July 15, 2025

Michigan Golf Hall of Fame to induct Michael Harris, John Lindert, Roger Ostrander at October ceremony at Ferris State

Home of the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, Ferris State University will be the stage for the hall’s Class of 2025 induction ceremony at Katke Golf Course’s Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center.

This year’s slate of inductees includes Michael Harris, a championship winner at the junior, collegiate and professional golf levels; John Lindert, a PGA golf professional whose dedicated service to the game includes being elected president of the PGA of America; and the late Roger Ostrander, a respected rules official from local to international levels.

The trio’s induction, planned for Sunday, Oct. 26, brings the number of honorees to 143.

The golf hall also voted to present its seventh Special Award in history to Loretta Larkin, of Dexter, who served as the administrator for the organization for 29 years.

“This tremendous threesome reflects the best of Michigan golf in playing ability, national leadership and dedication to the rules, and Loretta Larkin performs the tasks that make the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame a perfect place to remember all who have been elected,” Greg Johnson, MGHOF committee chairman.  

Harris, 47, formerly of Troy and currently residing in Brookfield, Wisconsin, started winning championships at the junior golf level, twice topping the stroke play field in the Michigan Junior Amateur Championship.  

As an amateur he won the GAM Championship, the Horton Smith Invitational Championship, and was the runner-up to Flint’s John Lindholm in the Michigan Amateur Championship in 1997. He won the Northeast Amateur, played in the U.S. Amateur in 1996 and was a standout collegiate golfer at the University of Michigan, winning six tournaments and winning medalist honors at the Big Ten Conference Championships in 1999 while twice being named to the All-Big Ten Conference Team.  

As a professional, Harris was the Canadian Tour Order of Merit Winner in 2005, won the 2005 Michigan Open, and five times returned home from tour golf to win the Michigan PGA Tournament of Champions at Boyne Mountain. He also played in the U.S. Open twice, in 2000 and 2006, before injuries ended his competitive golf career.

Lindert, 68, a Grand Ledge resident, moved to Michigan in 1993 to become the head golf professional at Spring Lake Country Club, where he served until becoming the head professional at Country Club of Lansing in 2002.  
He has seemingly filled every leadership role possible for the Michigan PGA, including serving as a chapter and section president, and has worked actively with the First Tee of Mid-Michigan.

Since 2006, Lindert has served in various roles with the PGA of America. He was elected president of the PGA in 2022, becoming just the third Michigan PGA member to ever serve in that position, joining Horton Smith and Warren Orlick.  

He also became the first PGA of America member in history to serve as a Board of Control appointee, district director and president. He has won multiple service awards, including Michigan Golf Professional of the Year and the Michigan PGA Player Development Award. He is a member of the Michigan PGA Hall of Fame.

Ostrander, known nationally in golf as Dr. O, died of cancer in 2015 at age 74, and had a career as an oral surgeon in Grand Rapids, and then a second career as a rules official, most often volunteering his time.

He softened the hardline of the rules of golf with an approachable, outgoing personality and served as a rules official for more than two decades.  

As a Golf Association of Michigan Governor and Chairman of the Championship Committee Ostrander worked at multiple Michigan Amateur Championships as well as championships for all age groups and genders, worked for the Michigan PGA Section at their top championships, including the Michigan Open, and went on to serve the USGA officiating at six U.S. Opens, nine U.S. Senior Opens and 14 U.S. Amateurs while also being on the USGA Mid-Amateur Championship Committee for 18 years.  

Ostrander enjoyed helping young golfers, especially aspiring PGA professionals, when he conducted PGA Playing Ability Tests for the Professional Golf Management students at Ferris State University.

Larkin, 62, has served as the administrator of the MGHOF since 1996. She manages and maintains financial records, the non-profit status of the hall of fame, the nominating and voting procedures, organization and management of the induction ceremonies, creation of the annual program publication, coordinating and cataloging of the memorabilia collection, and all communication to current members and committee members.  
She currently also works as the director of organizational and human resources for the Golf Association of Michigan.

“Loretta does all of this with not only exceptional expertise but also with kindness, humor, calmness, integrity and love for the hall of fame and what it means to golf in Michigan,” Sara Wold, MGHOF member, said in helping make the nomination for the award.

The MGHOF is a heralded collection of portraits, plaques, and memorabilia that currently commemorates 143 members, including Walter Hagen, Chuck Kocsis, and Dave Hill, and more current notables Dan Pohl, Meg Mallon, and Kelly Robbins.  

The collection is housed and displayed in the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center at Ferris State University’s Katke facility.

The MGHOF is administered by the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame Committee, which has been funded since 1996 through the non-profit Michigan Golf Foundation and includes 16 people representing a cross-section of the state’s golf associations as well as golf media.  

The MGHOF committee conducts an annual election to recognize the achievements of competitive Michigan golfers, but also the accomplishments of individuals who have contributed to the game.