Tournament Preview: The Ally Challenge

With the the Ally Challenge coming up on September 13-15, here are all the details you need to know in order to prepare.

Location

Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club,
Grand Blanc, Mich.

Yardage

7,127; par 72

Tournament Record

201, Paul Broadhurst, 2018

Tournament 18-hole Record

63, Scott McCarron, 2018

Media Coverage

Golf Channel

Course Insight

Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club opened in 1957, designed by James Gilmore Harrison on former farmland, with Joe Lee doing a redesign in 1967. The course was the site of the PGA TOUR’s Buick Open from 1958-69 and 1977-2009. Tiger Woods won three times, and among current PGA TOUR Champions players Vijay Singh won three and Kenny Perry two. Recently, more than 100 trees have been removed that had overgrown fairways or bunkers.

How Paul Broadhurst won in 2018

Paul Broadhurst jumped in front of a pack of contenders with a front-nine 32 and held on for a two-stroke victory in the first year of the Ally Challenge after a closing 66. “At times it was really scrappy. The rhythm was getting quicker and quicker. But that goes with the pressure of leading the tournament, I’m sure,” said the Englishman, who won in Michigan for the second time in 2018 following the KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship. Broadhurst was one of four players trailing a trio of co-leaders by one stroke through 36 holes and became the leader himself with four birdies on the first seven holes. A bogey on No. 12 briefly slowed him down, but Broadhurst made three birdies down the stretch, including the clincher on the 18th that gave him a 15-under 201 total. Brandt Jobe was second at 203 followed by Mark O’Meara and Tom Lehman at 204.

Charity Benefit

The Ally Challenge benefits the Community Foundation of Greater Flint, Junior Achievement of Southeastern Michigan and the Ally Challenge presented by McLaren Scholarship, with other organizations involved through the Birdies for Charity program.