DETROIT – Ten years after Tiger Woods won the Buick Open and walked off the 18th hole for the final time as the tournament’s champion, I was curious about what the PGA Tour would look like when it returned to Michigan next year.
I was curious because the Tour had returned to our state after an absence of a decade. This reminded me of an old television show trying to create a spin-off series.
The Buick tournament was held at the cozy Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club, in Grand Blanc. Around the 17th green, you might find some beer cans.
Who knows? Who knows? Maybe the Rocket will turn out to “Joanie Loves Chachi.”
Instead, it became “The Simpsons”, a hugely successful spin-off which easily surpassed, and maybe even erased, the great original show. Sorry, Tracey.
The Rocket is about to enter its fifth year, and it’s obvious that the tournament has achieved something most sporting events can only dream of. The Rocket has done something special by combining an easily accessible metropolis in a sports-mad town at an affordable rate in a state that is eager to bask and have fun in the sun.
You’re not going to be surprised if you’ve attended the tournament. The area behind the clubhouse, where the putting-green is located near a confluence with holes, is so crowded with people holding cocktails that it could be mistaken for the French Quarter at Mardi Gras. It’s great.
Let’s not be frightened. The tournament is also a huge plus if it’s held in the city and not some remote suburb. I am talking about diversity. You know who I’m referring to. That’s right: Canadians. I’ve met more than a handful of my neighbors who travel north from Windsor for PGA Tour golf, exotic foreign beers like Michelob Ultra and to watch the PGA Tour.
The success of the tournament is due to the organizers’ ability to leverage the event’s strongest asset, its fans. They know that they can’t get Woods, Rory McIlroy, or Jon Rahm on a course as easy as Detroit Golf Club unless they offer them a special incentive such a Rocket Mortgage sponsorship.
As usual, the Rocket will have a strong field with several top-20 players. This year, No. Max Homa and No. Tony Finau and the defending Rocket Champion Tony Finau plus Detroit debuts for two major winners, No. Justin Thomas, No. Collin Morikawa.
The Rocket is not aiming to attract the top elite players but rather to appeal to the fans. They are offering them cheap and abundant access to birdies every day.
Jason Langwell, tournament director, told me that they always wanted this to be a more fan-deck-oriented experience.
The Rocket, in order to achieve this, has added two additional viewing decks. This will bring the total viewing decks available for the week up to six.
Detroit Mercy offers three additional days of free parking for fans: the final round Sunday of the John Shippen Golf Invitation, Tuesday’s celebrity scramble, and Wednesday’s pro-am. Langwell says that no other Tour event offers three days of free access.
You can bring four children under 15 years of age for free if you pay $70 for a ticket. I would say that $14 per head is an excellent deal, and it’s one of the main reasons why the tournament is so crowded with young people.
Every sport knows that young people are its lifeblood. If you lose kids now, it will be much harder to win over adults.
Langwell knows this. He attended the Buick as a child with his father and would spend time at the driving range hoping to catch any stray balls. Langwell, now a tournament director in his adult years, still sees the same excitement from Detroit fans.
He said: “I think the 10-year gap between Buick Open and this event amounted to a lot (of fans) who are now playing out in energy.”
Even if it seems easy, following a successful business is never simple. Rocket Mortgage Classic can tell you this after four years.
Homer Simpson could be back after 34 years.
