Hidden River To Host 28th GAM Women’s Senior Championship

Hidden River Golf & Casting Club Hosting 28th GAM Women’s Senior Championship

  BRUTUS – The Maple River is hidden from golfers for the most part at Hidden River Golf & Casting Club, but a great golf course is on full display.

  A field of 84 senior women golfers (ages 50-plus) will compete in the 28th GAM Women’s Senior Championship presented by Golf Digest Monday and Tuesday, Aug. 26-27. They will play 36 holes of stroke play with an overall champion determined as well as flight winners.

  The original owners at Hidden River called on W. Bruce Matthews III to build a golf course on rolling scenic woodlands split by about one mile of the winding Maple River.

  With great care taken not to disturb the top trout stream and fly-fishing destination, Matthews consulted with state and local authorities as well as environmental experts while designing the 18-hole resort style course.

  The Maple River can be seen dramatically from the clubhouse and Rainbow Room restaurant, but on the course only from hole No. 9 tee and green. The appropriately named award-winning Hidden River course has been a regular on the Golfweek Best Courses You Can Play lists.

  Towering pines line some holes, various hardwoods surround others while others roll through meadows and comfortably away from marsh areas. Matthews made carry shots minimal in his plan to create a playable, fun golf course. It has some generously sized fairways and can be played up to 7,101 yards, but also as short as 4,787 yards with five tee choices on each hole. The greens are big enough to offer various set-up options and can be difficult to play for golfers depending on the hole location.

 Matt Shalhoup is the head golf professional, and the superintendent is Keith Kaiser. Learn more about Hidden River at hiddenriver.com

   Last year at Harbor Point Golf Club in Harbor Springs, Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett won the Sara Wold Trophy for the second consecutive year. It was her record 18th GAM individual title.

  Slobodnik-Stoll, the head women’s golf coach at Michigan State University, is defending her back-to-back titles.

  She is one of eight former champions in the field including five-time winner Joan Garety of Ada, three-time winner Sue Campbell of Kalamazoo, two-time winner Donna Benford of Linden, two-time winner Julie Massa of Pentwater, two-time winner Maureen Whitehead of Charlevoix, two-time winner Barb Schmid of Grand Rapids and 2018 champion Shelly Weiss of Southfield.