PGA Tour in Detroit: Rocket Mortgage Classic 2021

One of the highlights of my summer was attending the Rocket Mortgage Classic, Detroit’s first annual PGA tournament held at Detroit Golf Club. Golf is my #1 favorite thing to do in my free time outside of spending time with family and I highly recommend checking out this tournament. The club does an amazing job setting it up! Unless you’re from the area, you’d never know you were 10 minutes away from downtown and it’s exciting to see events like this popping up right in Detroit.

The Rocket Mortgage Classic was first staged in 2019 and is part of the Open Qualifying Series, giving up to two non-exempt players entry into The Open Championship.

This year, I was invited to a pre-tournament event through Chase Bank and got the pleasure of meeting PGA Tour Player, Bubba Watson. He spoke on a variety of topics ranging from golf to his firsthand experience as a professional golfer. The one thing that stuck with me was how open he was to discuss his struggles with mental health & anxiety. It was genuinely cool to hear a male professional athlete delve into the realities of dealing with the pressures of competitive golf and life. I think we can all connect to this in one way shape or form, and it’s always nice to hear people you’d least expect have an open conversation about such a personal topic.

Harold Varner III (left) and Bubba Watson (right). Photo by: Detroit Free Press

Since the Rocket Mortgage Classic is a weeklong event, I took full advantage of it and invited my dad and brother out to the tournament on Thursday and Saturday. We had a great time! I can’t emphasize enough how fun it was seeing the tour players up close right in Detroit. The Detroit Golf Club did a great job hosting the event and the city looked great all weekend — bustling with people in town for the event!

If you’re ever looking for a golf partner, let’s hit the links! I’m always open to trying out local courses and plan to go out as many more times as my schedule and the weather allows. If you have any recs on where I should play my next 18 then hit me up!