{{ubiquityData.prevArticle.description}}
{{ubiquityData.nextArticle.description}}
THE AMATEUR GAMEBy John Steinbreder
Michigan native Tom Werkmeister is regarded as one of the finest amateur golfers in the history of the Wolverine State, and his induction in 2014 into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame attests to the talents of a man who won six state mid-amateur championships and one Michigan Open and also qualified for two U.S. Amateurs and six U.S. Mid-Amateurs. So does the roll he went on after entering that institution. In 2016, for example, Werkmeister helped Michigan win the USGA Men’s State Team event and earned medalist honors at the U.S. Mid-Amateur. Then last summer, at age 49, he captured his second Michigan Amateur title. As a result of those performances – and victories in lesser-known events such as the West Michigan and Grand Rapids City championships – he was named Player of the Year by the Golf Association of Michigan the past two years, marking the fifth and sixth times in his career that he has received that award.
Werkmeister was understandably honored by those latest recognitions, especially as he was about to become a senior in golf age. He also was pleased at how well he still was able to play even as the hair on his head and in the moustache and goatee he has long sported were more and more flecked with gray. And that got him thinking about a second act.
“As much as I loved the amateur game, I realized I had accomplished nearly everything I have wanted to as a golfer in this state,” says Werkmeister, who lives in Grandville, Mich., plays out of the Sunnybrook Country Club and enjoys the flexibility working as a salesman for a marketing company provides. “And being a part of the team that won that (Men’s State Team tournament) gave me the USGA title that we as competitive golfers all want. So, I decided to turn pro and see if I could compete on the PGA Tour Champions. I felt like I was still in the prime of my golf life and would one day regret not giving it a try.”
It’s a dream that many top amateurs start to have when they are closing in on 50, and Werkmeister began trying to fulfill his by entering the Q-School’s Florida regional qualifier last fall at Disney’s Palm Golf Course. His T21 finish was good enough to get him to the final stage a couple of weeks later, at TPC Scottsdale’s Champions Course in Arizona, and he rode a fourth-round 66 to a tie for 23rd place and conditional status on the Champions tour for 2018.
“Needless to say, that got my professional career off to a pretty good start,” says Werkmeister, who will not be eligible to compete on that circuit until he turns 50 on March 8.
Born and raised in Warren, Mich., a suburb of Detroit, Werkmeister started his golf career when he was a young boy after being introduced to the game by his father, who worked in the real estate business and was an avid player.
“As a child, I enjoyed any sport that included sticks and balls,” Werkmeister recalls. “But there was something about golf I liked more than the others. I had a lot of fun with the game, especially on the golf course by the summer cottage my family had in Northern Michigan, and I played all the time.”
Werkmeister also found he loved to compete, and he says he ended up winning so many club championships as a youngster at that Northern Michigan retreat they eventually changed the rules so that only year-round residents could enter the tournament. His good play also led to his being named to all-state teams in high school in 1985 and 1986. Then, in 1987, he was recognized as a Junior College All-American, playing out of Macomb Community College in his hometown.
“And being a part of the team that won that (Men’s State Team tournament) gave me the USGA title that we as competitive golfers all want. So, I decided to turn pro and see if I could compete on the PGA Tour Champions. I felt like I was still in the prime of my golf life and would one day regret not giving it a try.”
- TOM WERKMEISTER
Werkmeister thought about transferring to a four-year college after two years at Macomb. “But for whatever reason I moved to Grand Rapids instead and started working full time after becoming part-owner of a pizza franchise,” he says. “And when that happened, I stopped playing tournaments.”
In time, however, Werkmeister began to work his way back into the game, mostly in the West Michigan region, which boasts a vibrant tournament scene that gives amateur golfers there many opportunities to compete. And by the turn of the 21st century, he was making his mark in the game with wins in local tournaments like the Kent County Amateur. Then, in 2000 and 2002, he qualified for his two U.S. Amateurs, and he was on his way.
“Up to this point, I have been a lifelong amateur,” says Werkmeister, whose wife, Leslie, is his occasional caddie as well as a fellow member of the board of the West Michigan Golf Association and the mother of his two stepchildren, Caitlyn and Dean. “I believe in that side of the game and have loved being a part of it. But the Champions tour is something I need to do, that I want to do, and I am very excited about that.”
He is right to be pumped about his second act. But Werkmeister should also be sure to remember how his first one left him as one of the best golfers his home state has ever known.
E-mail John