Written By: Greg Johnson
Michigan golf, and especially the Golf Association of Michigan, lost Bill Lindhout in late July. He was 101, and a celebration of his life is planned for Sept. 10.
“Bill Lindhout used to tell people about being the second low medalist at the 1942 Grand Rapids City Regionals, playing for Ottawa Hills High School while working part-time at Indian Trails Golf Course,” GAM Executive Director Chris Whitten said in sharing the sad news of his passing. “He was 17. He told that story for the next 84 years and never stopped being a kid who loved the game.”
William P. “Bill” Lindhout had so many stories to tell, and not just from being a 20-year member of the GAM’s Board of Governors and a GAM Course Rater for even longer.
An award-winning architect who designed churches, schools, office buildings, country club facilities and private residences, and was still working in his late 90s, also served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
As Radioman Second Class/Radar Operator/Rear Gunner/3rd man in an Avenger Torpedo Bomber, he served in the Pacific theater from the aircraft carrier USS Bennington. He was part of Task Force 58’s Torpedo Squadron 82, which flew 33 successful missions over Tokyo, Iwo Jima, Chichi Jima, Okinawa, and several other sea targets. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Navy Air Medal with five Gold Stars, and also received numerous other citations for his service.
At home, as an architect, he was drawn to golf course rating, and especially the study of how golf course architects created courses. He was part of the GAM Course Rating Committee for several years, and part of the team when Michigan was one of the first states to adopt the Slope System. He wrote and had a book published in 2008 about course rating (Golf, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Response to a Book).
He had a lot to talk about but loved to talk mostly about golf and his wife Bebe, who shared his passion for life, serving others and playing golf. She passed away in 2015 and left her mark in golf service, too. She was a board member of the Michigan Women’s Golf Association and spent years volunteering at tournaments as a director, official and more.
They also loved to travel, golfed all over the worked, toured Europe, skied the Swiss Alps and the Rocky Mountains. Bill even found time to be president of multiple groups, like the Livonia Chamber of Commerce, Livonia Rotary Club and Meadowbrook Country Club. He was even a Chairman of the Livonia Zoning Board of Appeals, and served in similar community roles in Howell, too. Their golf memberships included Meadowbrook, Chemung Hills Country Club and Oak Pointe Country Club.
Lindhout Associates Architects still thrives in Brighton and uses his motto – “Integrity” as their Mission Statement.
Bill and Bebe’s family, including sons David and Piet (Jane) and granddaughter Dana, have plans to continue their golf legacy. An announcement regarding financial support of junior Michigan golfers will be made later this year by the GAM.
“He told us he never stopped thinking about being a kid at Indian Trails, and he wanted other kids to have what he had,” Whitten said.
