Randy Lewis Is GAM Senior Player Of The Year

Randy Lewis Is GAM Senior Player Of The Year

PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Alma’s Randy Lewis Top Senior for Fourth Consecutive Year

FARMINGTON HILLS – Randy Lewis had what he called a few good weeks in an otherwise goofy golf season.

“Timing is everything,” he said. “It was one of the worst seasons I’ve ever had from a playing standpoint. I played terrible most of the time, except really three weeks. I played well in the (GAM-GAO) Senior Matches with the guys from Canada, played really good at the GAM Senior Match Play and then played well enough at the U.S. Mid-Amateur to make it to the second round in match play. But that was it. For whatever reason the game clicked those weeks, but the rest of the time I was really struggling with my golf swing.”

The 60-year-old Alma resident, Raymond James Financial Planner and Pine River Country Club member was named the Golf Association of Michigan Senior Men’s Player of the Year for the fourth consecutive year, Ken Hartmann, senior director of rules and competitions announced today.

Over the next few weeks the GAM will also announce more age group players of the year for 2017. Tom Werkmeister of Grandville and Aya Johnson of North Muskegon were previously announced as the men’s and women’s players of the year. The winners will receive their awards in the spring at the GAM’s annual meeting for 2018. Honorees are determined based on the GAM Honor Roll, which awards points for tournament accomplishments.

Lewis, who was inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in 2009 as a two-time Michigan Amateur champion and the GAM Golfer of the Decade in the 1990s, said he was honored to win the award once again.

“I know my window is closing because of age, but I’m pleased I can still compete and I’ve learned a lot more about my golf swing the last two years working with Dave VanLoozen (Oakland Hills Country Club PGA instructor),” he said. “I finally went back to him this year in August because of the way I was driving the ball and he got me back on the right path so that I’m optimistic for next year being more consistent.”

Despite his inconsistency, Lewis, the 2011 U.S. Mid-Amateur champion, topped the senior Honor Roll with 648 points highlighted by reaching the second round of matches in the U.S. Mid-Amateur and winning the GAM Senior Match Play Championship for a second time.

Ian Harris of Bloomfield Hills and TPC of Michigan was second with 345 points. GAM Senior Championship winner Craig Adams of Spring Lake Country Club, Mitch Wilson of Portage and the Moors Golf Club and Steve Maddalena of the Country Club of Jackson rounded out the top five. The complete Honor Roll listings can be found at gam.org.

Hartmann said Lewis making match play in the U.S. Mid-Amateur at age 60 is a great accomplishment.

“He never takes the game lightly,” he said. “He doesn’t rely on memory. He is out there working on it, grinding, taking practice rounds seriously and taking notes. There is an art to how he does it and he is one of the nicest guys out there. He’s very friendly, a gentleman and just a great competitor.”

ABOUT THE GAM: Founded in 1919, the Golf Association of Michigan is the governing body for amateur golf in the state. As a not-for-profit organization, the GAM’s purpose is to promote, preserve and serve the game of golf. The GAM, served by over 250 dedicated volunteers, provides membership to almost 60,000 golfers and more than 470 Michigan golf courses, conducts over 30 amateur championships, oversees 18 USGA qualifying events, administers the GAM/USGA Handicap System and measures and rates almost 70 courses a year for the USGA. Learn more at www.gam.org.