Local Knowledge: Warwick Hills and the 2009 Buick Open

This week is the start of a busy three-week stretch on the PGA Tour -- especially for Tiger Woods. Tiger tees it up on Thursday in the Buick Open at Warwick Hills in Flint, Mich., which will be the first of three consecutive starts for the world's No. 1 player, and will end at Hazeltine in the PGA Championship. Warwick Hills PGA Professional Doug Brody tells us about the excitement in Flint.

PGA.com: Tiger Woods announced late last week that he would tee it up in the Buick Open. The move was surprising, seeing as it likely means the world's No. 1 player will play in three consecutive weeks now. What's the buzz been like since Tiger committed to play?

Brody: We were very excited. There was a lot of speculation about him coming this year. We definitely missed him the last two years. He wasn't able to defend in 2007 because of the birth of his son and then he didn't make it in 2008 because of his knee surgery following the U.S. Open. We were expecting him both years. It was understandable, yet disappointing that he wasn't able to make it.

Tiger Woods could be considered the defending champ this week. (Franklin/Getty Images)

Then, he was nice enough to announce last Thursday and it spread like wildfire at the course, around Flint and throughout the state of Michigan. It's been the hot topic. We've got him set for the pro-am with rock legend and Michigan native Bob Segar, which adds to the excitement. Those two were slated to play together last year. It's going to kick off this tournament to make it something special.

We've had to adjust merchandise orders a little too since Tiger's coming. He's actually the defending champion. It was his 50th win on Tour in 2006 when he won, but then he wasn't able to defend. Kenny Perry won last year and unfortunately he can't be here this year because of an illness in his family. Because of all that, we're calling Tiger our defending champion. At least I am.

PGA.com: The Buick Open has quite a distinguished list of champions. Shoot, just in recent years, the likes of Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh and Kenny Perry have all won multiple times. Jim Furyk has won once, but he's always in the mix. Do you think the name of the past champions elevates the event status on Tour?

Brody: I think without a doubt it elevates the status of the event. You walk down our hall of champions in the club. All the guys from the Tour want to add their name to that list. There's so much history here. Buick was one of the first major corporate sponsors of the Tour. You've got Ben Crenshaw, Freddie Couples, Billy Casper won the first Buick Open in 1958. Then there's Furyk, Singh and Tony Lema, who won back-to-back in the mid-60s before he tragically died in an airplane accident. This was one of his last wins. He was on his way to being a golf icon. Unfortunately his career was cut short. We've taken a lot of pride in Tony Lema and make it a point not to forget him.

PGA.com: Having attended the Buick Open several times in the past, I always enjoyed taking in the action on the par-3 17th. To put it kindly, the crowds are rather enthusiastic. It's just a great atmosphere. Can you talk about that hole a little bit?

Brody: It's a lot of tradition there. When you go out year to year you see a lot of the same faces. There's a lot of energy. It's at the tail end of the round. A lot of exciting things happen there. The fans like to get involved. They're there to have a good time -- they're usually in a good mood at that hole -- and cheer on the best players in the world. We've tried as a club with merchandising to highlight that hole. We like to play off the fun we've had there. This year we have a t-shirt: "The hole No. 17 Grounds Crew, Home of the Best Fans on the PGA Tour."

Again, it's just a lot of energy. We're proud of that hole.

PGA.com: What's your favorite part of the job? A lot of people probably think that the PGA Head Professional gets to play a lot of golf. That's a pretty big misconception, isn't it?

Brody: From a playing standpoint, I've probably played twice in the last 60 days. It turns into two jobs in one with a Tour event. There are a lot of Buick Open responsibilities along with the membership responsibilities, which is my No. 1 priority.

My favorite part of the job is taking on so many responsibilities. My main responsibilities for the Buick Open are tied to the merchandising of the event. I take a lot of pride in that. Tournament week is very satisfying. I also oversee with my staff the practice facility and the bag room. We also supply all the caddies and the standard bearers during the event.

There's so much to do, but I have such a strong staff. It's a week where everyone is excited and proud to be able to have the PGA Tour at home for a week. It's my favorite week of the year.

PGA.com: How does your job change during the week of the Buick Open? Are you able to take in any of the action, or are you too busy with a lot of work behind the scenes?

Brody: The only other thing that makes Buick Open week a little out of the ordinary for me is that there's a lot more in the way of media responsibility. As one of the ambassadors of the club, there's a lot of TV, radio and print stuff that needs to be done to promote the event. That's something we don't do a whole lot of the rest of the year, but we take on a lot more requests and I think it's a neat thing.