Very sad.

More sad news.

Michigan’s Double JJ Ranch and Golf Resort has closed.

I always intended to take the family there.

Originally known as the Jack and Jill Ranch, the Double JJ has been in operation for 71 years. Located north of Muskegon, it featured a dude ranch, championship golf course, hotel and conference center, horse trails, a friday night rodeo and a $12 million indoor waterpark.

The owners hope that investors will buy the property and reopen.

Scott Hebert, golf pro at the Grand Traverse Resort, won his third straight Michigan PGA Championship this past week. Hebert had in June already won the PGA Professional National Championship. In addition to the $7,000 he won for the Michigan PGA, he now has seven exemptions into PGA Tour events for 2009,including the next Buick Open.

Hebert began by shooting a course record 65, then closed it out with a 68.

Henert’s obviously tremendously talented. Which leads me to wonder why he is a teaching pro, and not a playing professional.  If Hebert can shoot those kinds of scores, he should be able to make the kind of living that’s generated by three quarters of the guys on tour (the ones who aren’t typically at the top of the leaderboard, but who have a solid career from the middle of the pack).

Is there a difference in the mental approach? Do talented club pros such as Hebert lack an essential competitive spark? Or are the guys on tour just THAT much more talented. I actually kind of doubt it.

Perhaps Hebert simply doesn’t aspire to such things. A tour player’s life certainly has its downsides: hotels, travel, lots of time away from family, and so on. Hebert likely is perfectly happy at Grand Traverse (and why not? It’s beautiful in Up North Michigan).

Knowing as I do the non-material rewards of teaching (I could make far more practicing economics than teaching it), I also can imagine that Hebert simply enjoys teaching and running the course more than he does the competition. His now-annual romps over the rest of the state’s pros, plus the occasional appearance on Tour may be enough.

Finally, if you include giving lessons and exclude the costs of the travel (and such) borne by Tour players, it’s entirely possible that the head pro at Grand Traverse is more rewarding than being a mid level player.

Enough speculation. I’ll end with a simple congratulations.

Gaylord, MI (July 31, 2008) - Treetops Resort, located in the Alpine Village of Gaylord Michigan, will host the inaugural Patriot Golf Day Shootout August 29-31, 2008. This exciting two-person event is a fundraiser benefiting the Folds of Honor Foundation, which helps families of fallen American military heroes. The event is a merger between two very successful events: the popular Par 3 Amateur Shootout and the PGA of America’s Patriot Golf Day.

F-16 fighter pilot and PGA member Captain Dan Rooney founded Patriot Golf Day after flying from Chicago to Grand Rapids on a plane, which carried the body of Army specialist Brock Bucklin home to his family after he lost his life in Iraq. At that point, Brock became Dan’s inspiration and with the help of the PGA of America, Patriot Golf Day has become a national phenomenon.

Carls Golfland is a Michigan golf institution, having now been in business more than 50 years. I frequent their St John’s location, and have found the staff there to be extraordinarily helpful and knowledgeable.

To celebrate the 50th, Carls is running a contest offering 50 great golfing experiences. Some of the prizes are incredible, including golf with Natalie (and also with that guy who has a bum leg).