Boyne Highlands Hosting 39th GAM Mid-Amateur Championship

Boyne Highlands Hosting 39th GAM Mid-Amateur Championship

  HARBOR SPRINGS – The Heather and Moor golf courses at Boyne Highlands Resort will welcome a standout field of 195 golfers playing Wednesday and Thursday (Sept. 1-2) in the 39th GAM Mid-Amateur Championship.

   Boyne Highlands is hosting the championship for Michigan male amateur golfers over age 25 for the 20th consecutive year and 24th time in the history of the championship that honors the winner with the Glenn H. Johnson Trophy.

   The Highlands features four courses that are part of 10 golf courses that can be played at three Boyne Resorts in the northern section of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

  The field is split in half to take on the Heather and Moor courses for two days of stroke play competition, and an overall Mid-Amateur winner (age 25-and-over) and winners in three other age categories will be determined (Mid-Seniors 45-and-over, Seniors 55-and-over and Super Seniors 65-and-over).

  Boyne Highlands has used each of its four courses at various times to host the championship in the past, and the resort has long featured the Heather, a Robert Trent Jones course that has been listed by Golf Digest among America’s 100 Greatest Golf Courses and was named the Michigan Golf Course of the Year in 2018 (Michigan Golf Course Association) and the National Golf Course of the Year (National Golf Course Owners Association) in 2019.

  The Heather was Boyne’s first golf course, and Jones created a classic that features wide tree-lined fairways, sculpted bunkers and challenging water hazards. The Mid-Am field is very familiar with the Heather. In addition to hosting the Mid-Amateur multiple times, it hosted the 100th Michigan Amateur in 2011 and the 109th Michigan Amateur in 2020.

  The Moor was the second course built at Boyne Highlands and challenges golfers with numerous doglegs and water hazards. It, too, has a championship pedigree as host of past Mid-Amateurs, the AJGA’s annual visit, the Kircher Cup and Harbor Cup tournaments. The firm of award-winning golf course architect Raymond Hearn of Holland is doing some renovation work on the course.

  Josh Richter is the director of golf at Boyne Highlands. John Myers and David Trudell are the PGA golf professionals at the Highlands, and the superintendents are Nick Shaw and Shaun Osborne.

  Last year Northville’s Mike Anderson won the 38th GAM Mid-Amateur title with Bill O’Connor of Bloomfield Hills finishing second and Ryan Johnson of New Boston third.

  Champions were also crowned in a Senior (age 55-and-over) and Super Senior (age 65-plus) divisions with Jerry Gunthorpe of Ovid taking the Senior title, and Ron Perrine of Holt winning the Super Senior title. Jeff Champine of Rochester Hills was declared the Mid-Senior (age 45-plus) winner because Anderson and O’Connor, who are also over age 45, were champion and runner-up in the overall Mid-Amateur competition.

  Anderson is returning to the field that also includes eight other former champions: 2019 champion Michael Coriasso of White Lake, 2018 champion Scott Strickland of Bloomfield Hills, 2017 champion John Quigley of St. Clair Shores, three-time winner Anthony Sorentino of Rochester Hills (2006, ’15, ’16), two-time winner Greg Davies of West Bloomfield (2003, ’05), 2000 winner Kevin Vandenberg of Pulaski, N.Y., 1998 winner Randy Lewis of Alma, and Greg Reynolds of Grand Blanc, the winner of the very first Mid-Amateur in 1983 and winner again in 1994.

  BOYNE Golf is a collection of ten courses at three resorts (Boyne Highlands, Boyne Mountain, and Inn at Bay Harbor) located within 15 miles of Petoskey, MI. Beyond the world-class golf, Boyne Golf is centered amid one of America’s most beautiful vacation spots. The scenic Lake Michigan beach towns of Charlevoix, Harbor Springs and Petoskey are minutes away, and a side trip to Mackinac Island is easily managed. Guests can enjoy award-winning spas, waterfront dining, sandy beaches, watersports, gaming, microbreweries, wineries, hiking, biking, tennis, zip-lining, shopping and more capped by the spectacular northern Michigan sunsets. For more information on BOYNE Golf, visit www.BOYNEgolf.com.

via Greg Johnson