The Matthews family of Michigan and their impressive impact on golf in their home state of Michigan was profiled by the Lansing State Journal. The newspaper credits the family with work on more than 30% of the state’s 800 golf courses.
The architecture of ASGCA Past President (and Fellow) Jerry Matthews is discussed, as are W. Bruce Matthews III, ASGCA as well as deceased ASGCA member W. Bruce Matthews.
“As much as the auto industry means to Michigan’s economy and worldwide identity, it can be argued the Matthews family has had a comparable impact on Michigan’s golf industry and the national admiration of our state as a golf mecca.
“W. Bruce Matthews, Sr. started it all in 1925 — and to this day his son, Jerry Matthews, 79, and grandson W. Bruce Matthews III, age 60, are still designing, remodeling and enhancing the green grasses, blue waters and white sands that adorn the hundreds of Michigan courses that tens of thousands of golfers enjoy each season.
“’No other family has had a wider-reaching impact on the game of golf in our state,’ said Kate Moore, executive director of the Michigan Golf Course Owners Association. ‘With course design and renovation, as well as maintenance and development, the Matthews family has touched every corner of Michigan for decades on end.’”
“’I like Michigan, and I was really lucky to come along with my dad at that point in history,’ Jerry said. ‘The second golf boom was starting in the early 1960s and there was so much work, and I was learning so much. I stuck with it and kept doing it. And I learned I’d rather be here than spending so much time in airports or on planes.’”
“’I’m very fortunate,’ Bruce III said. ‘It’s a great life. It was fun growing up on the golf course; all my cousins, brothers and sisters, everybody got to work on the golf course as a kid. And it’s fortunate my whole family has been involved in some way or another. I’m really proud the family’s been doing this since 1925. That’s a long time. I don’t know if any other family could say the same.’”