The Buick Open was a PGA Tour golf tournament from 1958 to 2009. In 2007, the tournament was held at the end of June, a change from its traditional spot between The Open Championship and the PGA Championship . Regardless, many prominent players used it as a "tune-up" for the subsequent major.
8-676: For the event's first decade, the Buick Open Invitational was played at Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club in Grand Blanc, Michigan . 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 Golf Club in Flint, Michigan . Flint native, and PGA touring professional Larry Mancour had returned to Michigan to play in
16-571: A PGA Tour Champions event, The Ally Challenge . Jim Furyk (2003, 2020) and Vijay Singh (2004, 2005, 2023) have won both events. In its final years, the tournament was dominated by long hitters. Tiger Woods , Vijay Singh , Brian Bateman , and Kenny Perry combined for eight wins in its final nine years. Several other players ranked highly in driving distance finished second during that span, including Woods, Jason Gore , Geoff Ogilvy , Bubba Watson , and John Daly. Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club
24-407: A caddie program. The Warwick Hills golf course plays to a par of 72 with a length of 7112 from the championship tees. Tiger Woods and Billy Mayfair jointly hold the course record of 61. That tournament ended after 2009 because of the government seizure of General Motors leading to cessation of golf sponsorship, thus ending the PGA Tour's association with Warwick Hills. The Ally Challenge
32-708: Is a private country club located at 9057 South Saginaw Road in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan , a suburb of Flint, Michigan , United States . From 1958 to 2009, Warwick Hills was home to the PGA Tour 's Buick Open tournament. Since 2018, it has been host to the Ally Challenge event on the PGA Tour Champions . The course was opened in June 1957. The country club also participates in
40-691: The 1970s, a series of pro-ams and other unofficial events now take place in Grand Blanc, with the AJGA 's Randy Wise Open taking place at Warwick Hills and most pro-ams and a golf festival at the Jewel of Grand Blanc (the former Grand Blanc Golf Club). In 2014, an unrelated tournament with the same name was started in China. The event is played on PGA Tour China . In 2018, the former General Motors financing arm, now Ally Bank , returned to Warwick Hills to sponsor
48-715: The Buick Open and stayed to build the Grand Blanc Golf Club. He then added nine holes at the Flint Elks Golf Club where he remained the professional for 20 years. He rescued the Buick Open when General Motors dropped sponsorship of the tournament. With local Buick dealers Mancour started the Little Buick Open in 1969. It drew players and fans and led to the rebirth of the Buick Open in 1977. The Buick Open officially made its return to
56-686: The PGA Tour in 1977 at the Flint Elks Club, and in 1978 the event returned to Warwick Hills G&CC, where it remained until its demise. The Associated Press reported July 28, 2009, that General Motors would end its sponsorship of the Buick Open after the 2009 tournament, in order to devote its marketing resources to cars and trucks. The PGA Tour replaced the tournament with the Greenbrier Classic at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia . As in
64-463: Was first played at the course in 2018 . In 2009, a Michigan Historical Marker about the Buick Open was erected at the course. 42°53′59″N 83°35′44″W / 42.8997354°N 83.5954857°W / 42.8997354; -83.5954857 This golf club or course-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article about a sports venue in Michigan
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