While many trumpet Tiger Woods’ appearance as a breakthrough for minorities on golf (forgetting players such as Lee Elder, Charlie Sifford, and Calvin Peete), Michigan State may have started something bigger: hiring Sam Puryear—the first African American golf coach a major NCAA Division I School.

I say that this may be more significant because Americans have for a very long time accepted the idea of minorities as athletes. Tiger may have received some flak from a few crazies, but the very fact that we consider those people crazy show just how far the mainstream has come.

Not as accepted has been the idea that minorities can serve in top management positions. And top management is just what a head coach is—responsible not only for developing player skills, but also for managing budgets and programs.  Just how many minority coaches are there, in relation to the number of minority players? Not as many as pure chance would suggest.

That’s not to say, however, that I think an organization should hire minorities to fulfill some guilty demand for social justice. But it is only right that when a person is qualified, they should be given a chance.

Puryear surely is eminently qualified. Before taking the Michigan State job, Puryear served as Stanford’s first full-time assistant golf coach. While there, the Cardinal jumped from 43nd to first in the polls. They captured the national title in 2007. There’s no doubt as to his contribution to that rise.

Before that,

Puryear was executive director of East Lake Junior Golf Academy in Atlanta, where he managed the development of golf instruction and curriculum for an academy, serving more than 1,000 youth. While at the academy, he cultivated relationships with the PGA Tour, LPGA, and The Tour Championship, creating unique one-on-one play for Pro-Am events with academy youth and select Top 30 money winners, including Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh, and Phil Mickelson. Puryear created unprecedented opportunities for junior golfers to serve as interns with Turner Sports to work at the 2005 British Open at St. Andrews, Scotland. He also cultivated a relationship with Fortune magazine and created an internship for a female junior golfer. Under his guidance, the academy grew from 150 students in 1998 to 700 in 2005.

What this rather dry quote from a Michigan State press release doesn’t say is just what kind of an impact Sam Puryear had on the poor East Lake community. For that, you need to take a look at the recent issue of Golf Week.

The impulse is to congratulate Michigan State for hiring a minority golf coach. But that, I think, would do Sam Puryear a disservice. Instead, I’ll congratulate Michigan State for hiring what looks to be an excellent golf coach. Period.

The Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) is running a new fantasy golf league, with weekly prizes. It starts with the Masters, so if you’re hopelessly behind in your other league (like I am), or if you haven’t joined one yet, this looks pretty good.

Paul Haase, who teaches at the Miles of Golf facility in Ann Arbor, has been named the 2008 Michigan PGA Teacher of the Year.

I took several lessons from Paul about ten years ago and was impressed then with his teaching ability. Like a good teacher in any subject, he started with lesson objectives, taught basics, retaught concepts and left you with a summary of lessons learned and things to work on. He straightened out my grip and got my fairway woods play going. Even today, fairway woods are among the strongest part of my game.

Paul’s also got an amazing memory. I haven’t had a lesson with him in quite a while, and yet every time I see him in the shop, he remembers my face and name.

I’ve thought about returning for more lessons with Paul over the last couple of years, but haven’t been able to do it. For one thing, I really can’t afford it. Eighty dollars an hour is just out of my price range (I don’t begrudge him the fees; he’s well worth it). I’ve found I get much more value with cheaper group lessons. And second, he is well and truly booked. Even when I had the money, I found that it was difficult (nigh impossible) to get to see him at a good time.

At any rate, congratulations Paul

The full press release is below:

The City of Ann Arbor maintains two public golf courses: Huron Hills and Leslie Park. Leslie Park is billed as the “Championship Course” while Huron Hills is the “entry level course.” Neither is a great course, especially considering the large number of courses (dozens) in the immediate area. Huron Hills does have the distinction, however, of being one of the few “walking only” courses in Michigan.

In recent years, both courses have suffered a decline in play. That may, however, be associated with a general decline in the quality of the fairways and greens. I haven’t played either in more than a year, but reports are that they are in terrible condition.

The City of Ann Arbor has named a committee to study the courses, and what appears to be a money losing proposition for the city. While I never want to see a course disappear, I think the need for two city golf courses is questionable—especially with the many golf courses within a few minutes of city limits.

The Buick Open, held each year in Grand Blanc, Michigan, has been honored by the Michigan Sports Hall of Fame.

It’s the first event recognized by the Hall—beating out even the legendary annual Michigan-Ohio State football showdown.

Now fifty years old, the Buick Open set the stage for all modern tournament events. Buick was the first corporate sponsor of a tour event. In its first year, it had the Tour’s largest purse. The total was $52,000, with the winner taking home $9,000—a princely sum in those days. The first winner was Billy Casper. Arnold Palmer and Ted Kroll were runners up.

The list of winners from the tournament’s early days is a who’s who of Hall of Famers: Jack Burke, Julius Boros, and Tony Lema all were winners. But with the money they were offering, that’s not surprising.

I attended the Buick Open at Warwick this last summer and really enjoyed walking the course (you can see course photos here). It’s not super long—nor would I say particularly difficult looking—but Warwick Hills definitely is a classic. The most exciting hole has to be the Par 3 17th, shown at left. That shot over the pond and the fronting bunker has to be nerve wracking.

There apparently are a number of big events planned for the 50th Anniversary celebration this summer.