Buick Open

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Buick Open
Tournament information
Location Grand Blanc, Michigan
Established 1958
Course(s) Warwick Hills G&CC
Par 72
Yardage 7,127
Tour(s) PGA Tour
Format Stroke play
Purse $4,900,000
Month Played June
Tournament record scores
Aggregate 262 Robert Wrenn (1987)
To-par -26 Robert Wrenn (1987)
Current champion
Brian Bateman

The Buick Open is a PGA Tour golf tournament which is held at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan. In 2007, the tournament will be held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship. In the past, many prominent players used it as a "tune-up" for the PGA, and it remains to be seen if they will now use it in the same way to prepare for the British Open. The Buick Open is the third of three Buick-sponsored events on the PGA Tour.

For the event's first decade, it was played at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc. After 1969, professional golf events in the area fell off the PGA Tour schedule and a series of pro-ams and other similarly unofficial events took place, mostly at Flint Elks Country Club in Grand Blanc. The Buick Open made its return to the PGA Tour in 1977 at Flint Elks CC, and in 1978 the event returned to Warwick Hills G&CC, where it has remained to the present.

The 17th hole at Warwick, a par 3, is known for having one of the rowdiest galleries in professional golf. Fans often create chants directed at particular golfers, making it a fun place to watch the tournament. The famed 17th hole is also known by locals as the second largest outdoor cocktail party in the world. Players of the tournament love the hole because of the atmosphere it creates. "This is a great tournament to play in, it's a beer drinkers tournament" says John Daly.

[edit] Winners

Buick-Goodwrench Open

Buick Open

Flint Elks Open

  • 1976 Ed Sabo (not PGA Tour event)
  • 1975 Spike Kelley (not PGA Tour event)
  • 1974 Bryan Abbott (not PGA Tour event)

Lake Michigan Classic

  • 1973 Wilf Homenuik (not PGA Tour event)

Vern Parsell Buick Open

  • 1972 Gary Groh (not PGA Tour event)
  • 1970–1971 No tournament

Buick Open Invitational

[edit] External links