Local golfers tee it up in amateur tournaments By Christian Davis After finding birdies and pars on high school and college tracks this past season, local golfers have been keeping busy during the summer months. Caitlin Bennett, a 2006 Grosse Pointe North graduate, 2007 Lake Orion grad Darby Peters and 2007 Birmingham Seaholm graduate Louisa Shu played in the Michigan Women’s Amateur July 7-11 at Walnut Hills Country Club in East Lansing. After two days of stroke play, the field of 80 was cut to 32 golfers. Each golfer was then seeded according to their stroke-play results and paired up for match play. All three local golfers advanced to the match-play portion of the tournament, but each bowed out in their first match. Bennett lost in 20 holes to Shanna Page after shooting 78 and 81 the first two days. “My goal was to make it to match play,” Bennett said. “That’s an honor because there are so many girls that are good.” The Grand Valley State University soon-to-be junior found herself down three after 13 holes against Page, but knew her distance off the tee could pay dividends down the stretch. “I knew that I had two par-5s, and I usually have an advantage on those because I hit it pretty far,” she said. “As long as I hit it straight, I thought I would have a good chance. I just hung in there and grinded it out. Bennett won the par-5 14th, and the par-4 17th and 18th to force the extra action. Bennett, who was an All-Conference selection in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in the spring, said this was her second year in the Michigan Women’s Amateur; she fell in the same round of play last year. This time around, she said she learned some valuable lessons. “I can compete when I’m not at my best,” she said. “I can still save a lot of strokes with my putting. It helps to know you can still stick in there even when you’re not hitting it as well as you would like to.” Peters fell 4 and 2 to Jenny Calkins after shooting 79 and 75 to qualify. The Eastern Michigan University sophomore said she knew she would have to improve after her opening-round 79. “I was thinking, ‘I need to play better in the second day, so I can get a better seed,’” Peters admitted. “After I bogeyed the first (on the second day), I thought, ‘Well, maybe I need to make a couple birdies.’ Then I started hitting fairways and greens.” Peters proceeded to carve up the course, which was home to the LPGA Tour’s Oldsmobile Classic up until 2000. Her round of 75 was the fourth lowest score of the day. Like Bennett, this was Peters’ second time playing in the tournament. She said her putting wasn’t up to par in the match-play portion, but that the experience of playing in such a prestigious tournament will help in the long run. “This was my third round of match play that I’ve ever played,” she said. “I learned a lot about how to play — like when to give a putt, when to go for the pin and when to play safe.” As for Shu, who is going into her sophomore year at the University of Michigan, she lost 5 and 3 to Ashley Bauer after shooting 78 and 81 to qualify for match play. In other tournament action: The in-coming senior at Birmingham Seaholm finished fourth in the American Junior Golf Association’s Coca-Cola Junior Championships July 1-4 at Boyne Highlands. In the field of 42, with golfers from all over the nation, Lipa was the top finisher from Michigan after shooting 228 in the three-round event. Rochester High senior Amy Meier shot 213 and finished sixth, while her sister, junior Christine Meier, was 14th after tallying a 240. You can reach Sports Writer Christian Davis at cdavis@candgnews.com or at (586) 498-1062. |
