Skoog, Sperry Win GAM Senior Four-Ball

Traverse City Friends Cortland Skoog, David Sperry Win GAM Senior Four-Ball

  BATH – Cortland Skoog (above left) and David Sperry, Traverse City area golf buddies, shot a second consecutive round of 6-under 66 to win the 18th GAM Senior Four-Ball Championship presented by Sullivan Golf Travel Tuesday at Eagle Eye Golf & Banquet Center.

  “I kind of feel like this puts Traverse City on the map a little bit,” Sperry said after their 132 total left them four shots clear of the field. “We have a lot of good players, especially seniors, up there, and it was nice to come down and represent Traverse City.”

  Two-time past champions Kevin Klemet of White Lake and Leo Daigle of Wixom also shot a closing 66 to finish at 136 and in second place.

 David LeVan of Ann Arbor and Bill Ulle of Novi shot 68 for 137, and Greg Zeller of Jackson and Thomas Magyar of Pontiac shot 67 for 139 to round out the top four.

 In the Super Senior Division for golfers ages 65-plus, Mitch Wilson (above left) of Portage and Tom Eberhard, who splits the year living in Kalamazoo and South Carolina, teamed up for a closing 66 for 136 and a four-shot win.

  The Jackson duo of Mike Raymond and Pete Walz, who shot 67 for 140, finished second.

  John Barbour of Grand Rapids and David Schultz of St. Joseph shot 71 for 141, and David Bartnick of Livonia and Ian Harris of Bloomfield shot 73 for 142 to round out the top four.

  Sperry and Skoog said they didn’t have to take a bogey in the tournament, and they played without stress most of the time.

  “We kept the ball in the fairway, and we had a lot of balls on the green with two good looks,” Sperry said. “My partner’s putter should be given some kind of award because he putted like a champion. That kept us in it big time day one, and today we ham-and-egged it pretty well. When one of us need to make a par, we made a par. Didn’t feel like a lot of stress out there today, too.”

  Skoog said the Eagle Eye course was similar to courses they play in Traverse City, especially The Bear at Grand Traverse Resort.

  “I think that was an advantage for us, the similarities, a bit of links and the section greens,” he said. “Not too sound cocky, but we felt like we were absolutely going to crush it and we did. That plan was executed.”

  In Super Senior play, Wilson said they played with few worries, too.

   “I think we both played really solid today,” he said. “We were in a lot of holes together, which made a big difference and really didn’t have too much stress.”

  Wilson said the best part of winning was getting to do it with Eberhard.

  “We’ve known each other going way back, decades,” he said. “We try to make it a point to play several times a year together.”

  Eberhard said Monday’s round was tough in the wind, but they were able to grind it out.

  “Then we played really well today,” he said. “We had one trouble hole, 13, where we both hit into the greenside bunker and didn’t get it up and down, but that was really it.”

  The winners of the two divisions in the championship have their names inscribed on the Gus Cosmos Trophy.