Written By: Greg Johnson
BATTLE CREEK – Landon Guenther of Grand Blanc and Draven Rogers of Fort Gratiot will be the top two seeds in match play after sharing medalist honors Monday in the 48th Michigan Junior Amateur Championship at Bedford Valley Golf Club.
Guenther, 17 and a Grand Blanc High School golfer, shot 69 and 67 for an 8-under 136 total, and Rogers, 16 and a Port Huron Northern golfer, shot 67 and 69 to match him at 136.
Guenther, via a USGA formula scorecard playoff, will be the No. 1 seed in the Round of 32 on Tuesday, and Rogers the No. 2 seed.
“My goal in stroke play was to put myself in a good spot for match play,” Guenther said. “I like match play. I feel like it suits my game pretty well because I tend to play aggressive, and match play, in my opinion, favors aggressive players.”
Rogers called being a co-medalist a very nice honor, but he was looking ahead to match play, too.
“I’m good with being the number two seed because I just wanted to be in match play, that’s most important to me,” he said. “I like match play. I think match play is fun. I mean, it switches things up. Golf is a lot of the same thing, and then match play is different, and it keeps it fun.”
In addition to the Round of 32, the 15-and-under Division will play 18 holes of stroke play to start their tournament play. They will be looking to fill an eight-golfer bracket for match play. Match play continues through Thursday when champions in the overall and 15-and-under will be determined.
The co-medalists set the pace on a day when 13 of the 84 golfers in the field finished under par.
Konner Kubica of Northville, who shot 67 and 71 for 138, will be the number three seed.
Harris Hoekwater of Grand Rapids, who shot 68-71, was next at 139.
And three golfers shot 140, including Bentley Coon of Horton, who had rounds of 69 and 71, Tommy Preston of Grand Rapids, who shot a pair of 70s and Jack Klimek of Ada, who shot 71-69.
Guenther said he putted well through the day, and he had a key stretch of holes finishing the second round.
“I birdied three of the last four holes,” he said. “I like finishing good.”
He said he didn’t look at the leaderboard.
“I was just thinking about playing my best,” he said. “My ball striking has gotten better this year, so I was just putting myself in good spots on the greens.”
Rogers, last year’s 15-and-under winner at the GAM Boys’ Championship, tied for second last week in the AJGA Junior Coca-Cola Championship at The Highlands in Harbor Springs. He said his game is feeling great.
“That did a lot for my confidence,” he said. “I got into match play last year at the Michigan Amateur, too, and that helped my confidence.”
