Bowser Is 2024 GAM Women’s Player Of The Year

GAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Elayna Bowser of Dearborn Tops 2024 Women’s Points List

    FARMINGTON HILLS – Elayna Bowser (above, with the GAM Womens’ Mid-Amateur Trophy) tried professional golf after her stellar amateur career, which included winning the 2019 Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship and being a standout golfer for Loyola University Chicago.

  “I gave it a good go for four years,” she said. “I can sit here and say I gave it my all and it led me to why I decided to switch back to amateur golf. I didn’t want to continue the route I was going and end up hating the game.”

  She returned to the amateur ranks in 2024 and quickly made an impact by winning the GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur championship, and later in the summer reaching the round of 32 in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur.

  Those accomplishments combined with what she called one of her most consistent years of golf competition put her at the top of the Golf Association of Michigan Points List, and she has been named the 2024 GAM Women’s Player of the Year, Ken Hartmann, senior director of competitions and USGA services, announced today.

  Player of the Year point totals can be found on a pull down from the PLAY tab at GAM.org Carl’s Golfland is the presenting sponsor of the points lists.

 Earlier this week, McCoy Biagioli of White Lake was named the GAM Men’s Player of the Year, and over the next few weeks the GAM will announce more Players of the Year in gender and age categories.

  Bowser, 27 and a real-estate agent, earned 652.5 points to top the points list. Bridget Boczar of Canton, a Baylor University golfer and the winner of the GAM Women’s Championship for a second consecutive year, had 550 points.

  Shannon Kennedy of Beverly Hills, a Michigan State University golfer and this year’s Michigan Women’s Amateur Champion, was third with 490 points. Kimberly Dinh of Midland, the 2023 Women’s Player of the Year, who had 445 points, and Laura Bavaird of Trenton, who had 355 points, rounded out the top five.

  Bowser said she previously considered 2019 as her best year in golf because of her Michigan Women’s Amateur win and her success as a college player.

  “I would have thought that would be my best shot at player of the year awards, but I realize that summer wasn’t so much about consistency as it was winning the big tournaments,” she said. “I’m surprised how consistently I competed this year because I can’t devote the time to golf that I could before. I won my first tournament back as an amateur though and played well the rest of the summer.”

   She said a great support system has helped her. Michael Phillips, her superior at Keller-Williams Legacy in Dearborn, has played a key role in supporting her transition from being a discouraged golf professional into a real-estate salesperson who maintains a competitive golf game. In addition, the continued support by her father, Brett, and her brother, Evan, who is now a PGA professional in Florida, meant she could never just quit the game.

  “Professional golf was a struggle, mentally, physically, emotionally but my dad and Evan are always there for me,” she said. “We’re a golf family. We’re all “golfaholics.” They are going to enjoy me being player of the year as much or more than I enjoy it.”

  The summer of 2024 started with Bowser supporting her brother and serving as his caddie in the PGA Championship at Valhalla in Louisville last May. He had qualified as a top finisher among other club professionals in the PGA Professional Championship.

  “It was so great to see Evan competing in a major championship against the best players in the world, and thriving in that moment,” she said. “I soaked everything in. I learned so much from watching him compete and how he handled things and watching all the other players. I think that experience maybe helped me more than anything with how I think about golf and how I played.”

  Hartmann said he was pleased to see Bowser return to amateur golf.

  “I didn’t know why she didn’t want to be a professional any longer, but I know how much golf means to that family,” he said. “We lose a lot of women players that age for several reasons. It was great to see her out there, and I wasn’t surprised she played well. Golf and a competitive spirit run through that family.”