GAM PLAYER OF THE YEAR – Mike Fedewa Tops Super Senior Honor Roll
FARMINGTON HILLS – Mike Fedewa of Canton was old enough to play in the Super Seniors division of GAM championships four seasons ago, but he didn’t embrace the idea until the summer of 2018.
“I felt I could compete with the seniors (ages 55-65) and I still do, but I finally said this is going to be the year I make the switch,” he said. “I committed to doing Super Senior tournaments all the way and I’m really happy about that.”
Fedewa, 69, is the 2018 Golf Association of Michigan Super Senior Player of the Year, Ken Hartmann, senior director of rules and competitions, announced today.
“When I see Mike, I don’t think Super Senior,” Hartmann said. “He still looks young and he hits the ball like a young guy. He has always been very competitive and very consistent in his play.”
GAM Players of the Year are determined by the GAM Honor Roll points system. Point totals can be found under the Championships tab at gam.org. Over the next few weeks the GAM will announce more Players of the Year in gender and age categories.
Previously, Alex Scott of Traverse City was named the Men’s Player of the Year and Kerri Parks of Flushing was named the Women’s Player of the Year, Mitch Wilson of Portage was named the Senior Men’s Player of the Year and Julie Massa of Holt was named the Senior Women’s Player of the Year.
Fedewa, a GAM member through Pheasant Run Golf Club in Canton, totaled 230 points keyed by four second-place finishes in senior championships this summer.
He was runner-up in the GAM Senior Match Play Super Senior bracket to Pete Saputo of Bloomfield Hills and Oakland Hills Country Club, second to Rick Herpich of Orchard Lake and Orchard Lake Country Club in the GAM Senior Championship Super Senior division, second to Tom Rex Jr. of Charlevoix and Belvedere Golf Club in the GAM Mid-Am Super Senior division and second in the Michigan PGA’s Senior Open to Mike Sequite of Marshall and The Medalist Golf Club.
Herpich finished second to Fedewa on the Honor Roll with 139 points. Ian Harris of Bloomfield Hills and TPC of Michigan was third with 135 and Sequite with 120 and Saputo with 105 rounded out the top five.
“Second place was my place this year, and it seems like I’ve finished second a lot over the years,” said Fedewa, who retired from General Motors and the Milford Proving Grounds in 2008 after 36 years and has worked the last 10 years on the grounds crew at Pheasant Run part-time. He and his wife Darlene live in a condominium near hole No. 12.
“I played a lot of golf in the 1970s, but then with family commitments and work I didn’t play competitive golf for over 30 years,” he said. “My first tournament back in competition was in 2007, the year before I retired from General Motors. It was the GAM Senior Championship at Belvedere and I won. It was a good start back.”
Fedewa, who also won the Senior Mid-Am Team Championship in 2016 with his son Steve, said he can’t say enough about the tournament opportunities available to seniors.
“It’s such a great selection of tournaments and it has been a lot of fun,” he said. “I tell my son not to worry about not having time to play at his age. He has senior golf to look forward to, and it’s great. The GAM runs great tournaments.”
Fedewa said he used to joke about retiring and then working on a golf course.
“Turns out, I did and I’ve been at Pheasant Run 10 years now,” he said. “It’s good. It keeps me active and able to play. I’ve had some back troubles the last few years, but this year it didn’t bother me as much and it showed in my golf game. I was much more consistent.”
Hartmann is never surprised to see Fedewa’s name on the leaderboards at tournaments.
“He’s a self-taught guy, never had a lesson, and that’s pretty impressive with the game he has,” he said. “When he’s in a tournament I’m surprised when his name isn’t up at the top because he’s so solid. He’s just good, and Mike and his son won the Senior Mid-Am Team a couple of years ago, and that’s not easy. A lot of great teams and the best players in the state are in that every year.”
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