Lakewood Shores to Host 27th Annual James E. Vos Memorial Invitational

Byron Center, MI--The James E. Vos Memorial Invitational tournament committee made an unprecedented announcement today. For the first time ever it will bring the tournament to Michigan's sunrise side--to the Lake Huron town of Oscoda and Lakewood Shores Resort. Until today's announcement the tournament had almost exclusively been held on the Lake Michigan side of the state and primarily in and around the northern lower's resort towns of Gaylord, Bellaire, Petosky, and Charlevoix.

In making this announcement the tournament committee extends it thanks to all who took part in the survey process. The information gleaned through these surveys was very helpful to the committee in making its final decision.

The tournament committee had been keeping an eye on Lakewood Shores ever since its Gailes course opened and garnered Golf Digest's best new course award in 1992.

Designed by Kevin Aldridge, The Gailes' sod wall bunkers, double greens, and fescue grasses harken back to a wee bit o' Scotland. The course has continued to receive high praise since it opened and is on many golfer's "must play" lists.

Lakewood opened its Blackshire course three years later. Its huge waste areas, dense trees, and undulating greens are said to give it a Pine Valley feel. It too has received high praise since it opened.

Combine these two strong courses with a third, older traditional parkland resort course--the Seradalla--and an inspiring par-3 short course set right next to the lodging facilities, and suddenly Lakewood Shores was on the map.

But its distance from West Michigan (close to four hours by car), had always knocked Lakewood Shores out of contention, especially when there were so many other high caliber options nearby. That is, until recently. In 2008, after fourteen consecutive years of playing northern Michigan's big resorts (including five-in-a-row at Garland) the tournament committee began trying some of Michigan's smaller, less popular but no less enjoyable options. The tournament stayed close to home in 2008 (Hawkshead, The Ravines), then spent 2009 at A-ga-ming and liked it enough to return in 2010.

A new era had begun. In fact, all five host clubs--including one in northern Indiana--under consideration for the 2014 tournament had never hosted the JEV. Welcome Lakewood Shores Resort.

In related news, the tournament committee confirmed the 2014 tournament will be played on the originally announced dates of Saturday, May 31 through Tuesday, June 3.

Specific tournament information including pricing, lodging details, and deposit information will be forthcoming in a later post.

2014 Tournament Prices and Options...Take 2

Byron Center, MI--The James E. Vos Memorial Invitational Executive Committee today announced it had narrowed its options from five to two and is again seeking input from tournament participants.

Based on an earlier straw poll, Lakewood Shores is the clear front runner and one of the final two that are being considered. While the farthest away of all the possible tournament venues, Lakewood Shores has always boasted fine courses and its rates were by far the most competitive.

In a surprising turn of events, Tullymore/St. Ives has become the second option being considered. This, thanks to superb reconnaissance work done by executive committee member, Jim Warners.

Tullymore had turned in a quote of approximately $450 and had received no votes on the tournament website. Last week, Warners had several conversations with his own contact at Tullymore. Turns out, the main reason for the $450 price tag was the tournament's Saturday night stay. Warners discovered that if we were willing to move the tournament's matches ahead just slightly, we could eliminate the Saturday night stay and greatly reduce the price from $450 to $365. That's right, $365.

To guarantee this price, the new tournament schedule would look like this:

-NO Saturday night arrival/stay.
-Tournament begins with 18 holes on Sunday afternoon.
-36 holes on Monday
-36 holes on Tuesday
-Depart Tuesday evening

The executive committee believes the close proximity of Tullymore/St. Ives to West MI makes the elimination of a Saturday night stay and the addition of an afternoon round on Tuesday worth considering.

The executive committee will give this further consideration this week and plans to make its final decision next weekend. However, it is again looking for the input of tournament participants.

A NEW SURVEY has been posted on the tournament's website asking for player's preference between Lakewood Shores and Tullymore/St. Ives. If the tournament is held at Lakewood Shores it would follow the same schedule as the past few years:

-Saturday night arrival
-36 holes on Sunday
-36 holes on Monday
-18 holes on Tuesday morning
-Depart for home Tuesday afternoon.

The survey will be open on the tournament website until Friday noon, January 10. The executive committee thanks you in advance for your interest and your vote.