GRAND BLANC, MI — There are few places in Michigan where the past and present of professional golf intersect quite like Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club.

That was especially apparent Thursday as competitors prepared for this weekend’s Ally Challenge presented by McLaren.

Along the driving range, World Golf Hall of Famer Bernhard Langer, three-time major champion Padraig Harrington, two-time major champion Zach Johnson and other PGA TOUR Champions competitors worked through their practice sessions. Nearby, another World Golf Hall of Famer and three-time major champion, Vijay Singh, could be seen working around the putting and chipping area.

While watching the players prepare, I had an opportunity to strike up a conversation with Ron Hartman, a former director involved with operations of the Buick Open, the tournament that helped establish Warwick Hills as one of Michigan’s most recognizable professional golf destinations.

The setting couldn’t have been much better for the conversation.

Here we were watching Langer, Harrington, Johnson and other accomplished players preparing for The Ally Challenge, with Singh nearby, while talking about an earlier era when the Buick Open brought PGA TOUR stars to these same grounds.

From the Buick Open to The Ally Challenge

For decades, the Buick Open made Grand Blanc an annual destination on the PGA TOUR calendar. Although that tournament is gone, Warwick Hills’ connection to professional golf continues through The Ally Challenge.

Tournament competition begins Friday, August 28, and continues through Sunday, August 30.

Two-time defending Ally Challenge champion Stewart Cink returns seeking a third consecutive victory at Warwick Hills. The field also includes Harrington, Langer, Singh, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Henrik Stenson, Steve Stricker, John Daly and Johnson among a collection of familiar names from professional golf.

Thursday’s activity around the practice areas offered spectators an opportunity to see some of those players in a much different environment than they’ll experience once competition begins Friday.

Players worked through their bags, talked with caddies and coaches, chipped, putted and prepared for three days of tournament golf.

For me, having the opportunity to watch that preparation while simultaneously hearing Hartman’s recollections about the Buick Open added another dimension to being back at Warwick Hills.

It was a reminder that this isn’t simply the site of this weekend’s tournament.

There’s a lot of Michigan golf history here.

More Than Championship Golf

While championship golf remains the centerpiece, The Ally Challenge has grown into a weekend of entertainment offering considerably more than what happens between the ropes.

Following Friday’s opening round, The Wildflowers, a Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers tribute band, will perform during The Concert @17 at Warwick Hills’ famous 17th hole.

Saturday brings the second round of competition along with one of the tournament’s signature attractions — the Million Dollar Shot at No. 17.

Selected participants will have an opportunity to attempt a hole-in-one for a $1 million prize.

When Saturday’s golf concludes, attention shifts to the Warwick Hills driving range.

Nashville Yacht Club Band is scheduled to open the Ally Community Concert before four-time Grammy Award winner Keith Urban takes the stage.

The evening is scheduled to conclude with a drone show over Warwick Hills.

That means the same practice area where some of the world’s most accomplished golfers were preparing Thursday will become one of the centerpieces of Saturday night’s entertainment.

Something for the Entire Family

The Ally Challenge has also developed into an event where someone doesn’t necessarily have to be a dedicated golf fan to enjoy a day at Warwick Hills.

Throughout the weekend, spectators will find interactive activities and fan destinations around the course, providing plenty to do between following their favorite players.

Youth 17 and younger receive complimentary grounds admission when accompanied by a ticketed adult, providing families an opportunity to introduce another generation to professional golf.

Combine those activities with Friday and Saturday’s entertainment, and The Ally Challenge becomes as much a community event as a professional golf tournament.

Sunday returns the focus to championship competition as the players make their final trip around Warwick Hills and the 2026 Ally Challenge champion is crowned.

Warwick Hills’ Story Continues

One of the things that stood out Thursday was how naturally different generations of Warwick Hills golf came together.

There was Hartman, sharing stories and perspective from the Buick Open era.

A short distance away were Langer, Harrington, Johnson, Singh and other PGA TOUR Champions competitors preparing for another professional tournament.

And surrounding all of us was Warwick Hills.

The tournament name has changed. The tour is different. Generations of players and spectators have come and gone.

But professional golf is still being played in Grand Blanc, and people like Hartman helped build the foundation that made this area a destination for the sport.

Before we went our separate ways, I thanked Hartman for his years of dedication and commitment to golf and for the role he played in helping make professional golf such an important part of the Grand Blanc, Flint and greater Genesee County community.

Our conversation eventually moved from golf to another sport — football.

Hartman shared that his grandson, Andy Hartman (#77), plays offensive line at Grand Valley State University. The Grand Blanc native is a senior on the Lakers’ 2026 roster after beginning his college career at Michigan State.

So while Thursday gave us an opportunity to talk golf while watching some of the game’s greats prepare at Warwick Hills, perhaps our next conversation will take place alongside a football field.

I told Hartman I look forward to hopefully running into him again this fall at a Grand Valley State football game — this time with his grandson on the field and football, rather than golf, providing the backdrop.

It was a chance conversation at a driving range, but also a reminder of how sports connect generations, communities and people.

This weekend, thousands of fans will once again walk Warwick Hills, gather around the famous 17th hole and watch some of golf’s most accomplished players compete on a course that has been part of Michigan’s sports landscape for generations.

The Buick Open may belong to another chapter in the history books, but professional golf at Warwick Hills certainly does not.

The Ally Challenge presented by McLaren runs Friday, August 28 through Sunday, August 30 at Warwick Hills Golf & Country Club in Grand Blanc.