2010 Rooming List Announced

While the pairings won't be selected until Wednesday evening before the tournament, the tournament committee has announced the tournament's room assignments. Those participants returning to A-ga-ming will remember 2009's lodging arrangements. This year will be identical to last year.

The tournament participants will occupy an entire building comprised of four condo units. The condo's command a sweeping easterly view of the eighth hole of the Torch course and Torch Lake beyond.

For more information and 360 degree tours of these condos just click on the link below.

http://www.a-ga-ming.com/?page=72991

Each condo unit is equipped with three bedrooms, each with two beds, sleeping up to six people per condo and a total of twenty-four golfers total. Since this year's tournament has just sixteen participants, we will have plenty of room.

Sharing condo units are:

Unit 1
Mark Rice
Rodger Rice
Jeff Tanis
Dave Tanis
John Topliff

Unit 2
Jack Vos
Jon Vos
Don VanZee
Brian VanHall

Unit 3
Chris Grek
John Mulder
Dan VanderWal
Kyle VanderWal

Unit 4
Jim Warners
Bob Warners
Ken Terpstra

Wednesday, June 9 Plans Set

Golf and travel plans for Wednesday, June 9 are set. By my count twelve of the sixteen participants in this year's tournament will be headed north, playing three different courses. Sadly, four of our members will be sufferring downstate until after work on Wednesday before venturing to A-ga-ming. Here are the current Wednesday plans as received by the tournament committee.

Eight participants in the 2010 James E. Vos Memorial Tournament will be honing their skills Wednesday, all day at Grand Traverse Resort. Thirty-six holes will be played at the Bear and then the Wolverine courses of GTR by:

Dan VanderWal

Kyle VanderWal

Chris Grek

John Mulder

Don VanZee

Jon Vos

Rodg Rice

Mark Rice

Tullymore Golf Club, a highly rated and award winning Jim Engh design in Standwood, MI will host Jim Warners, Robert Warners, and Kenneth Terpstra on Wednesday afternoon, June 9, afterwhich they will make their way to A-ga-ming.

Going rogue will be Brian VanHall who was last heard stating he was heading way north to play his personal favorite, True North Golf Club near Harbor Springs, MI--another award winning Jim Engh design.

Left muttering in West Michigan are:

Jeff Tanis

Dave Tanis

Jack Vos

John Topliff

who plan to head to A-ga-ming sometime after work on Wednesday evening.

Safe travels everyone!

More specific tournament details will be forthcoming in the next few days. Look or a detailed agenda, tournament handicaps, and a rooming list.

Belvedere Golf Club: An Interview with Head Pro Marty Joy II

Ah, Belvedere. The classic design from golf's Golden Age of course design. Belvedere has been a hidden gem to most northern Michigan golfers, but to lovers of golf history it is far from unknown. Our tournament committee had the privilege of sitting down with Belvedere's head pro, Marty Joy II.


Marty has been playing golf since he was four and has been in the golf business for twenty years. His resume includes Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, FL and Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA.

We hope you'll find this interview as insightful as we did, and that it will peak your interest, excitement, and anticipation for playing Belvedere Golf Club in a few weeks.

James E. Vos Tournament Committee (JEV): Tell us about yourself? How long have you been in the business, and what brought you to Belvedere?

Marty Joy (MJ): I've been in the golf business for over twenty years, working assistant pro jobs at the Copperhead course at Innnisbrook Resort in Florida and before that at Merion Golf Club in Ardmore, PA. Before coming to Belvedere I played some mini-tour events in the west until 1999 when I took the assistant pro job at Belvedere. I've been head pro since 2008. I currently play only hickory golf clubs--all of which were made in the 1920's. I also host a hickory event at Belvedere in June. Contestants come from all over North America to participate.

JEV: Tell us about Belvedere.

MJ: Belvedere Golf Club was founded in 1925. The course opened for play in 1927. The course was designed by Scotsman, Willie Watson and built with 150 men and five teams of horses over a year and a half. Watson hailed from non other than St. Andrews, Scotland. Among Watson's other designs are U.S. Open sites The Olympic Club in San Francisco, Olympia Fields in Chicago, Interlachen, and Minikahta in Minnesota. Watson also designed Harding Park Golf Club site of the 2009 President's Cup.

You would call Watson's design a minimalist design as he really focused on the natural topography of the area and did not try to turn his designs into something unnatural. The creek that meanders through the front nine at Belvedere is used effectively with relation to the tees shots off of holes #2 & #3, and again comes into play on your second shot on #5. Belvedere holes #1, #11 and #16 are featured and written about in by George C. Thomas in his seminal book on golf course architecture: Golf Architecture in America.

The 16th hole is one of the best short par 4's in golf and is Tom Watson's favorite hole on the course. The long narrow green, built into a hillside slope, leaves the aggressive player scrambling back up a steep hill and the non-aggressive player who bailed out way left will find their third shot most difficult to stop on its way by the hole.

If you ever have a chance to play hickory golf clubs at Belvedere you will soon realize that the bunkering is precise and troublesome for the equipment of the time. Modern equipment can sometimes overpower Belvedere, however, the subtle green and thick rough can prevent the established player from going low.

The view from the #9 tee overlooking the entire front nine is wonderful. Belvedere means "beautiful view" and from #9 tee you can see why.

JEV: What attracted you to Belvedere? What is it you most like about the course?

MJ: I grew up in Charlevoix and was lucky enough to come back home after years on the road, and even luckier to get one of the best jobs in the business. I played Belvedere as a child and through high school, have grown up with many of the current members and have established solid and rewarding relationships with all the membership.

Belvedere is such an historic place. I love the history of golf and there is plenty of history at Belvedere. The course is so well maintained and designed that it has become a favorite of generations of golfers. Short walks from green to the next tee makes walking Belvedere a pleasure. The course doesn't over punish. The best golfers in the world can play here and compete and have a wonderful time and so can the 40 handicap. Open green fronts allow the high handicappers to roll the ball onto the green without being over penalized by deep pot bunkers or unfair green complexes. It truly is a club that you can play every day and not get tired or discouraged of its features.

Favorite hole? 15, 3 & 9 are rewarding to my game. Getting par on holes 4, 12 & 18 are necessary to post a good score. I've had only one hole in one at Belvedere, on #8.

JEV: Belvedere has such a rich history. Most people aren't aware what a hidden gem it is. What stands out to you about the course from a historical perspective?

MJ: Belvedere is steeped with tradition and history. From the first days that it opened for play in 1927 it was marked as one of the finest courses you could play in the entire Midwest. People came by train from St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, Nashville and Cincinnati to vacation in Charlevoix and play the Belvedere. With over 100 caddies, golfers put on their plus-fours and overcoats and thrashed away at the most modern golf club of its time.

Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Tommy Armour, Horton Smith, Bobby Jones, Leo Diegel, Denny Shute--all the major champions of the time--competed and enjoyed Belvedere. Later, Sam Snead, Ken Venturi, and Tom Watson were sent north to check out Belvedere.

Ty Cobb played with a minor league team in Charlevoix and would play Belvedere when the team was in town. He would play here with fellow Georgian and Altanta's East Lake Club member, Bobby Jones when they both would be in Charlevoix.

Golfers of 1920's and 30's--Hagen, Sarazen and Amour--were playing in a transitional period of golf where the sport, having always been considered the finest amateur game in sport, was changing into a professional money game. Jones remained an amateur his entire life and thought that money would ruin the game, however, influential characters like Hagen brought the crowds to the golf course circuit that were willing to pay to watch the best players in the world play golf. Void of an actual PGA Tour, these characters would board trains and play money exhibition tournaments at various locations through the summer months. The Great Lakes Open was the name of such a stop at Belvedere and was played there for over five years.

Belvedere hosted the Michigan Amateur for 38 consecutive years: from 1930 to 1988. In hosted its 39th Michigan Amateur in 2003 and will host again in 2014.

JEV: What's the current course record? Who set it? What's your lowest recorded score there?

MJ: The course record is 64 held by Chuck Kocsis in 1964. Walter Hagen shot 65 the first time he visited Belvedere in 1933 (he bogeyed holes 7 & 13), and held the course record until Kocsis beat him in '64. During the 2003 Michigan Amateur, Andy Ruthkowski (MSU golf team) shot 64 to qualify for match play competition. This was quite a round as the greens were quite quick, fairways tightened considerably, and the rough 8 inches.

Personally, 67 is my best round; 73 with hickory shafted clubs.

JEV: Tom Watson grew up playing there as a kid in the summers when his family would vacation at Walloon Lake. Tell us a Tom Watson story. When was the last time he paid a visit?
MJ: Tom's dad, Ray Watson would spend a month every summer at a cottage on nearby Walloon Lake. They played Belvedere often. Tom considers Belvedere one of his favorite courses in the world to play right alongside Augusta and Pebble Beach. Tom is considered an honorary member and he really loves northern Michigan.

When Tom does come to northern Michigan he walks one round at Belvedere, fishes Walloon Lake, and goes to one of the many fine restaurants in the area such as Argonne Supper Club. His last visit was in 2004. With his resurgence on the PGA and Senior tours, it may be a while before we see Tom Watson again.

The last time Tom was here, he was teeing off on the par 5 15th hole when one of our ranger's grandson's was teeing off on the par 3 14th. The grandson made his first ever hole-in-one...witnessed by none other than Tom Watson. Tom walked to the 14th green, shook the kids hand, signed his golf ball and posed for a photo. Tom is exactly as he seems on TV: gracious, polite, and a true gentlemen.

Pre-Tournament Warm-Up Round

Legend #2

Talk is beginning to circulate about a warm up 18 or 36 holes on Wednesday. Current discussions include Shanty Creek courses The Legend and Schuss Mt. Note: Cedar River is closed Wednesday, June 9. Other courses under consideration are GTR's The Bear and Wolverine or The Chief and Hawks Eye--two courses located just outside the entrance to Shanty Creek Resort.

Hawks Eye GC

Early discussions with the pro at Shanty Creek have provided a 36-hole rate on The Legend for $90 total. Other discussions are ongoing.

Current interested participants include Rodg Rice, Mark Rice, Jeff Tanis, Dave Tanis, Chris Grek, Dan VanderWal, Kyle VanderWal, and John Mulder. If you are interested in joining Wednesday's group, let tournament director, Mark Rice know by either responding to this post or by emailing him at markrice6963@msn.com

James E. Vos Tourney: Blizzard of 1990

For its first three years the James E. Vos Memorial Tournament has traditionally been held the first full week after the week of Memorial Day, around June 8-10. A little known bit of history is the first three years saw the tournament played in mid-May to take advantage of ultra-cheap golf rates.

That all ended in 1990--the year of the blizzard.

In three short years the tournament had grown from four people, to eight, to now, twelve in 1990. That year we said, "goodbye" to one-timer, John Anema, but welcomed five new tournament invitees: Steve Elenbaas (coming from Detroit), Tom Buteyn, Jeff Tanis, Dave Tanis, and Dick Anema (see picture above). Returning were founders Rice, Vos, Anema, and Vos, Sr; and second year invitees John Spoelhof, Steve Spoelhof, and Rice Sr. With the exception of Tom Buteyn, all have been regulars in the JEV tourney for many years.

Scheduled to be held Thursday night through Saturday morning, May 10-12, and contested over three Boyne courses-Heather, Ross (newly opened) and the Boyne Mountain's Alpine course, and with a whopping cost of $183.50 for three rounds, two nights lodging, breakfast, dinner, and taxes, the price represented a significant increase over the innaugural year's $121.

This was also the year the trip began to expand its golf days. While the official event didn't begin until Thursday evening, players began take additional time off and playing extra rounds leading up to the tournament. Such was the case for seven of the twelve golfers: Vos', Anema's, Rice's, and Tom Buteyn, all who chose to play 18 holes at Antrim Dells Thursday afternoon as a warm up to the tournament.

Little did they know what awaited them.

Thursday morning began bright and clear, but a tad on the chilly side. Nice enough for golf and three junior Rice, Vos, and Anema chose to play an early morning round at Chase Hammond with Tony Vroon--a future JEV Tourney participant.

Joined in the afternoon by the Senior's, and Buteyn, they made the track north in sunny weather. By Cadillac things began to turn. A slow mist began, turning to a light rain. Upon arriving and Antrim Dells, and without the assistance of Dopplar Radar, they checked in and decided to play on--a big mistake.

Rain began more heavily by hole #2, the temperature dropped, and by the fourth hole, snow was falling. By the sixth hole it wasn't just falling, it was falling rapidly, and the wind picked up. Snow began collecting on the fairways, and by the 9th hole the players were putting through snow at which point they decided to call it a day.

The snow continued in buckets through the evening. Safely at Boyne Highlands, and joined by the rest of the tournament participants, they all decided to go for an after-dinner swim in the outdoor heated pool---pelted by the falling snow.

SIX INCHES fell that night causing a, ahem, slight delay in the next morning's tee times. Thankfuly, Friday morning dawned bright and sunny, but with six inches of new snow on the ground, The Heather course was far from playable, and the long wait begin. Breakfast, followed by another swim, followed by a Boyne Lodge hallway putting contest, and still the snow had not melted.

Thankfully, with a bright sun and warming temps, the snow finally abated enough by 2pm to make the Heather semi-playable. There was still snow in the bunkers. But the tournament prevailed, and the players played on, thankful they could get at least one round in on Friday.

The above picture is from that memorable, early JEV Tourney. You'll note from the picture the elder Anema is wearing a Calvin College sweatshirt. It happens to be Mark Rice's. The reason for that is Dick Anema, coming from Colorado, assumed warm temps and brought nothing but short sleeve shirts. He's lucky he brought a sole pair of paints. Every other items was shorts.

And so the Blizzard of 1990 shortened the event but created a lasting memory. Saturday's final round at Boyne Mountain's Alpine course went off without a hint of snow.

Other pictures of this event supposedly still exist, but have not yet surfaced. If you have any, please send them on to me.

1999: An Historic Tournament

The 1999 James E. Vos Memorial Tournament was monumental for several different reasons. First, after having played a hybrid version of Bay Harbor in 1998, the full 27-hole contingent of Bay Harbor was open in 1999 allowing the 1999 tournament to be played along its Links and Quarry nines for the first time ever. Second, the tournament was at the height of its popularity. No less than twenty-four players participated in the 1999 event which was staged over four Boyne courses: Bay Harbor, Monument, Heather, and Ross. Third and most notable, 1999 is known as the highly contentious "Year of the Tie." Those fortunate enough to have played will never forget the "The Tie." Hard fought, ultra competitive matches were played out over four rounds, pitting mostly Grand Havenites vs. Grand Rapidians--a model the tournament had followed for years. When the final putt was dropped, the matches ended in a tie. Having no official tie break rule, the Grand Haven team fairly assumed the tournament would follow Ryder Cup rules with last year's winning team--which they were--retaining the trophy. Having just busted their rumps over four rounds, the Grand Rapidians cried "foul," stating no such rule had ever been discussed. An intense "discussion" followed with no real solution attained for many years to come. Thankfully, the tiebreaker rule no longer applies since new teams are picked every year.

If you are a returning tournament participant, see if you can spot yourself in the photo, which was submitted to the Calvin Spark by Steve Spoelhof. It ran in the Fall 1999 issue.

Sadly, we miss some of 1999's player participants including Nick VanderWal, the Spoelhof contingent, Ryan Kanis, Ron Idema, and John Groenhuis. Perhaps we will gather them all back for the tournament's 25th anniversary in 2012.

Field Set for 2010 Tourney

The tournament committee today announced the acceptance of its sixteenth and final participant, closing the field of participants at sixteen for the June 9-12 event, now in its 23rd year.

Newcomer Mr. John Topliff of Saugatuck, MI joins the star-studded field of familiar faces Brian Van Hall, Dave Tanis, John Vos, tournament co-founder Jack Vos, and others.

While a newcomer to the tournament, Topliff is no stranger to northern Michigan golf or tournament golf. A long-time member of Mullet Lake Country Club near Cheboygan, MI Topliff used his time there to hone his sweet, country-club swing that creates a gentle draw on every shot.

His gentle spirit, easy-going nature, and sweet swing made him an easy and immediate selection by the tournament committee.

Topliff has been a colleague and friend of tournament co-founder, Mark Rice, for over fifteen years while they were employed by Zondervan. John also knows Rodger Rice.

John joins:

Mark Rice
Rodger Rice
Jack Vos
Jon Vos
Don VanZee
Brian VanHall
Jim Warners
Robert Warners
Dave Tanis
Jeff Tanis
Chris Grek
John Mulder
Dan VanderWal
Kyle VanderWal
Ken Terpstra

as the now full-field for the 2010 James E. Vos Memorial Tournament.

Historic 3rd Generation Sets Stage for New Era

The 2010 James E. Vos Tournament will take an historic step toward the future as its members gather together for their annual June event. For the first time ever, second generation and long time tournament favorite, Dan VanderWal will be joined by his son, third generation Kyle "The Kid" VanderWal.

With the return of first generation, Dave Tanis and Rodger Rice, the James E. Vos Tournament will, for the first time, host three generations of golfers.

Kyle Aaron VanderWal is twenty years old, stands 5' 11" tall and weighs in at a very limber 145 lbs. Currently a sophomore at Calvin College, Kyle is majoring in business in hopes of earning a B.A. in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing.

Kyle's self-proclaimed prediction for his A-Ga-Ming scores are 82-84.

In addition to golf, Kyle likes basketball, tennis, chillin with the boys, and hanging out Kayla, his girlfriend of three years. (Yowza!)

Welcome Kyle! We hope you play against your dad and put him to shame finally. Some one has to.