Written By: Greg Johnson
ROCHESTER HILLS – Former Notre Dame Prep High School golf teammates, David Praet of Lake Orion and Chad Elliott of Auburn Hills, teamed up for the first time in years and won the 13th GAM Four-Ball Championship presented by BOYNE Golf Monday at Oakland University’s R&S Sharf Course.
The duo shot a 7-under 65 and topped a field of 84 two-golfer teams split into a Morning Wave and Afternoon Wave.
They won the Afternoon Wave by one shot over two teams and with 65 being the best score of the day won the Overall Championship by one shot over Morning Wave winners Paul Wolcott of Macomb and Dalton Schulenberg of Pleasant Ridge.
“We have played a ton of golf together, so we just decided to play in an event together,” said Praet, the 2025 GAM Mid-Amateur Champion said. “Chad’s family has tight ties to Oakland University, and when we realized the tournament was on the Sharf we thought why not go play? We’ve never played in something like this together.”
Elliott, president of auto parts supplier Elliott Group International, said he didn’t play competitive golf for several years, but he was happy about the decision to play and win his first GAM tournament with Praet.
“I was out there hitting some good shots and thinking this scratches and itch,” Elliott said. “I mean, all day, it was ying and yang. He would check in for a couple of holes, and I would check in for a couple of holes. We just had really good mojo, and we never let each other down all day.”
Praet, an investment banker, said Elliott’s wedge play was the difference for them throughout the day.
“He had like five wedge shots from 100 to maybe 140, and he hit them inside five feet,” Praet said. “It was outrageous, and then we made the putts. When we had a chance to make a mistake, one of us just rose up and got it done. We didn’t miss the clutch putts.”
The team of Bentley Coon of Horton and Brandon Kukla of Jackson, and the team of Mike Anderson of Novi and Ray Foley of Northville both shot 66 in the Afternoon Wave. Coon and Kukla won a scorecard playoff for the runner-up trophies.
Wolcott and Schulenberg, a pair of General Motors employees and friends, shot their 6-under 66 and topped the Morning Wave by two shots.
“Usually when we play together, we hit it well,” Wolcott said. “It’s a lot easier when we make putts and we made putts today.”
Two teams shot 68 to tie for second in the Morning Wave. Tim Shoemaker of Bloomfield and Jacob Mazur of Bloomfield Hills won the scorecard playoff and took home the Morning Wave runner-up trophies. The other team at 68 was Winslow and Duncan Robinson of Traverse City. Five teams shot 69 in the morning.
Wolcott, a GM engineer and Schulenberg, who works in portfolio planning, agreed that the key shot for the day was Wolcott’s shot a No. 10 that resulted in an eagle-3. It also resulted in the shortest putt they had to make for the day.
“I hit a 4-hybrid shot to about an inch and a half,” Wolcott said. “It rolled probably 100 yards, right up and almost in. It was big. We had just made bogey at 9.”
“It was just like he drew it up,” Schulenberg said. “He said he was going to run it up there and see how it ends up.”
