Ferris State Hockey Coach Bob Daniels To Compete In Symetra Tour Pro-Am At Tullymore

Big Rapids, Mich. - Ferris State University men's ice hockey head coach Bob Daniels, who has led the Bulldogs to a pair of league championships and NCAA Tournament appearances in the past four seasons, will make a celebrity appearance in a special golf outing on Wednesday (July 1) as one of professional golf's newest events takes place at the prestigious Tullymore Golf Club in Mecosta County.

Daniels will be among the competitors in the Pro-Am competition at the Tullymore Classic. The event is one of the latest additions to the Symetra Tour, which is the official qualifier for the LPGA. The Pro-Am, which gets underway with a 1 p.m. (ET) shotgun start, provides the opportunity for competitors to play golf with an LPGA Symetra Tour professional in an 18-hole scramble format.

A total of 144 aspiring LPGA Tour players will descend on Tullymore to compete for a $100,000 tournament purse and LPGA Tour membership for the 2016 season this week. The 54-hole, stroke-play format begins on Friday (July 3) and concludes on Sunday (July 5), but will be preceded by practice rounds and Pro-Am competition, including Wednesday's event. All are open to spectators.

More than a one-time event, Tullymore will be hosting the tournament for at least the next three years as some of the top female players contend for a spot on the LPGA Tour.

The Tullymore course is an award-winning James Engh design that is one of two distinct world-class golf courses at Tullymore. Tullymore Golf Club and St. Ives Golf Club, designed by Michigan's own Jerry Matthews, wind amid 800 acres of glacier-carved rolling Michigan woodlands and wetlands in the captivating Canadian Lakes area.

Tullymore has hauled in a page of awards including being named Michigan's No. 1 Golf Resort and one of the Top 50 Golf Resorts in the U.S. in the 2010 Golf World Readers Choice Awards, as well as being named the Silver Medal Winner - Premier Resorts 2010 - The Best Destinations in Golf by Golf Magazine, earning a five-star rating for the Tullymore course by Golf Digest several times since 2007 and being ranked among the top 100 Greatest Courses in America by Golf Digest multiple times.

Visit tullymoreclassic.com for more tournament information on the tournament or visit tullymoregolf.com for resort information.

Daniels was chosen last year as the national runner-up for the American Hockey Coaches Association's (AHCA) prestigious Spencer Penrose Award as the Division I Men's Ice Hockey STX/AHCA Coach of the Year. Daniels, a previous two-time winner of the annual award presented to college hockey's most outstanding coach, led the Bulldogs to the WCHA Regular-Season Championship in the school's debut season in the league in 2013-14 and guided FSU to an NCAA Elite Eight finish. 

Over the past four seasons, the Bulldogs have captured two conference championships, made two NCAA Tournament appearances and appeared in the NCAA Frozen Four national title game. FSU also advanced to the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Final Five Championships for the second-straight year this past season.

The longest serving coach in FSU history, Daniels has won 397 games at Ferris State and coached 10 All-Americans, including 2003 Hobey Baker Hat Trick Award Finalist Chris Kunitz, the first ever CCHA Player of the Year to come from Ferris State. Daniels has also been very active with USA Hockey and the American Hockey Coaches Association.

Off the ice, the Bulldogs have also succeeded in Daniels' tenure. FSU has been one of the nation's most successful programs in the classroom, placing among the top ten teams in the country and leading its respective conference each of the last three years in the NCAA Academic Progress Report Listing. In addition, the Bulldogs are often active in the community throughout the year, taking part in a wide variety of community service initiatives.