Western, Oakhurst, Grosse Ile Hosting 15th GAM Senior/Mid-Am Team Championship Qualifiers

Western, Oakhurst, Grosse Ile Hosting 15th GAM Senior/Mid-Am Team Championship Qualifiers

  Western Golf & Country Club in Redford, Oakhurst Golf & Country Club in Clarkston and Grosse Ile Golf & Country Club will each host one third of the field over the next two Mondays in the first stage qualifiers of the 15th GAM Senior/Mid-Am Team Championship presented by Shanty Creek Resort.

  A field of 139 teams, or 278 of Michigan’s top golfers, will compete in the opening segment of the championship that features a Senior golfer (55-and-over) teamed up with a Mid-Amateur golfer (25-and-over).

  The Western G&CC field will play 36 holes or two rounds on Monday, May 13, and the Oakhurst and Grosse Ile fields each play two rounds on Monday, May 20.

  The teams play four-ball, also known as best-ball, in a morning round, and foursomes, also known as alternate shot, in the afternoon rounds.

  Champion and runner-up teams will be determined out of the teams at each qualifier site, and those six teams will be invited to play in the overall finals of the championship on Thursday, Oct. 10, on the North Course at Oakland Hills Country Club in Bloomfield Hills.

  Western features a classic Donald Ross design with narrow fairways and undulating small greens. It has hosted the GAM Championship and various GAM qualifiers in recent years and is familiar to most of the players in the field.

  It has also hosted three Michigan Women’s Amateur Championships and has been selected to host the Michigan Amateur Championship during its centennial year of 2026.

  Eric Ganzberger is the head PGA professional, and Michael Montney is the superintendent. Learn more at westerngcc.com

  The classic Donald Ross-designed Grosse Ile course, established in 1919 by eight Michigan businessmen, is located on Grosse Ile Island 25 minutes from downtown Detroit, and rolls over 300 acres featuring undulating greens.

  Legends like Arnold Palmer and Michigan’s own Chuck Kocsis have played Grosse Ile in tournament competition. Hall of Famer Glenn Johnson was a longtime member, and the club has hosted several Golf Association of Michigan and United States Golf Association tournaments, including the 2004 Michigan Amateur Championship.

  John Paul is the general manager and Todd Probert is the superintendent. Learn more at gigcc.com

   Oakhurst features an Arthur Hills-designed course built in 1998. It can play as long as 7,054 yards, and weaves through oak, pine, and maple trees and over and around protected wetlands.

  Hills incorporated significant risk-reward factors, but also provided some bailout areas for conservative play. The course demands accurate and well-placed tee shots, especially on the shorter par 4 holes.

  Among the many tournaments Oakhurst has hosted are the 2010 Michigan Amateur Championship, the 2019 GAM Senior Match Play Championship and the 2021 GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.

  George Bowman is the host professional and has been at Oakhurst since it opened in 1998. Adam Hosler is the superintendent. Learn more at //invitedclubs.com/clubs/oakhurst-golf-country-club.

  Last year Tom Gieselman of Commerce Township and Scott Strickland of Bloomfield Hills won the 14th GAM Senior/Mid-Amateur Team Championship Finals at Barton Hills Country Club. It was the third time the longtime friends have teamed up to win the finals of the popular championship.

 A final birdie by Gieselman and Strickland gave them a 5-under 65, which was just enough to clip the runner-up team of David LeVan of Ann Arbor and Andrew Tindall of Chelsea. LeVan and Tindall also birdied the final hole for a 66.

  David Vaclav of Flat Rock and Matt Mahanic of Grosse Ile tied with the team of Greg Davies of West Bloomfield Hills and Anthony Sorentino of Rochester Hills at 69.

PAIRINGS: GAM.org and Golf Genius