Written By: Greg Johnson
WASHINGTON TOWNSHIP – The Stassinopoulos cousins, Leo from Bloomfield Hills, and Peter, the Wayne State University golfer from Novi, were 7-under through 11 holes, ended up shooting 7-under 65, and it served them well in the end.
After a long rain delay that pushed afternoon wave golfers to finish in darkness without enough light for an on-course playoff, the Stassinopoulos cousins, via a scorecard playoff, were declared overall champions of the 11th GAM Four-Ball Championship presented by BOYNE Golf Tuesday at The Orchards Golf Club.
The USGA method for a scorecard playoff was implemented meaning the score of the back nine for the duo was the first tiebreaker. Having started on No. 7, they had played eight holes on the back nine and ended up with a 6-under 30 on the back.
David Szymanski of East Lansing and Nate Clark of DeWitt, who also shot 7-under 65 to finish as co-champions of the afternoon wave, had carded a 32 across the back nine.
The 90-minute rain delay for the afternoon wave pushed the golfers inside the clubhouse, but it was not all doom and gloom. They where they were able to watch the last few innings as the Detroit Tigers won a playoff game.
A field of 60 two-golfer teams with combined GAM/USGA Handicap Indexes under 10.8 competed in the 18-hole best-ball competition, with 30 teams in the morning wave and 30 finishing in the afternoon.
Michael Coriasso of Royal Oak and David James of Highland shot 6-under 66 as morning wave champions.
Dave Kurtz of Clarkston and Michael Hohf of Oxford combined for a 67 to finish as the morning runner-up team.
Four teams tied for third in the morning after 68s, including Jason Kalo of Lowell and Steve Quist of Caledonia, Michael Murphy of Plymouth and Justin Mortensen of Van Buren Township, Nikolas Senkowski of Rochester Hills and Nicholas Winiarski of Pontiac and Michael Macari of Livonia and teammate Jud Kotas of Grosse Pointe Farms.
A team of two standout junior golfers, Julian Sinishtaj and Troy Nguyen, both of Macomb, shot 67 to finish third behind the afternoon wave co-champions.
Three teams checked in with 68s, including Kyle and Craig Pietila of Brighton, past champions Andrew Tindall of Chelsea and Mike Ignasiak of Saline, and Rick Williams and Kyle Bentley of Northville.
The Stassinopoulos cousins combined for six consecutive birdies on holes 8 through 13 to key the win.
“I would say other than earlier in the summer in another GAM event (Michigan Amateur qualifier) that was as good as I’ve played,” Peter said. “It was cool to do with Leo. He said I can’t drop him from my team for a decade now.”
Leo, 38 and the chief operating officer of Leo’s Coney Island, said he plays with his 20-year-old cousin four or five times each summer.
“We talked about playing in it and having a chance to win it,” Leo said. “Peter was the player today. I helped a little, but he really had it going. It was fun to watch. We’re both excited we were able to get it done.”
Peter said the round was special.
“We ham-and-egged it perfectly, better than you could have wished for to be honest,” he said. “Leo made great shots right when we needed them. I had to going. It was great.”
As for the morning wave champions, Coriasso collected a GAM trophy for the second time in two days. He was the runner-up Monday in the GAM Tournament of Champions in a playoff.
“Nothing beats winning,” he said. “Team golf is my favorite golf format. I feel zero pressure and I can get more aggressive. If you screw up there’s a good chance your partner is making par or better. That gives you confidence because you have confidence in each other.”
James said Coriasso was the big reason they won.
“He made five birdies,” he said. “I helped a few times, but Michael is playing great right now.”
James, 34 and a sales manager for Financial Services of America, and Coriasso, 34 and a loan officer for Rocket Mortgage, knew each other as junior golfers and competed often.
“We reconnected on a golf trip with some mutual friends last year, and today was fun,” David said. “We had one hole where we both made bogey, but other than that it was good golf.”
