Detroit — Before the PGA Tour stars take their best shots at Detroit Golf Club, they’re letting it fly from the roof.
The Rocket Classic’s debut of Par 3 in the D is set for Tuesday night, when six PGA Tour stars will team up with local junior golfers in a made-for-TV exhibition that is free and open to the public.
The six golfers will take shots off the fifth-story roof of Bedrock’s Traver | UBS building at 1217 Woodward Ave., hitting across Woodward onto Nick Gilbert Way, where there will be a custom-built green below. The par 3 will play 117 yards, and the drop is 90 feet. The golfers, including Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Cameron Young, Keegan Bradley, Tony Finau and Russell Henley, each will get two practice shots, with their third shot counting for the competition.
After hitting their tee shots, the golfers then will make their way to the 40-foot-by-40-foot green, where their junior-golf partners will putt. Junior golfers include Julia Hernandez (Schauffele), Elijah Robinson (Fowler), Hannah Brizuela (Young), Shaun Horne (Bradley), Liam Yang (Finau) and Brizait Gonzalez Rivera (Henley).
The youth golfers represent First Tee Greater Detroit; Midnight Golf; and College, Career and Beyond — organizations that have benefitted from the more than $10 million raised for charity during the Rocket Classic’s eight-year run.
There will be a public viewing area the par-3 exhibition, located left of the green, behind protective netting, with no tickets required. There will be no public access to the roof top where golfers will be teeing off from.
“It should be a lot of fun,” said Rocket Classic tournament director Mark Hollis, who not-so-secretly is hoping for a broken window (think of the social-media hits!). “It really hits on what Dan (Gilbert) dreamed of when the (Rocket Classic) came here, connecting Detroit Golf Club with downtown Detroit.
“It’s another way we’re bringing golf directly into the city and creating memorable experiences for fans.”
The exhibition will start at 7 and last about a half-hour, and it is scheduled to air live on Golf Channel, as well as locally on WXYZ Channel 7. WXYZ then will air a Rocket Classic special from 7:30-8, from the pro-am pairings party.
The event kicks off Rocket week, followed by the celebrity-filled pro-am at Detroit Golf Club on Wednesday.
The eighth and final Rocket Classic starts Thursday and runs through Sunday.
tpaul@detroitnews.com
@tonypaul1984
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: PGA Tour stars tee off from the roof Tuesday; here’s how you can watch
Reporting by Tony Paul, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Tony Paul, The Detroit News | USA TODAY Network
