Category: Inductees

BIG RAPIDS – Greg Johnson, an award-winning sports journalist and Hudsonville resident, Stephen Kircher, the President and CEO of Boyne Resorts in Boyne Falls, and Kevin VandenBerg, a multi-time amateur golf champion originally from Mattawan, were inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (MGHOF) Sunday at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Course.

The threesome brings the number of inductees to 140. The ceremony was conducted in the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center at Katke, which houses the MGHOF.

Johnson, 67, worked for almost 30 years with the Grand Rapids Press and is currently a media consultant for the state’s most prominent golf associations. He has authored newspaper and magazine stories on all aspects of the game and has covered Michigan’s biggest golf tournaments for four decades.

In addition, during his newspaper career he was a columnist covering sports at every level in Michigan and nationally as well, including major championship golf, the Olympic Games, Super Bowls and more.

A longtime committee member of the MGHOF, Johnson was instrumental in establishing its new home at Ferris State and currently serves as chairperson and president of the Michigan Golf Foundation.

Kircher, 59, is the son of Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Everett Kircher and followed in his father’s footsteps in leading the largest family-owned four-season resort company in North America. They are the third parent-child duo in the MGHOF joining Bruce Matthews and Jerry Matthews, and Pete Green and Suzy Green-Roebuck.

Kircher was a player first, winning an individual state high school championship for Boyne City High, earning letters at two universities (Northwestern and Michigan State) and maintaining a scratch handicap for over 30 years.

His numerous contributions to golf include leading efforts to grow and develop the industry in Michigan. He is a past chair of the Michigan Travel Commission, a founding member of the America’s Summer Golf Capital Association, co-founder of the unique Tournament of Champions, co-designer of the Hills Course and Bay Harbor Golf Club courses and works closely with the Boyne team on new projects.

VandenBerg, 58, has demonstrated playing excellence at state and national levels.

The former Kalamazoo Golf Association president most notably is the only golfer to win the Michigan Amateur, GAM Championship and GAM Mid-Amateur Championship in the same year (2000).

He moved to Pulaski, N.Y., in 2007 and focused on building a financial management business, but after turning 55 started playing senior competition, including two U.S. Senior Opens and two U.S. Senior Amateurs. He was runner-up in Golfweek’s Senior Player of the Year rankings in 2022 before being named Golfweek’s Senior Player of the Year in 2023, a year in which he had 13 top five finishes in 20 tournament starts.

VandenBerg regularly returns to play in Michigan tournaments by maintaining his Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) membership, and earlier this year he won the GAM Senior Match Play Championship.

The MGHOF includes a heralded collection of portraits and memorabilia that commemorate the leading Michigan golfers and contributors to the game.

The MGHOF is administered by the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Committee, and funded through the non-profit Michigan Golf Foundation (501(c)(3)) since 1996. It includes 17 people representing a cross-section of the state’s golf associations as well as golf media and conducts an annual election to recognize the achievements of competitive Michigan golfers, but also the accomplishments of individuals who have contributed to the game. For more information and to learn about the current members of the Hall of Fame, visit mghof.org.

Michigan Section PGA Receives Special Award

BIG RAPIDS –  The late Gerald “Jerry” Faubel, superintendent at Saginaw Country Club for over 35 years and a national turfgrass leader, Doug LaBelle II of Mount Pleasant, twice a PGA Tour player in 16 years on professional golf tours around the world, and Jean Murray of Mount Pleasant, a standout player, Golf Association of Michigan volunteer and high school golf coach, have been inducted and are part of 137 members of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (MGHOF).

 The ceremony Sunday at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Club, home of the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center that houses the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, included a special appearance by Dr. Bill Pink, president of Ferris, who shared in the announcement of a new long-term tenant agreement for the Hall of Fame.

  The MGHOF, founded in 1982, also presented just a sixth Historical Special Award to the Michigan Section PGA, which in 2022 celebrated 100 years as one of the 41 sections of the PGA of America.

  Faubel, who passed away at home in Arcadia in December of 2022 at the age of 81, was a native of Iowa who came to Michigan for the superintendent’s job at Saginaw Country Club in 1969. He was the first president of the Mid-Michigan Turf Association and was a board member for seven years with the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA). Faubel also traveled around the world to promote turfgrass studies and research, served with United States Golf Association (USGA) committees in multiple roles, helped found Executive Golf Search Inc. to aid superintendents in job placement, and with legendary golf course architect Robert Trent Jones created a scholarship endowment fund.

 “He would be so pleased,” said Sally, his wife. “Growing up he wanted to be a farmer, but he ended up being in golf and turfgrass and Saginaw Country Club and its members were so great to him and supportive of the things he did.”

  LaBelle, 48 and a real-estate broker in Mount Pleasant, played tour golf for 16 years, including four on the PGA Tour and eight on what is now the PGA’s Korn Ferry Tour. He collected 96 PGA Tour starts including a pair of U.S. Opens and a British Open, and he played in 150 Korn Ferry tournaments. He won over $2.4 million combined and collected two Korn Ferry wins. At the University of New Mexico, he was a two-time All-American and won three individual titles. In 1998 he was a prestigious Palmer Cup selection for Team USA. While growing up he won multiple junior golf titles, was an all-state selection in high school and in the 1996 Michigan Amateur Championship was the runner-up to legend Pete Green.

  “I’m humbled to be part of this incredible group of golf people in Michigan,” LaBelle said. “When you play you don’t think of things like this, at least I didn’t. I just kept trying to work on what I could do be better and to reach the next level.”

  Murray, 85 a former GAM Governor and now Honorary Governor who continues to volunteer, won the inaugural GAM Senior Women’s Championship in 1997 and four times was in the top 10 on the GAM Honor Roll. She has won multiple Michigan Women’s Golf Association titles and the Mount Pleasant Country Club championship 22 times. In 2009 at age 71 after two hip replacements, she won the prestigious Spring Lake Invitational. She also coached the girls’ golf team at Mount Pleasant High for 10 years, winning a state title in 1978 and leading four state runner-up teams, and has also served the Mid-Michigan District Women’s Golf Association and the Saginaw Valley Women’s Golf Association.

  “This means so much because I can share it with the team, my great friends I’ve met being involved in golf all these years,” Murray said. “I grew up on a farm, a long way from any neighbors. I was by myself a lot, wanted to get a tan so I used my dads clubs and started hitting golf balls around the fields.”

  The Michigan Section PGA received the Special Award to honor its history and the work of over 800 members. PGA Professionals not only compete, but teach the game, direct golf facilities and are involved in various philanthropic efforts like Project Hope and Folds of Honor supporting military veterans, the Midnight Golf Program in Detroit and grow-the-game junior golf initiatives like PGA Junior League and Drive, Chip & Putt.

  Bill Hobson, a member of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Committee, served as the master of ceremonies for the induction.

  The MGHOF is a heralded collection of portraits, plaques and memorabilia that commemorate its 137 members, including Walter Hagen and Chuck Kocsis and Al Watrous, and more current notables Meg Mallon, Dan Pohl and Kelly Robbins. The collection is housed and displayed in the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center, which is named in honor of the MGHOF co-founder.

  The MGHOF is administered by the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Committee, which is funded through the non-profit Michigan Golf Foundation (501(c) (3) since 1996) and includes 16 people representing a cross-section of the state’s golf associations as well as golf media. The MGHOF committee conducts an annual election to recognize the achievements of competitive Michigan golfers, but also accomplishments of individuals who have contributed to the growth of the game. For more information and to learn about the current members of the Hall of Fame, visit mghof.org.

INFORMATION CONTACTS: Loretta Larkin, MGHOF administrator, [email protected], 248-719-0650. Media contact: Greg Johnson, [email protected], 616-560-8995

BIG RAPIDS – Jennifer Kangas-Brody, a former LPGA Tour player originally from the Upper Peninsula, Art McCafferty, a multi-media golf publisher and producer, and the late John Molenda, a longtime Knollwood Country Club professional who won the Michigan Open and the Michigan PGA Professional championships, were inducted by the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame (MGHOF) Sunday.

  The trio, inducted in ceremonies at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Club, home of the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center that houses the MGHOF, brought the number of inductees to 134.

  The MGHOF also presented just its fifth Special Award in history to the Midnight Golf Program, the landmark program that since 2001 has used dedicated volunteers and PGA professionals to teach golf and life skills and help guide over 3,700 Detroit youth into colleges and professional careers.

Kangas-Brody, 48, a golf shop owner, merchandiser and instructor at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc with her husband, PGA professional Doug Brody, is a former LPGA Tour golfer and Michigan State University standout from the Upper Peninsula. She earned all-state honors at L’Anse High School, was an All-Big Ten golfer and team captain at MSU. She won the Michigan Women’s Open soon after graduating from MSU, turned professional in 1997 and in 1998 played full-time on the LPGA Tour. She won four times on what is now the Epson Tour.

  McCafferty, 81, is a familiar figure in Michigan golf with his wife Jennie making the rounds of tournaments and events. The owner of Great Lakes Sports Publications has produced almost 6,000 YouTube interviews, reports and shows on running, skiing and golf, published the Michigan Golfer magazine from 1983 to 2003 and continues to collect and produce content and distribute a well-read digital Michigan golf newsletter. Golf and sports production was a second career for the former Eastern Michigan University educator.

  Molenda, who died in 2004 at the age of 65, was a Detroit native and Novi resident who played golf at Arizona State University and on the U.S. Army team. In 1961 he was the runner-up to Dick Sikes in the U.S. Public Links Championship, and as a PGA golf professional served the membership at Knollwood Country Club for 35 years. A standout player, he won the 1968 Michigan Open, the 1971 Michigan PGA, played in the national PGA Professional Championship 10 times, played in two U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships. He was the Michigan PGA Golf Professional of the Year in 1985.

  The MGHOF is a heralded collection of portraits, plaques and memorabilia that commemorates its members, including Walter Hagen and Chuck Kocsis and Al Watrous, and more current notables Dan Pohl, Meg Mallon and Kelly Robbins.

  The MGHOF is administered by the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Committee, which is funded through the non-profit Michigan Golf Foundation (501(c) (3) since 1996) and includes 16 people representing a cross-section of the state’s golf associations as well as golf media.

  The MGHOF committee conducts an annual election to recognize the achievements of competitive Michigan golfers, but also accomplishments of individuals who have contributed to the growth of the game. For more information and to learn about the current members of the Hall of Fame, visit mghof.org.

 

INFORMATION CONTACTS: Loretta Larkin, MGHOF administrator, [email protected], 248-719-0650. Media contact: Greg Johnson, [email protected], 616-560-8995