Menser Wins Michigan Publinx State Match Play

Julian Menser of South Lyon Wins Michigan Publinx State Match Play Championship

 ROCHESTER – Julian Menser’s good golf summer just ramped up another notch.

 The 18-year-old from South Lyon won the Michigan Publinx State Match Play Championship with a 2 and 1 victory in the final match over Anthony Sorentino of Shelby Township Monday at  Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club.

  “This was my first Publinx event and it’s my first win in a true amateur event with older, more experienced players in the field, not just high school or junior golf competition,” said Menser, who this fall joins the Michigan State University golf program as a freshman.

  “It was a great week. It had the same feel as other big tournaments I’ve played in. The top-end talent of the field was as strong as any other tournament I’ve played in, so to win it feels really good.”

  Menser, who recently lost in the finals of the Michigan Junior State Amateur to Connor Fox and has earned a qualifying spot in the field of the U.S. Amateur Championship later this summer, birdied the first three holes of the final match and never trailed against Sorentino, a four-time Michigan Publinx Player of the Year and one of the state’s top veteran players.

  He said good shots through holes 7, 8 and 9 where he took a 3-up lead at the turn made that the key stretch for him in the tournament.

  “I knew I was hitting it well, hitting my line putting and felt like I was in control of my game,” he said. “Once I got through there, I felt like I had a good chance to bring it home.”

  Menser said he thought early in the day about his runner-up finish in the Michigan Junior State Amateur, and that he didn’t want to lose another final match.

  “I didn’t focus on that or anything,” he said. “I’ve learned that winning is very hard and I knew that I was playing a great, experienced player. It feels great to experience winning, fight through the adversity of the match and beat a great player. It’s nice to be in the winner’s circle.” 

  Menser, who played high school golf at Detroit Catholic Central, practices at Fox Hills Golf & Banquet Center, and works with PGA teaching professional Brian Cairns.

  “It’s been a good summer so far and I still have the GAM Championship, the (Michigan PGA) Tournament of Champions and the U.S. Amateur before going to (MSU),” he said. “I’m excited about those events and winning this helped me gain experience and confidence going forward.”

  Leo Daigle of Wixom won the Senior Scratch Division title for the second time in three years. It took him 21 holes to top Razmig Boghikian of Novi Monday morning in the title match.

  “Raz is always tough,” Daigle said. “We are two heavyweights in the Senior Division, and he got me in the (Michigan Publinx Medal Play) by a shot earlier this year and I wanted to get him back. I did. It wasn’t easy, as usual.”

  Boghikian was 2-down with two holes to play but birdied the last two holes of regulation to tie the match and force extra holes. Daigle finally closed out the match on No. 3 with a par as Boghikian played to bogey.

  “In (regulation) he hits it to a foot on 17, then hits it in the hay on 18 but somehow blasts it out of there to like 40-feet from the cup and makes it for birdie. I three-putted when I had it on in two for eagle, and then we went extra,” Daigle said. “Like I said, not easy.”

  Daigle, who was a runner-up to Doug Johnson in 2016 in the overall championship, said he continues to play for Julia, his late wife.

  “She was my biggest fan,” he said. “You know, she always let me play golf. I told her there’s a lot worse places I could be, so this is for her. I continue to walk with God and knowing I will be with her again keeps me going. She is smiling down on me.”

  Bob Sauer of West Bloomfield, who won the Super Senior Bracket on Sunday afternoon with a 3 and 2 win over Al Ryding of Novi, was smiling, too. He recently turned 65 and was playing for the first time in a Super Senior (age 65-plus) tournament.

  “I felt good about winning, always happy to win,” he said. “I haven’t played in a ton of tournaments. I haven’t won a lot of times. Finished second in the GAM Championship way back and made it to the semis in the Michigan Amateur once. I’ve played on Publinx teams, but I like to fly fish and bow hunt so I don’t play as much golf as I used to play. Plus, I’ve had a bad hand (injury) and didn’t play for a long time. I just started playing again this summer.”

  Sauer, who is a Kingsley Club member up north, said he built a 4-up lead by the turn against Ryding and then started playing conservative golf.

  “I knew he had to make a lot of birdies to catch me, and some of the pins were tucked, so I just tried to hit it to the middle of the green and keep the lead,” he said. “It was fun competing as a Super Senior. I didn’t have to deal with all the younger guys bombing it past me.”

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