Boczar Wins 2023 GAM Women’s Championship

Boczar Wins 2023 GAM Women’s Championship Presented by Carl’s Golfland

Bridget Boczar of Canton won the 2023 GAM Women’s Championship on the second hole of a sudden death playoff at Washtenaw Golf Club on Tuesday.

Kate Brody of Grand Blanc finished second. Anci Dy, from Traverse City, finished third.

Boczar’s win was made possible by a terrific up-and-down for par from the eighteenth’s left greenside bunker.

Brody three-putted that hole to take second. Dye fell out of the playoff on the first hole with a bogey to Boczar and Brody’s pars.

As a Washtenaw Golf Club regular, Boczar said the bunker shot was “not too difficult” because she had “been there before.”

Boczar was in the lead for much of the day on the strength of birdies on Washtenaw’s par five third and par four fifth. However, she stumbled on the seventeenth, when her second shot flew the green. That left a difficult chip from the back side. Boczar left that short and had to chip again.

“That was my big fumble of the day, “Boczar said. “I thought I was out of it at that point. I didn’t expect (Dy) to three-putt. Then by the time we finished 17, I realized we were tied. I was still in it.” 

However, the stumble opened the opportunity for Brody and Dy to join her in the playoff.

The playoff trio finished regulation at 146 — two over par, three shots better than Nateda Her of Lansing and Emilie Alba Paltrinieri, a University of Michigan golfer.

The Women’s Championship is Boczar’s first GAM title. The Oakland University golfer was runner up in last years’ tournament.

  “I’m very pleased; it means a lot,” Boczar said. “I never really won anything this big before so I think it goes to show that what I’m doing is working and how I’m practicing is really helping me in my game. I’m excited. I’m really pleased.” 

She noted, however, that she does not concentrate on winning:

  “I just focus on shooting good scores and look at specific aspects of my game, like greens in regulation, how my putting is. I focus on the smaller details instead of overall winning because there’s so much that goes into winning that people don’t see.” 

Second place finisher Brody is headed to the University of Wisconsin on a golf scholarship this fall. She is headed to the US Women’s Amateur later this season.

 Dy who plays for the University of Indianapolis, was last summer’s Michigan Women’s Amateur Champion. She also will play in the U.S. Women’s Amateur.

RESULTS: Visit GAM.org