Barley Wins Michigan Publinx Medal Play Championship

Tecumseh’s Jerred Barley Wins Michigan Publinx Medal Play Championship at Pheasant Run GC

  CANTON – Jerred Barley, a 36-year-old former professional golfer from Tecumseh, pulled away from the field to win the Michigan Publinx Golf Association Medal Play Championship at Pheasant Run Golf Club Sunday.

  A pair of 3-under nine-hole trips around the West and South nines keyed the 27-hole final day and helped him secure an 8-under 208 total for the 54-hole championship.

  Ronnie Aniel III of Shelby Township, a 21-year-old Michigan State student who hopes to be a walk-on next year for the Spartans’ golf team, was second at 5-under 211, and former Wayne State University golfer Nicholas Winiarski of Pontiac was third at 212.

  Anthony Sorentino of Shelby Township, Bavake Sihota, a University of Michigan golfer from Canada, and defending champion John Quigley of Sterling Heights tied at 213.

   Barley, who tried professional tour golf in recent years, said he realized he had a big lead after the 18th hole of the day.

  “After John (Quigley) had a bad hole there, and the other guys were making mistakes, I just started to cruise,” he said. “I hit it in the junk some on the last nine and made some bogeys coming in, but by that time it didn’t matter.”

   A Senior Michigan Publinx Medal Play champion was also crowned as Razmig Boghikian of Novi shot 1-over 217 to top Leo Daigle of Wixom by one shot. It was Boghikian’s second major senior Publinx title. He also has won the MPGA Match Play.

  Tom Magyar of Pontiac, Marc Villemure of Flat Rock and Andrew Johnson tied at 220, three shots back.

   “As many years as you play and think you know a lot of things, there are still things you can learn, so that was the biggest thing for me this week,” Boghikian said. “I had a new swing thought, a fix for me in my head and I went with it and trusted it. I proved to myself I’m not too old to learn new things.”

   As for the overall champion, Barley took home a trophy for the first time in three years. He won a mini-tour event in Florida before deciding to return to amateur golf. He was reinstated as an amateur last July.

  “It feels nice to win,” he said. “I’m a better player now. I’m smarter and have better course management.”

  He said the key stretch Sunday came on the second nine.

  “I made a couple of bogeys in there but came back with a couple of birdies and an eagle,” he said. “I kind of relaxed and probably shouldn’t have, but when I made mistakes the other guys around me made some, too, and it all worked out.”

  Boghikian said he tried not to get too concerned about what others were doing around him.

  “I think I’ve realized that you just keep playing and try not to think about what is going to happen,” he said. “I just wanted to hit good shots. There was pressure, that’s part of it, but I just kept to my game plan and it worked out.”

SCORES: MPGA Medal Play Championship (formerly the Lee Gohs) Event :: Tournament Results (golfgenius.com)