Small Town Golf Course Steeped in Senior PGA Tour History
By Tom Lang
It’s not often golfers can walk into a clubhouse and see the walls adorned with multiple dozens of personal stories and photos of life for a Michigander on the PGA Tour.
Yet you’ll find that very modest museum-like setting in the small town of Brooklyn in nearly the dead center of Michigan, just SE of Jackson. The course – the Hills’ Heart of the Lakes – has been owned by former PGA Tour Champions star Mike Hill, and his wife, Sandy, for more than 35 years. Their daughter, Kristen, has been working there and managing it ever since.
Older generation Michiganders will recall that Mike, now 84, was a ‘journeyman’ PGA Tour golfer who won three times on Tour – but when he reached the then Senior Tour, he burnt the field to win 18 times, nearly topping $1 million his first year of 1989, then surpassing it in 1991, becoming only the second player to do so. Those are huge paydays compared to current adjusted dollars.
Mike recently told me about the family’s financial challenges as his regular Tour life was slowing down. In the early 1980s, they didn’t have enough money to retire so Mike needed to work while Sandy continued to teach school.
“I guess the reason we have a golf course is because I was forced to make a living and golf was something I thought I knew a something about and knew I couldn’t make a living in farming,” Mike said.
The former course owner eventually contacted the Hills to try selling to them, but they decided on a lease agreement to start in 1984. They had 6 golf carts and 9 holes. Within two years the Hills’ made enough money to buy the property outright, and it was after Mike’s first year on the Senior Tour they decide they could afford to build the back nine – which Mike designed with the helpful knowledge of playing great courses all over the country.
I’m glad they did. The back nine is a little hillier and has more interesting turns compared to the first 8 holes that are basically straight, designed by old Ford co-workers in the 1950s with push-up greens, which the Hills’ updated with strategic bunkering.
“It’s a very challenging course even though it’s under 6,000 yards,” Mike said. “I believe there are very few people who can shoot even par there. The greens are a little tricky and we keep it in wonderful shape.
“I think the experience of seeing all the golf courses that I’ve played really played a big role in how I could (manage) this golf course; and being able to make money on the senior Tour gave us the money to buy equipment,” and keep it in great shape to this day.
“My wife and I used to be able to go up there and play anytime we wanted, and now we have to make a tee time. So, that tells you something about your course.”
Hole 16 is the signature hole at 410 yards. A player’s slightly-downhill drive needs to stay short of the large irrigation pond, which golfers need to clear on their approach to a large green. Both 17 and 18 are shorter par fours, both at under 300 yards – an example of how little land remained when building the back nine.
“When you come to 17 (a long poke uphill) and 18, they are fairly short holes,” Mike said. “But if you go ahead and think you can drive them you can make 6s and 7s pretty quick. But if you play smart golf and take an iron off the tee then pitch it onto the green, you’d probably make birdies and pars. Using driver, it’s easy to end up in the hazards or the swamp.”
In the end, things all boil down to family and small town pride and atmosphere. People come from Toledo and Detroit often with the easy access of I-94.
“I think people come here because we keep the course immaculate,” Kristen said, echoing her father’s comments. “It’s beautiful, a great place, and we have a homey feel here being in a small town. People come to the area for all the lakes in the area.
“It’s a really nice story (dad’s career and the course),” she added. “I think people enjoy it here, so we’re lucky. Golfers are always pretty optimistic people, so they’re always looking forward to the next good experience – and that’s what we do.”
