Champions Tour kicks off this week in Hawaii

You might not care a lick about The Champions Tour in 2012, but I do.

The Champions Tour kicks off this week, beginning on the Big Island of Hawaii at the Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Hualalai (Jan. 16-22), with the first full-field event coming three weeks later at the Allianz Championship (Feb. 6-12) in Boca Raton, Fla.

I’ll be watching the season opener. Will you? The tournament will be broadcast live on The Golf Channel from 3-6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 4-7 p.m. on the weekend.

I have a vested interest in the old guys this year. For the first time in history, the U.S. Senior Open and the Senior PGA Championship will be held in the same state: Michigan, right in my backyard.

The tournaments will be a big boost to a downtrodden golf state. We haven’t had a strong pro event here since the 2009 Buick Open said goodbye after more than 50 years. The last major was the 2008 PGA Championship at Oakland Hills Country Club. I walked inside the ropes that final day to watch Sergio Garcia beat Padraig Harrington with every club but the putter. Harrington amazingly won his third major and hasn’t been heard from since.

I’m not sure if I’ll make the Senior PGA Championship in May – it’s about three hours from my house – but I hope to catch a handful of rounds of the U.S. Senior Open at Indianwood Golf & Country Club in Lake Orion in July. If either of these tournaments can land Fred Couples and Greg Norman, there will be an added buzz of excitement.
It should be a fun run up to the Michigan majors. Below is the list of the five Champions Tour majors:

• The Golf Club at Harbor Shores (Mich.) Senior PGA Championship May 21-27
• Shoal Creek (Ala.) Regions Tradition June 4-10
• Indianwood Golf & Country Club (Mich.) U.S. Senior Open July 9-15
• Turnberry (Ailsa Course), Scotland Senior British Open July 23-29
• Fox Chapel Golf Club (Pa.) Constellation Senior Players Championship June 25-July 1