GAM Girls Championship Is April 25 – 26 at Spring Meadows CC In Linden

GAM Girls’ Championship Kicks off Tournament Season at Spring Meadows 

  LINDEN – For the third consecutive year the GAM Girls’ Championship will kick off the tournament season.

  The third GAM Girls’ Championship, started as part of a Golf Association of Michigan effort to offer a tournament for junior girls and boys on dates opposite their high school seasons, is being played for the first time at Spring Meadows Country Club in Linden.

  The Girls’ Championship replaced the GAM Junior Kickoff tournament, which previously included competition for junior girls and boys to start the tournament season. The GAM Boys’ Championship will be played opposite its high school season, July 27-28, at The Polo Fields Golf & Country Club in Ann Arbor.

  The format for Saturday and Sunday is 36-holes of stroke play over two days and champions will be crowned in 15-and-under and the overall categories.

  Spring Meadows emphasized family since its 1957 founding, and has hosted several GAM tournaments over the years, including the 98th Michigan Amateur Championship in 2009 and the 100th Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship in 2016.

  The full-service private club features a classic course built in 1958 by the golf course architect Larry Packard. Dedicated and opened for play in 1959, it plays to 6,923 yards from the back-tee positions with six tee choices and features a great variety of parkland style golf holes.

   Rick Slaght is the head golf professional, and Craig Henderson is the course superintendent.

  The GAM Girls’ Championship has attracted the top junior girls in the state for the championship, and for the first time the players can garner Team Michigan points. Participating athletes ages 13-18 can earn points toward rankings, qualification standings, and season totals according to the selection criteria.

   Two-time defending overall champion Alena Li of Okemos is not in the field. She has aged out of the competition. Last year’s runner-up, Lillian O’Grady of Grand Rapids, is returning to play.

  Last year’s 15-and-under champion, Cameron Baker of Novi, is returning to the tournament but has chosen to play this year in the overall division. Hannah Kim of Troy, the runner-up in the 15-and-under division a year ago, is playing again in the younger division.

PAIRINGS, INFORMATION: at GAM.org or on the Golf Genius App.