It's a big deal PGA Tour chose Detroit instead of suburbs. Here's why

Shawn Windsor | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption 09 US Open Champion Lucas Glover's wife arrested for domestic violence PGA Tour golfer Lucas Glover's wife, Krista, was arrested on Saturday after she attacked her husband both verbally and physically.

It's just a golf tournament. It won't do much to help Detroit's struggling neighborhoods. Or fix the roads. Or ease the tension between the city and its surrounding suburbs.

No, a sporting event — or even a new arena — isn't going to do any of that. But it still says something that the PGA Tour is coming to Detroit next summer. Not to Oakland County. Not to Grosse Pointe. Not to Grand Blanc.

To Detroit.

If nothing else, it's a gesture. A small one, perhaps, yet a gesture nonetheless. And gestures matter. Get enough of them, and perceptions begin to change.

This is what's happening in our region. Not perfectly. Not always justly. Certainly not quickly enough for any of us.

Few know this better than Dan Gilbert, one of the architects of downtown Detroit's revival. Yes, he is a businessman first. And you may not always agree with his methods.

But his continued investment in the city says something about him, too. This time, he's expected to set his sights away from the city's center, toward its edge, near 7 Mile and Woodward Avenue, just west of Palmer Park.

Beginning next summer, most likely on the lush and historic fairways of the Detroit Golf Club, some of the world's best golfers will compete in the city's first PGA Tour tournament. Quicken Loans — the company Gilbert founded — will be the title sponsor.

“Professional golf belongs in Detroit," Quicken Loans CEO Jay Farner said in a news release. "The Motor City — and the entire state of Michigan — have long served as a premier golf destination with some of the best courses in the country. We will be working with the PGA Tour to make the Detroit stop one of the most exciting and engaging events on the professional golf calendar."

Normally, you might dismiss such platitudes. Every tour-stop organizer wants to make theirs the most exciting. But in Michigan, there is precedent.

Remember the 17th hole at Warwick Hills during the Buick Open?

A lot of players sure do.

John Daly once called the tournament in Grand Blanc a "beer-drinkers tournament."

Which was a polite way of saying it was lit. Or rowdy. Or downright crazy.

For years, fans packed the fairways and greens for the Buick Open — not just around the famed par-3 17th — and chanted and partied in the heat of our August summers. When Tiger Woods played, well, it turned into one of the best scenes in golf.

Woods was sponsored by Buick in those days. He played the tournament at Warwick Hills regularly. In fact, he won the last time the PGA Tour held a stop in Michigan — 2009. The same year that Woods' private life became public.

It's hard to know whether Woods will ever join the field at Detroit's new tournament. If he does, he'll be stepping back into a state — and region — that enjoys its golf as few other places.

Golf Magazine ranked every state for its "golfiness" two years ago, and Michigan slotted into the sixth spot. Though we've lost some courses over the years because of overbuilding, we're still a destination for the country's most avid players.

That reputation is largely because of the bevy of world-class courses Up North. The fervor at the Buick Open all those years helped, too. All of which makes Detroit an unexpected — if not savvy — choice to bring back the PGA Tour.

"Quicken Loans has been a tremendous PGA Tour partner for several years now, making an impact through the innovative spirit and community-first mindset the organization and its leaders bring to every endeavor,” said PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan in the news release. “We’re thrilled to take this new step in our partnership and bring a PGA Tour event to the great city of Detroit.”

Farner said landing the Tour is more evidence that the city — and region — is becoming a notable entertainment destination. He said he and his organization can't wait to show off the city's redoubtable energy and spirit.

Again, that sounds good. And if the folks who run this tournament can draw like the Buick Open once did, that will help.

Golf, obviously, is not for everyone. Still, it's good to see a neighborhood outside downtown land a high-profile, annual event.

An event that won't change the city's budget or ease the fissures within our communities but will change how some folks think about what's possible in Detroit. That's worth something.

Whether you like golf or not.