Highlands At Harbor Springs Hosting GAM Mid-Am Championship

The Highlands at Harbor Springs Hosting GAM Mid-Amateur Championship

  HARBOR SPRINGS – The Heather and the Hills courses at The Highlands at Harbor Springs will welcome a standout field of almost 200 golfers playing Wednesday and Thursday, Aug. 28-29, in the 42nd GAM Mid-Amateur Championship presented by Stifel Investment Services.

  The resort, formerly known as Boyne Highlands, is hosting the championship for Michigan male amateur golfers ages 25 and over for the 21st consecutive year and 27th time. The overall winner receives the coveted Glenn H. Johnson Trophy. The scoreboard at Country Club of Boyne is also named in honor of Johnson, a GAM legend and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member.

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

  The field is split in half to take on the Heather and Hills 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).

  The Highlands has used each of its four courses at various times to host the championship in the past.

  The Hills course, designed by Arthur Hills, features a memorable three-hole ascent at No. 11 to one of the highest points in the region for a remarkable view from the 13th tee. The layout concludes with a 577-yard par-5 that is reachable in two shots by going over the trademark pond that guards all No. 18s in Boyne golf.

  The Heather course was Boyne’s first golf course, and legendary Robert Trent Jones created a classic that features wide tree-lined fairways, sculpted bunkers and demands challenging shots over ponds and wetlands. The Mid-Am field is familiar with the Heather. In addition to hosting the Mid-Amateur multiple times, it hosted the 100th Michigan Amateur in 2011, the 109th Michigan Amateur in 2020, and the 113th Michigan Amateur earlier this summer.

  Casey Powers is the director of golf for BOYNE Golf. Jason Bazan is the superintendent of the Heather course, and Nick Shaw is the superintendent of the Hills course. Learn more at boynegolf.com

 Last year, trucking company broker Matt Zerbel of St. Joseph, playing in the championship for the first time, fired a final-round 6-under 65, including a 5-under 30 on the back nine on the Moor course to win the 41st edition of the championship. Billy Nelson of Kalamazoo was the Mid-Seniors 45-and-over winner, Kevin Vandenberg of Pulaski, N.Y., a Mattawan native and the 2000 Mid-Amateur champion, won the Senior title, and Ian Harris of Bloomfield won his third age group title in the championship and second Super Senior title.

   Several past champions are in the field of almost 200 golfers though not all are playing for the overall title this year and have moved into other age categories.

  Among the past champs are Zerbel, two-time winner Scott Strickland of Bloomfield Hills, two-time winner Greg Davies of West Bloomfield, three-time winner Anthony Sorentino of Rochester, 2020 champion Mike Anderson of Northville, 2019 champion Mike Coriasso of Royal Oak, 2017 champion John Quigley of Sterling Heights, 2012 winner Erik Schleicher of Petoskey, 2007 winner Mike Ignasiak of Saline, Vandenberg and 1998 winner Randy Lewis of Alma.

  Notably, Stephen Kircher, the president and CEO of Boyne Resorts, is playing in the championship. He was recently elected to the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame and will be inducted in late October.