LeVan, Delcamp Win Senior Tournament of Champions Titles

David LeVan, Terry Delcamp Win Senior Tournament of Champions Titles

  JACKSON – David LeVan of Ann Arbor and Terry Delcamp of Grand Blanc were crowned champions among champions in closing out the season with wins in the GAM Senior Tournament of Champions Monday at Country Club of Jackson.

  LeVan topped the men with a 7-under 65, his low round of the summer. It gave the Barton Hills Country Club member bookend wins for the GAM season. He also won the first senior tournament of the summer, the GAM Senior Match Play Championship.

  Delcamp, meanwhile, repeated in the women’s division as champion shooting an even-par 72. It was also the Flint Golf Club member’s second win of the summer. She won the GAM Women’s Senior Championship at the end of August.

  Mike Zoerhoff of Caledonia shot 67 to finish second by two shots to LeVan, and Gary Rymiszewski of Oxford shot 69 for third. John Barbour of Grand Rapids, who shot 70, and Jim Barnes of Bloomfield Hills, who shot 71, rounded out the top five.

  Julie Massa of Holt shot 73 to take second among the women, one shot behind Delcamp, and Cathy Netter, the recent Michigan Women’s Senior Amateur champion, shot 76 for third. Pam Tyler of Grand Rapids, who shot 77, and Barb Schmid of Grand Rapids, who shot 79, rounded out the top five.

  LeVan said he played solid hitting most of the fairways and greens in regulation.

  “I took advantage of the par 5s,” he said. “I think I was 3 or 4-under for the par 5s. Other than that, I kept it in play, only made one bogey and made a fair amount of putts when I hit it close.”

  He made eagle-3 on the par 5 18th hole with a drive and then 3-wood shot to 15-feet behind the hole.

  “I was fortunate to pick the right line and it went in,” he said.

  LeVan said this year as a senior was his first foray into being in contention in state tournaments and he was thrilled to close out his wins.

  “I was thrilled to have played a good, good summer of events, and 65 is my low round in a tournament ever,” he said. “I put in a lot of hard work in Arizona where I go in the winter time. Shout out to the guys at Whisper Rock for helping make me better. There are a lot of good players out there so I owe them a lot.”

  Delcamp, who has now won three Senior Tournament of Champions titles, said she hit the driver a little crooked but made a few putts and was 3-under on the front nine. She also said she enjoyed the pairing with Massa and Netter.

  “Kathy and I have been friends for years and Julie, obviously we compete against each other all the time so we were out there enjoying a beautiful day on a beautiful golf course,” she said. “I was really impressed with the condition.”

  Delcamp said she had issues on the back nine with her tee shots but was able to scramble and save pars.

  “Cathy always laughs and tells me I can get up and down from a garbage can, so I had a few of those, and all in all the course was set up a little shorter for the field and so I had a lot of wedges into holes,” she said.

  Delcamp was surprised when she found out Massa was in the field. The six-time GAM Senior Player of the Year had qualified for this week’s U.S. Senior Mid-Amateur but withdrew after traveling to the U.S. Women’s Amateur recently and opted to play Monday.

  “There’s no one I’d rather play golf with than Julie,” she said. “I mean she’s perfect to play with and we always have a good time and we battle it out.”

   The 11th Senior Tournament of Champions featured a field of men and women who won their GAM member-club championship or a GAM Senior Championship this year. The senior men were over age 55 and the senior women over age 50.