{"id":2629,"date":"2023-05-12T10:30:06","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T17:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/?p=2629"},"modified":"2023-05-16T12:20:15","modified_gmt":"2023-05-16T19:20:15","slug":"glamorous-golf-professional-players-travel-extensively-on-the-road-to-riches","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/golf\/2629\/glamorous-golf-professional-players-travel-extensively-on-the-road-to-riches","title":{"rendered":"Glamorous Golf? Professional Players Travel Extensively on the Road to Riches"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Pull<\/a>

Pull cart trolleys, not LearJets, are the road to the LPGA through the FireKeepers Golf Classic\u00a0Photo by: Harrison Shiels<\/p><\/div>\n

LearJets, limos and appearance fees? Those perks are only for the very top of the 1 percent of golfers capable of competing professionally. The rest of the Tour \u201cstars\u201d pay their own way flying maybe in comfort or driving between tournaments by car.<\/p>\n

Connecticut native Mike Sweeney, in fact, lived out of his Hyundai showering at gyms while traveling and trying to earn his first penny in professional golf. When his car “cowabunga” died it was couch surfing and fleabag hotels. Until one week, after fronting his nest egg of $500 to enter a mini tour event qualifier in Alabama, he holed out from a bunker for an eagle on the last hole to reach a playoff for the tournament\u2019s last spot. And he eventually claimed it.<\/p>\n

A spot in the event was still no guarantee Sweeney would earn a nickel. Even though he made a \u201cCinderella story-style\u201d hole-in-one on the second hole of the tournament, his subsequent scores sent him home to a cart barn penniless when he missed the cut.<\/p>\n

It will be a much warmer welcome for the professional women golfers. For the 10th year, they will return to Battle Creek Country Club to compete in the EPSON Tour\u2019s FireKeepers Casino Hotel Golf Championship\u2026a circuit known as \u201cthe Road to the LPGA Tour.\u201d The tournament competition is\u00a0Friday, June 9 through Sunday, June 11, but there are multiple events including practice rounds, a pro-am and player access for fans during the three days before.<\/p>\n

The Vegas-style casino and hotel are buzzing that week for fans, and the red carpet is specially rolled out for the visiting players. FireKeepers invites Battle Creek residents to volunteer to host these amazing athletes by opening up their homes giving them a wonderful opportunity to get to know the players during tournament week.<\/p>\n

\u201cFamilies help them feel at home and part of a family while they are on the road,\u201d said FireKeepers\u2019 Michelle Richens. Returning players often stay with the same families year after year and form close friendships with their hosts.<\/p>\n

Many of the tour players come a long way along the competitive road less traveled from their faraway homes across the globe. Past winners and competitors seeking a share of the $200,000 prize fund have traveled from China, Mexico, Taipei, Spain, Belgium, South Korea and\u00a0 Canada. Plus, of course, from across the United States.<\/p>\n

The 2022 champion was 17-year-old Xioawen Yin, from China. She secured her first professional win, defeating Gina Kim in a one-hole playoff. Now just 18, Yin is the youngest EPSON graduate to the LPGA.<\/p>\n

Even Battle Creek Country Club\u2019s lakefront golf course was designed by a traveler – Scotsman Willie Park Jr. in 1919.<\/p>\n

By the time the EPSON Tour reaches the charitable FireKeepers Casino Hotel Championship in Battle Creek, the women have driven to compete in three months of tour stops at golf venues in Florida, Arizona, California, Utah, Kansas, and North Carolina. And let\u2019s face it, while these are \u201cbusiness trips\u201d for these professional golfers, some of the tournament sites have a little more \u201cpizzazz.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true at FireKeepers we\u2019re proud that each year we are voted the best pro-am party by the EPSON Tour players,\u201d said Jim Wise the casino hotel\u2019s vice president for marketing.<\/p>\n

Each year FireKeepers presents other creative wrinkles for fans, too. Last year it was a Family Fun Night at Battle Creek Country Club. Sometimes spectators get to shoot golf balls at targets floated out in the lake. Attending the golf tournament is free. Attendees get to see and take selfies with the snazzy pace car for the annual FireKeepers 400 NASCAR race at Michigan International Speedway \u2013 this year\u00a0on Sunday, August 6.<\/p>\n

Like the FireKeepers Golf Championship, there are pre-race events all week at MIS and at FireKeepers Casino, including the opportunity to meet and greet last year\u2019s winning race car driver Kevin Harvick on August 4\u00a0at the casino property.<\/p>\n

\u201cRace fans are extremely devoted and love to meet the drivers, said Wise. \u201cThey bring replica cars to get autographed and one year a man even dragged in a race car tire to get signed!\u201d<\/p>\n

FireKeepers Casino Hotel stages two of Michigan\u2019s most traveled to spectator sporting events each summer. And for those who love to watch on television, the casino\u2019s Dacey\u2019s Tap House and Sportbook has big screens for watching sports plus booths and kiosks for wagering on games around the world. The FireKeepers Casino app also allows for handheld sports betting for users inside Michigan.<\/p>\n

Contact Michael Patrick Shiels at\u00a0<\/em>MShiels@aol.com<\/em><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0His radio program may be found at\u00a0MiBigShow.com or weekday mornings\u00a0from 9-noon\u00a0on WJIM\u00a0AM 1240<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

LearJets, limos and appearance fees? Those perks are only for the very top of the 1 percent of golfers capable… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":2632,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-golf","category-courses-and-travel"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2023\/05\/Ladies-Golf.jpeg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2629"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2634,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2629\/revisions\/2634"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}