Written By: Greg Johnson
DEARBORN – Plenty of one-liners were bandied about, but this foursome of salesmen from across Michigan were not, as the old joke says, disguising a workday as 18 meetings.
Rich Elfring, Horacio Munoz, Brad McKinney and Steve Johnson, employees of Eaton Corp., carefully plan a few of their days off each summer to get together at a GAM Golf Day.
They took part on Monday, April 27, in the first GAM Golf Day of 2026 at TPC Michigan, having ventured from homes in Lansing, Grand Rapids, Midland and Ann Arbor. Eaton Corp. has Michigan offices in Southfield and Grand Rapids.
“We pick the course we want to play, or one we’ve played before and really enjoyed, then we compare schedules and plan it,” Elfring said. “It’s a great way to get together away from work and we get to play some great golf courses. Golf Days are perfect for it.”
GAM Golf Days, directed by Dan Kunert, are a service for all GAM members that offer playing opportunities at top golf courses across the state, including private clubs, for cost-saving rates. Golf Days, all with 84 open slots, offer a casual yet competitive day of golf to all GAM members, men, and women, and provide opportunities no matter how they play the game.
Entry fees, between $70 and $100 per player, include 18 holes of golf, cart, range balls for warmup and prizes at the conclusion of the day. Each player plays with their course handicap. Players must have an active Handicap Index to be eligible in the Net Division. To learn more about Golf Days visit GAM.org.
Seven Golf Days still have some openings this summer, though several like the opening event at TPC Michigan, have sold out. The seven with openings are: July 20, Sunnybrook CC (Grandville), Aug. 10, Shanty Creek Resort – Cedar River GC (Bellaire), Sept. 9: Tullymore Golf Resort – St. Ives (Stanwood), Sept. 24: Crystal Mountain – Mountain Ridge (Thompsonville), Sept. 28: The Moors GC (Portage), Oct. 6: Wabeek GC (Bloomfield Hills), Oct. 13: Oakhurst G&CC (Clarkston).
Players who win the net or gross honors at select golf days during the season qualify to play in the season-ending championship, planned for the third consecutive season at The Cardinal at Saint John’s in Plymouth.
“We’re getting together for this year for four Golf Days, hoping to get us all qualified to play at The Cardinal,” McKinney said of the Eaton Corp., group. “We played TPC today because we played it last year and we really like the course. The other three we picked are courses we haven’t played yet. That’s the best part of this. We get to play some great courses.”
The father-son team of Scott and Nolan Niva like the course options, too.
“We would play in 10 of them if we could, but it’s hard with work schedules and all that,” Nolan said. “We play golf together away from Golf Days, but these are fun because of the great courses we can pick from.”
The motivations to play vary from group-to-group, like the foursome of Jim Spahn, George Chisa, Ray Toma and Jonathan Yates, who have played in Golf Days for eight years because they get to compete together as a group.
“It works for the group,” Spahn said. “We pick the courses, sign up and the GAM does the rest.”
