Written By: Greg Johnson
- CLAIR – Grace Slocum’s five-shot lead dwindled to one when she bogeyed holes 9 through 12, and a little later it was her University of Wisconsin teammate, Kate Brody, who made a dramatic push to close the gap with an eagle-3 on the par 5 15th hole at St. Clair Golf Club.
And that was just a minute or so after Logan Bentley of Addison and Oakland University made a hole-in-one in the group ahead of them on hole 16.
“Obviously I know Kate is a wicked good golfer, so I was not shocked when that eagle putt went in,” Slocum said. “I felt some pressure. It was a little crazy there, but I knew I still had the lead, and that I still needed to make some shots.”
Slocum did make some shots, including making an all-important birdie, on hole 17, with a wedge shot to six feet that gave her a two-shot lead going to 18. The 19-year-old who just finished her freshman year at Wisconsin closed with a careful bogey, a round of 74 for 1-under 143 and the win Tuesday in the 35th GAM Women’s Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland.
It was the Traverse City native’s first GAM win since she was a junior golfer at 15, and after a few close calls, including being runner-up a year ago in the GAM Women’s Championship.
“It feels great because I’ve been pretty close to winning in the past year or so, and finally winning another GAM tournament means a lot,” she said. “I was struggling with the speed of the greens out there, coming up too short, or going too long during the middle of the round. I was glad I was able to make a few at the end. And I have to thank my caddie, Josh, (her twin brother). He’s my caddie in a lot of tournaments and very good at reading putts.”
Brody, who is from Grand Blanc, ended up with a 72 and 144 total, one shot shy of her Badger teammate.
Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, the recent GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, made 18 pars in a 72 for 145 and third place.
Bentley’s ace, a wedge from 104 yards, helped her 74 for 147, and her Oakland U. teammate, Lily Bargamian of Grosse Ile, shot 76 for 148 to round out the top five.
“I was close all day, and there were a lot of people going back-and-forth,” Brody said. “I was looking at the leaderboard because I look at it a lot, and the group ahead of us was playing pretty solidly, too. I was just trying to stay steady, but the putt on 15 for eagle (18-footer) was the only one I really made. I was kind of burning the edges.”
Brody said she felt good for her teammate.
“We play a lot in practice and (team) qualifying, but we had not played in the same group in a tournament in a long time,” she said. “It was fun to compete with her. She had a great first round (3-under 69) and I couldn’t catch her. Next time.”
