112TH Michigan Am: Krueger Defends at Oakland Hills

112TH MICHIGAN AMATEUR: Nick Krueger Defends at Historic Oakland Hills 

  BLOOMFIELD HILLS – Nick Krueger of Spring Lake has his golf game trending in a positive direction once again as the start of the 112th Michigan Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland approaches. 

  “It means a lot to defend the title and it would mean a lot to keep the trophy for one more year,” said the Grand Valley State University golfer whose team won an NCAA Regional and made it to the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III National Championship this spring. 

  “Winning it last year definitely gives me great confidence for this year. Prior to last year I had only ever won just one match in getting to match play, but knowing now what it takes to make a deep run into the finals I feel great about my chances to do it again.” 

  The storied championship takes place June 20-24 with 156 golfers competing in stroke play Tuesday and Wednesday to determine the match-play field of 64. Two rounds of matches on Thursday, Friday and Saturday will determine the champion.  

  The North Course, the de facto other course at Oakland Hills in deference to the famous South Course that has hosted multiple major championships and the Ryder Cup Matches, is hosting the Michigan Amateur for a fourth time (1992, 2012, 2019). 

   Krueger said he is excited to play the North Course at Oakland Hills again. He was in the field and made match play in 2019 when Ben Smith of Novi emerged as champion. 

  “I really enjoy the course,” he said. “It is an awesome design and a good field separator. If you are playing well, you score well. You can’t fake a good score on a course like that, especially with the way it is set up for the championship. Plus, it has a lot of history, so it’s always cool to go to Oakland Hills and compete on high-end country club courses.” 

  Ken Hartmann, senior director of competitions for the Golf Association of Michigan, feels the North course is one of the top golf courses in the state and Midwest and said previous Amateur championships on the course highlighted the challenge built into the design. 

  “The North is a strong golf course with a great set of greens,” he said. “It is not a long course at 6,900 yards, but it can hold its own easily with wonderful greens, some great par 4s and it is always in pristine shape, always tournament ready.” 

  Hartmann said Krueger’s consistent game and competitiveness gives him a chance to be the first repeat winner since Glenn Johnson of Grosse Ile won three consecutive championships in 1954, ’55 and ’56. 

   “Nick doesn’t overpower a golf course, but still hits it out there with accuracy and he doesn’t make many mistakes,” Hartmann said. “He was one of those guys to watch last year and he is that again, especially because he broke through and won it last year. I think he’ll play with great confidence and he plays his game, plays to his own strengths. That is the kind of player that has success on the North Course.” 

  Krueger said his strategy will be the same. 

  “It’s all about trying to play the best you can in stroke play and win that, but if you don’t, it’s get in match play where seeding doesn’t matter in the end,” he said. “Then you take match play one match at a time.” 

   Krueger, 22, was part of a Grand Valley State team that also included Charles DeLong of DeWitt, the 2023 Division II Jack Nicklaus Award winner as the national player of the year in Division II, Drew Coble of Lake Orion and Bryce Wheeler of Richland, who are all part of the starting field in the Amateur as well. 

  “Hopefully we all play well, get a little competitive and we all make a run,” he said. “That adds some fun to the match play.” 

   Krueger and the seven other quarterfinalists from a year ago at Hawk Hollow Golf Club in Bath have returned to the starting field. That group includes Patrick Deardorff of Clarkston and Eastern Michigan University, the runner-up last year after falling to Krueger in 19 holes in the title match.  

  The others; last year’s semifinalists GAM Champion August Meekhof of Eastmanville and Michigan State University and David Szymanski of East Lansing, and Matt Zerbel of St. Joseph, Collin Sikkenga of Kalamazoo and Oakland University, Justin Sui of Lake Orion and Tyler Eedy of West Branch and the University of Nebraska-Omaha. 

  Krueger is joined by two other former champions in the starting field; 2008 champion Jimmy Chestnut and 2006 champion Greg Davies. 

  Oakland Hills Country Club’s commitment to hosting championship golf has not wavered despite the fire of February 2022 that claimed the historic clubhouse. 

  “We are going full speed ahead,” said Lee Juett, a longtime Oakland Hills member, GAM president-emeritus and GAM rules official who is the tournament chairman. “We are committed to hosting and making it a great experience and championship for the competitors.” 

  By the end of the 2022 golf season Oakland Hills was operating most of its amenities, including some food service, out of temporary, high-end, corporate tents and other facilities not damaged by the fire, and that will be the case for the championship. Juett said the club is heavily involved with membership in planning the new clubhouse and that construction will start later this year. 

  “We have two very nice temporary structures on the South side and another on the North side so we don’t see any issues with providing all the things we have in the past when we have hosted championships,” Juett said. “We won’t have the first-class clubhouse, but the club and grounds staff and club members will provide a first-class effort.” 

INFORMATION, TEE TIMES, RESULTS: Visit GAM.org