Pam Phipps’ winning ways put Black Lake Golf Club on top

ONAWAY – Pam Phipps’ career is full of firsts.

She’s the first woman in the nation to attain master professional status from the Professional Golfers’ Association of America.

She’s the first golf professional at the Black Lake Golf Club, hired for the position in 1999 – the year before the highly acclaimed course near Onaway opened.

And she’s the first to tell some of her students that the top two commandments of golf are bunk.

“Keep your head down and keep your left arm straight are the two worst things you can tell a golfer,” Phipps said.

Rather, she urges golfers to keep their left arm in the position that allows them the greatest extension for their unique physiques – and to keep their eyes on the ball.

With 30 years of experience in the game and a history of propelling the courses she manages to national prominence, Phipps dispenses these and other tips to students while choreographing the show at the Black Lake Golf Club.

“I oversee everything,” she said. “But teaching is my No. 1 passion.”

And what a classroom she has.

The beauty of the course is one of the factors that lured Phipps away from her gig at the LPGA International in Daytona Beach, Fla., to return to her native Michigan.

Renowned architect Rees Jones used 300 acres of cranberry bogs, rolling hills, heavy woods and natural sand quarries as his canvas, creating a natural, picturesque and challenging work of art. With at least five tees on every hole, the 18-hole course provides a game suitable to all skill levels, and the companion par-3 course and academy grounds give duffers a chance to refine their skills.

Kudos keep coming

Under Phipps’ direction, the course has risen to nationwide prominence: Golf Digest ranked the course No. 25 on its list of the nation’s public courses this year, and Golf for Women ranked it No. 44 on its list of Top Women-Friendly Golf Courses.

Phipps, whose previous course at Daytona Beach ranked first in the nation for women-friendly golf, said women-friendliness is an attitude as much as anything.

The “forward tees,” for example, are called just that – not “ladies’ tees.”

“Just this morning there was a woman getting ready to tee off from the white tees,” which fall in the middle of the five-tee hierarchy, Phipps said. “One of the staffers asked what we should do. I said, ‘Let’s see how she does.’ Then she hit the ball 200 yards. We don’t make assumptions about people’s skills based on whether they’re a man or a woman.

“Every decision you make, you’ve got to think of all golfers: men, women and juniors.”

The tee placement ranges from the gold tees, with total yardage of 7,030 yards, to the green, with yardage of 5,058 yards and positions that allow golfers to avoid some of the more difficult sand traps and water hazards.

Other “women-friendly” factors used by the list-makers included number of amenities (you’ll find restrooms on the eighth and 14th holes, as well as full locker facilities in the clubhouse), staff attitudes, availability of female instructors and women’s clothing and gear in stock at the pro shop.

A golf pro in the making

Phipps, raised in Oxford, north of Detroit, grew up with golf. Her parents took her out on the links at the tender age of 10, but it bored her.

That boredom fell way to excitement in 1975. That’s the year that Sandra Palmer won the U.S. Women’s Open.

“She’s 5-foot-2,” Phipps said. “I said, maybe this is a sport I can get into, since I’m 5-1 and probably won’t be a basketball player. She won $100,000. I thought that sounded like a pretty good deal.”
So the 16-year-old Phipps got into the game. She got a job in the clubhouse at Oxford Hills, and hit the links every chance she got. And she got good.

After a year playing on the varsity team at Central Michigan University, Phipps transferred to Ferris State, enrolled in the golf management program, and continued perfecting her game on the Bulldog’s golf squad, where she earned most valuable player status and became team captain before graduating in 1983.

In 1994, Phipps made history as the first woman master professional to be sanctioned by the PGA. The distinction is granted to PGA members who complete a rigorous six-year training program that culminates in a master’s thesis. They must demonstrate the highest degree of excellence in customer service and all aspects of the game.

“I felt it was a big deal at the time,” Phipps said. “But the golf business welcomed me with open arms. In an organization like the PGA, everybody needs everybody else. In the golf business now, women are a hot commodity. Everyone wants a woman on their staff, especially a woman instructor.”

Those who can, teach

Whether you’re a brand-new golfer or a longtime hacker, be you man, woman or child, Phipps has one important bit of advice: Take a lesson. And beginners should seek out professional instruction even before buying their first set of clubs.

“I had one student who couldn’t hit a drive, and I tried out her club and I couldn’t hit one either,” Phipps said. A good golf teacher can help a student pick out the tools that will best help their game.
“First, you want to look like a golfer, have a swing that resembles a golf swing, and then you’ll improve.”
She suggests that new golfers don’t fret about the rules. If you find yourself out in the rough, pick up your ball and put it on a tee and hit from there.

“Do what you need to do to build confidence,” she said.
Start out on small, easy courses, and work your way up, she suggests. If new golfers want to attempt a championship course, they should ask for a tee-time when the course isn’t busy, and be willing to pick up their balls if they have to stay on pace and not delay the group behind them.

Seasoned golfers may be more reluctant to sign up for lessons, she said, but can benefit just as much.
“People are afraid to go to a golf pro because they’re afraid they’ll go backwards,” she said, and they might actually see their scores climb as comfortable habits are replaced by a more adept swing.

“Most people have bad basics,” Phipps said. “They learned from a friend and picked up their friend’s bad habits.”

She advises students to practice swings whenever they can. If you can’t get out to the golf range, smack tees in your back yard. Once the basics become second-nature, Phipps says, golfers can refine their games.

“You can only think of one thing at a time,” she said.

Something as seemingly unrelated to the game as listening to relaxing music on the drive up can yield improvements, Phipps said. Much of the game is mental, and players who keep a relaxed, confident and positive attitude will see improvement.

“Golf is hard,” Phipps said. “Sometimes people forget that.”

Of course, she wasn’t the first one to figure that out.

Crystal Harmon writes for The Bay City Times.

Contact her at (989) 894-9643.