(TROY, MICH.) – Sue Ertl, who went from Big Ten champion to the LPGA Tour, long-driving John Traub who drove to the PGA Club Professional championship and Bill Zylstra who has found golf fame begins at age 55, have been named to the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.
Ertl, born in Grand Rapids and raised in Ionia, starred at Michigan State where she made All-American, played on three conference championship teams and twice was conference medalist. She was the first ever Michigan State Sportswoman of the Year in 1979 and went on to 11 years on the LPGA circuit before turning to teaching and coaching.
Ertl was assistant women’s coach at MSU in 1993-94 and head coach two years at the University of Arkansas. She currently is head teaching professional at University Park Country Club in Sarasota, and returns to Michigan each summer for the Michigan PGA Women’s Open. She was inducted into the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2001 with Jud Heathcote and Steve Smith.
Zylstra, whose father William was a respected PGA golf professional and manufacturer’s representative, is another former Spartan golfer who primarily played Michigan Publinx events until he reached senior status. He made the Michigan Publinx Golf Assn. Honor Roll 17 times and played in the United States Golf Association Junior, Amateur and Amateur Public Links championships a total of six times.
Zylstra blossomed on the national senior amateur circuit when he turned 55, winning one championship after another, twice winning the Golfweek Senior Championship and being named Golfweek Titleist National Senior Player of the Year in 2008 and 2009. His 65 qualifying round in the 2007 USGA Senior Amateur broke the tournament record and he was Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) Senior Player of the Year the last four years. He has captured both the GAM’s Senior Championship and Senior Match Play titles.
Traub made an impressive fast start in golf, becoming a PGA member in 1977 and then named head professional at Great Oaks Country Club in 1978. In 1980 he rallied from seventh place, eight shots behind, to fire a 3-under-par 69 and win the National Club Professional Championship. The round, in 30 mile-an-hour winds, was the low score of the day. That earned Traub a spot in the PGA Cup against Great Britain & Ireland and a year on the PGA Tour.
Meanwhile, back in Michigan, Traub won the PGA Championship in 1984 and, as a senior, twice won the Michigan PGA Match Play Championship. He won the Michigan PGA Senior, two Pro-Pro and two Pro-Assistant titles as well. Traub was head professional at Detroit Golf Club from 1991-2001, completely redesigned the practice facility and has made a name for himself among his peers locally and nationally as a top-flight instructor and has spent six years on the PGA of America Instruction Staff.
The election of Ertl, Traub and Zylstra brings membership in the Hall of Fame to 90. The induction ceremony will be May 16 at Eagle Eye Golf Club in Bath. For more information, contact Loretta Larkin at or (248) 719-0650.
Contact:
Loretta Larkin
248-719-0659
llarkin@michigan-golf-foundation.com
