Playing In The Pro Am At The Great Lakes Championship At The Highlands

I was absolutely delighted to be invited by my friends at Boyne Golf to participate in the Wednesday Pro Am for the Great Lakes Championship At The Highlands presented by Johnny Walker.

My group’s pro partner was Crystal Wang, who is in her sophomore year on the Epson Tour.

My amateur partners for the day were Tom Lang, editor of MI Golf Journal, and Ken Griffin, Director of Golf Sales and Marketing at Boyne.

Wang is of course a top notch player. She finished first in the Big 10 Championships in 2023, was 2023 Big 10 Player of the Year and was a four time All Big 10 honoree.

In 2025, Wang has made five cuts in eight starts, with a low round of 66. She his the ball a country mile, has sharp irons and a deft touch around the greens. Like so many on the Epson tour that I observed this past few days, her swing is silky smooth.

I think it is only a matter of time before she breaks through with a win. I think the touring life must be tough to adjust to.

Wang is very sweet and soft spoken. I can imagine that playing yet another pro am round with a bunch of old hacker guys was not tops on her list of things to do. You would never know it, though. She made the round really fun — especially since we were playing her ball in the scramble 90 percent of the time.

I think a lot of male golfers would do well to take a look at the way these ladies swing their clubs.

As with everything this week at the Great Lakes Championship at The Highlands, the pro am event was first rate. I had previously participated in a PGA TOUR Pro-Am at the Colonal in Texas. The Great Lakes Pro Am events were smaller in terms of the number of people attending, but were every bit as nice. Maybe nicer, because it was cozier.

For Pro Am participants, the day began with a “Callaway Shopping Experience.” Each participant had a voucher (depending on which Pro Am experience they had paid for) which let them select from Callaway clubs, apparel and balls, or Ogio golf bags, backpacks, coolers and more.

The shotgun start on The Heather started at noon. Boyne provided a nice box lunch to take on the course.

At several holes along the way, sponsors had set up tables with samples, gifts or snacks for the participants.

Johnnie Walker, the presenting sponsor of the tournament, had a Johnnie Walker cart driving about serving their fine whisky.

Afterwards, there was a party with food and drinks around Boyne’s new 65,000 square foot putting green. Turtle Creek Casino and Johnnie Walker had set up several holes with putting games for various prizes.

I came THIS CLOSE to winning a couple of them. But as they say, close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

The day ended with a dinner.

At the afterglow party, I was approached by a young man who — having apparently identified me as a friendly soul — asked if I knew how the food and beverage operation “worked.” He said he had never done anything like this before and didn’t know what to do.

As it turns out, he was there as a reward from his boss, who had purchased spots in the pro-am for a couple of his employees.

What a wonderful gesture. It was a day that I am sure he will never forget. I know that I will not forget the experience.

I told him to just head on up to the food tables and fill a plate with snacks and maybe put a couple of bucks in the tip bucket near the beverage table. I saw him later taking part in the putting contests, and he was grinning ear to ear.

If you’re reading this, and you’re a business owner in the Harbor Springs / Petosky / Gaylord area, I don’t think you’d regret signing up for next year’s Great Lakes Championship Pro Am.