BENTON HARBOR – Playing in the same pairing, Tim Pearce of Birmingham Country Club had the better front nine, and Benny Cook of Quail Ridge Golf Club in Ada had the better back nine.
The result: They were tied for the lead with 2-under 69 scores through one round of the 103rd Michigan PGA Professional Championship Monday at windy Harbor Shores Resort.
“Usually, my game doesn’t mix well with the wind and the hilly stuff they have out here, so I just tried to hit every shot the best I could today,” Pierce said. “Everyone was battling today. It was challenging and fun. I took the front nine and Ben got hot on the back nine. I’m right there battling, so the next two days I need to put good rounds together.”
Cook, who was 2-over before making birdies on four of the last five holes, said he was thrilled with the way he played.
“I’ve been playing better than last year, it’s a stark difference,” said the back-to-back 2021 and 2022 champion. “I’m in good shape. You can’t win it on the first day, but you can lose it, especially out here. There are some big numbers that can happen in the wind.”
Eight-time champion Scott Hebert of Traverse City Golf & Country Club and Julian Thompson of Plum Hollow Country Club each shot 71, two off the lead to round out the top four.
Ryan Lenahan of Kendall Academy in Ypsilanti, Cody Haughton of Red Run and Matt Thompson, the golf coach at Hillsdale College, each shot 72, and Payne Gniewek of Thousand Oaks Golf Club in Grand Rapids and five-time champion Jeff Roth of BOYNE Golf Academy checked in with 73s.
The field of 105 golfers will play 18 holes again Tuesday with a cut to the low 60 scorers and ties before Wednesday’s final round.
The low nine golfers at the end of the championship, not including Hebert and Roth, who are already exempt, will earn playing spots in the 2025 PGA Professional National Championship next April at PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. The low 20 finishers from that championship move on to Quail Hollow to play with the best players in the world at the 105th PGA Championship.
Cook, who is 30, said his three consecutive birdies at holes 14, 15 and 16 were a combination of good shots and good putts.
“Maybe the best putt I made out of all of them today was the one to save par from the bunker on 17,” he said. “It was maybe 12 feet. I had a good finish, and that feels good.”
Pearce, 29, said playing in the same group with Cook and two-time defending champion Kyle Martin of Lochmoor Club in Grosse Pointe, made for a good day.
“They are great golfers and even better people, and Ben and I kind of fed off each other,” he said. “The golf course is going to have a say in who wins this thing. I played it last Monday without much wind and it was tough. It’s just a tough golf course, and you have to make good shots and play some survival golf out there.”