Landon Wanless Is GAM 15-and-under Player of the Year

Landon Wanless of Caledonia Tops 15-and-under Junior Boy’s Honor Roll

Landon Wanless Is GAM 15-and-under Player of the Year

  FARMINGTON HILLS – Landon Wanless of Caledonia felt he made a big jump in his golf game in 2018.

  “I played well all season, dropped my scoring average, reached some goals and hope to do the same kind of things next season,” he said.

  Wanless, 15 and a freshman at Caledonia High School, is the 2018 Golf Association of Michigan 15-and-under Junior Boy’s Player of the Year, Kyle Wolfe, director of handicap and competitions, announced today.

  “He’s consistent and he has been playing in everything the GAM has to offer and consistently done well in match play and stroke play formats,” Wolfe said. “He’s the kind of golfer that as he moves up to the longer yardages in competition it will suit him well. He’s a good driver of the ball, and he is learning what it takes to win.”

   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.

   The GAM has named nine 2018 Players of the Year in gender and age categories including Wanless. They are Alex Scott of Traverse City as Men’s Player of the Year, Kerri Parks of Flushing as Women’s Player of the Year, Mitch Wilson of Portage as Senior Men’s Player of the Year, Julie Massa of Holt Senior Women’s Player of the Year, Mike Fedewa of Canton as Super Senior Player of the Year, Bradley Smithson of Grand Rapids as Junior Boy’s Player of the Year, Mikaela Schulz of West Bloomfield as Junior Girl’s Player of the Year and Jolie Brochu of Goodrich as 15-and-under Junior Girl’s Player of the Year.

   Wanless, a GAM member through Saskatoon Golf Club and Youth on Course, topped the Honor Roll with 445 points.

  He was the stroke play medalist and top seed at the GAM 14-and-under Match Play Championship where after losing in the championship bracket, he went on to win the consolation bracket. He also finished second to Ieuan Jones of Ann Arbor in the GAM Junior Invitational 15-and-under division.

  “I played well in all the GAM events, and next year I hope to add a few wins,” he said. “I gained a lot of confidence. I want to keep improving. I set two goals, to lower my tournament scoring average to under 77 and to get my handicap (index) down to 2, and I did both of those things.”

  Davis Codd of Oak Pointe Country Club and Brighton, last year’s 15-and-under Boys Player of the Year, was runner-up this year with 370 points, and Jones, a member through Youth on Course, was third with 345. Shawn Sehra of Arbor Hills Golf Club and Windsor, and Tyler Hurtubise of Northville Hills Golf Club and Essex, the winner of the GAM Junior Stroke Play Championship, rounded out the top five.

  Wolfe said Wanless has a great attitude for a young golfer.

  “He seems like a level-headed kid, performs at a high level and knows how to handle himself out there,” he said. “Not all the junior golfers learn that. He’s one of the kids that makes you realize junior golf in Michigan is in great shape. He is getting better and you can tell he is developing a lifelong passion for the game.”

  Wanless recently started working with a new teacher in Brandon Roby of Cascade Hills Country Club in Grand Rapids. He hopes to one day play collegiate golf.

  “I will keep setting goals and going after them,” he said. “I feel like I have an advantage off the tee over the other golfers I compete with, but I need to keep working on it and work on all the other parts of the game, too. I’m excited to keep doing that. Winning this honor helps give me the confidence to do it.”

via Greg Johnson