more than 600 Veterans we proudly served this year.

🏆 Event Highlights
• Scramble Champions: Chris Allard & Isaac Cho – Score: 68 (-4)
• Skills Challenge Winners:
Drive – Johnathon Scott (61 points)
Chip – Clif Brunstetter (46 points)
Putt – Noah Francis (70 points)
Overall Individual – Isaac Cho (153 points)
Overall Team – Johnathon Scott & Brandon Wilson (115 points)

Congratulations and a special thank you to James Cooley & Jay Sprague (PGA HOPE Grand Haven) for being recognized as our top fundraising team from this year's event, bringing in over $3,200 (and counting!)

Thank you to our PGA HOPE Graduates — not just for competing, but for sharing their stories, supporting one another, and strengthening the PGA HOPE Family here in Michigan. They are what makes this program so special.

If you’d like to join us in making a difference, the donation link to support the 2025 Operation: Hero Challenge is still active:
👉 https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/peer-to-peer/2025-operation-hero-challenge

Your gift is more than just a donation — it’s hope, healing, and community in action. Thank you for standing with our Michigan Veterans and being part of this mission!

📣Shouting out all of our Michigan PGA Members who have been named among the best teachers in the state! Their dedication to growing the game does not go unnoticed👏⛳ https://www.golfdigest.com/story/best-teachers-state-ranking

Another congratulations to Adam Schriber on being ...recognized among the Top 50 Best Teachers in the country — coming in at No. 25!
https://www.golfdigest.com/story/the-50-best-teachers-in-america

The Best Teachers In Every State (2024-'25)

This is golf's most comprehensive nationwide ranking: We've identified the best instructors who fix swings near you.

www.golfdigest.com

The countdown is on. Just 18 days until our inaugural Birdies Fore REACH event!

Interested in making an impact?🏌️‍♀️

Professionals- secure a team today!
⛳️ https://forms.gle/x9Ncsn3ftNGN1CTV7

Supporters- cheer on and support our Michigan PGA ...Professionals through donations and pledges!
⛳️ https://charity.pledgeit.org/MichiganPGA

Together, we are growing the game of golf for all through PGA REACH Michigan!

We are deeply saddened to share the news of Dave Kendall’s passing. A Michigan PGA Hall of Fame recipient as well as a past President, Dave was a highly accomplished player and a respected leader in the golf community. Along with his many playing accolades, he was also a mentor, teacher, and ...friend to so many.

Dave’s passion for the game, his dedication to teaching, and the kindness he showed to everyone around him left a lasting and meaningful impact. Whether he was competing, coaching, or simply spending time on the course, Dave brought integrity, humility, and joy to everything he did.

He was instrumental in shaping the careers of countless PGA professionals and was always generous with his time, his wisdom, and his encouragement. His contributions to the game, especially in Michigan, will be felt for generations to come.

We extend our heartfelt condolences to his family, friends, and all those whose lives he touched. Dave Kendall’s legacy will live on not only in the fairways and greens he loved so much but in the hearts of everyone who had the privilege to know him.

Rest in peace, Dave. You will be dearly missed.

CAMERON RUGE OF BAY MEADOWS WINS MICHIGAN PGA MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP AT EAGLE EYE

EAST LANSING – Cameron Ruge took a trip to Las Vegas with his mother last weekend and saw the Eagles in concert, then came to Eagle Eye Golf Club and won the Michigan PGA Section Match Play Championship ...presented by the PGA Tour.
“It’s funny, I’ve actually been in a funk with my game for a couple of months, so I took a four-day vacation to Vegas, and we flew back Monday,” the 26-year-old teaching professional and PGA Associate at Bay Meadows Family Golf Course in Traverse City said.
The vacation and concert clearly didn’t hamper his golf game because the Coldwater native beat Jim Deiters, the head golf professional at Midland Country Club, 3 and 2, in the championship match Wednesday afternoon.
“I didn’t know what to expect coming in Tuesday, but I came out and my ball-striking was just solid for two days. I surprised myself, but Tuesday night I thought if I get my putter going, I have a chance.”
His putter and ball-striking combined for four match wins over the two days and his first individual tournament win since his senior year on the Trine University golf team in Angola, Ind.
“My game was just in the right place,” said Ruge who won five collegiate tournaments and played in a NCAA Division III national championship. “I just kept the ball in play for the most part all week. And, you know, I had a couple of penalty strokes, but it was really smooth sailing, all four rounds to be honest.”
Ruge, who was in the Match Play’s final 16 as a winner from the Northern Chapter, earned his spot in the championship match with a 4 and 2 semifinal win over Western Chapter finalist Michael Prior of the Golf Performance Academy of Southwest Michigan in Portage.
That pitted him against the 61-year-old Deiters, who came out of the Michigan PGA’s Senior Organization, for the championship. Deiters turned back the Eastern Chapter’s Ryan Lenahan of Walnut Creek Country Club 1-up with a dramatic tap-in conceded birdie on No. 18 in the other semifinal.
Ruge had an early 2-up lead after a birdie at the par 5 fourth hole, but Deiters tied the match with back-to-back birdies at Nos. 6 and 7. It remained that way until No. 11 when Ruge hit his approach shot to inside three feet for a birdie to go 1-up. He went 2-up at No. 12, the long par 3, with a par as Deiters made bogey. Then he birdied No. 13 with a shot to about five feet to go 3-up and wrapped up the match with a par at 16.
Deiters, who had previously made the Match Play semifinals three times, played in his first final. He said he tweaked his chronic back during the win over Lenahan, and that it bothered him most when chipping and putting.
“I was fighting it,” he said. “(Cameron) is a good player. He hit some great shots on the back nine. Going two rounds in one day is tough for me, especially in the heat. I played great against (Lenahan) this morning but couldn’t keep it up.”
Ruge, who earned $3,000 for the win, has been at Bay Meadows since his Golf Management counselor at Trine found him the job opportunity four years ago. He said teaching has helped him become a better player than he was in college.
“Especially working with the two other (PGA teaching professionals) we have up there, Scott Wilson and Ed Laprade,” he said. “Those guys are great teachers.”

RESULTS: Michigan PGA Section Match Play Event :: Tournament Results

ON TO THE FINAL MATCH
AT THE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP

Jim Deiters of Midland Country Club vs. Cameron Ruge of Bay Meadows Family Golf Course near Traverse City

It's happening at Eagle Eye Golf Club in East Lansing

Follow along ⬇
...https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11981533219485942696...

🏆 It’s down to the Final Four in the Michigan PGA Section Match Play Championship!

Semifinal matches are underway as Ryan Lenahan from Walnut Creek Country Club competes against Jim Deiters from Midland Country Club, and Cameron Ruge from Bay Meadows Family Golf Course competes ...against Michael Prior from Golf Performance Academy SW MI.

The winner from each semifinal match will face off this afternoon to determine our Section Match Play Champion!👀👏

Follow along ⬇
https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/11981533219485942696?back_link=true