University of Michigan Teammates and Dominant Duo of Terry Delcamp and Joan Garety Win GAM Women’s Four-Ball Titles


Link to championship page: Four-Ball

In photo: Championship teams, from left, Hannah Ghelfi and Sophia Trombetta, and Terry Delcamp and Joan Garety.

  OWOSSO – Terry Delcamp of Grand Blanc and Joan Garety of Ada won for the fifth time in the last six years among the senior golfers, which was no surprise.

  It was a surprise that a pair of current University of Michigan golfers came in from Ohio and Massachusetts to play, however, and then Hannah Ghelfi of East Falmouth, Mass., and Sophia Trombetta of Independence, Ohio, not-so-surprisingly won the open division.

  The two duos emerged as champions in the 9th GAM Women’s Four-Ball Championship presented Wednesday at Owosso Country Club by sponsoring Whistling Straits & Blackwolf Run. Their names will go on the permanent trophy, The Garety/Heistand Trophy, which is named for Garety and Mary Jane Heistand, two Michigan Golf Hall of Fame members.

  Delcamp and Garety combined for a final-round even-par 71 to go with a 66 from Monday for a 5-under 137 total to win the Senior Four-Ball title for a third consecutive year and fifth time overall.

  Barb Schmid of Grand Rapids and Shelly Weiss of Southfield combined on a 74 to close at 145 for second place, and Helga Ernst and Arlene Alessi, both of Bloomfield Hills, closed with a 72 for 147 and third place.

  In the open division, Ghelfi, who will be a senior for the Wolverines in the fall, and Trombetta, who will be a sophomore, shot matching 67s on each day of the tournament for 8-under 134.

 Allyson Geer-Park of Brighton, who will be a senior at Michigan State in the fall, and her sister Kassidy Geer, who will be a freshman and play golf at Cleary University in Howell in the fall, shot a closing 67 for 138 and second place.

  Another pair of sisters, Veronica and Savannah Haque of Rochester Hills, shot a final 69 for 139 and third. Veronica is an Oakland University golfer and Savannah has committed to join her there after high school.

 Garety, 63, and Delcamp, 55, said Monday was stress free with the 66.

  “We both played really well yesterday, and today Terry played well and I didn’t play so great,” Garety said. “I just kind of let Terry play today, but I did come through a couple of times when she needed me.”

  Delcamp said usually there is a situation that causes stress, but it didn’t come up much for the two days.

  “Usually somebody has to make a five-footer, but it really didn’t happen,” she said. “We commented today on how much we enjoy playing golf together. It’s just really fun. You know when you are younger, you want to kick people’s guts in and it is harder to be friends. In the senior division it’s more about enjoyment of the game and enjoying competing.”

  Garety said she was humbled once again to have a trophy named in her honor, and especially pleased her name and Delcamp’s name will be on it for a fifth time.

  “We are on a nice run and hopefully we will continue to let it run,” she said.

  Trombetta, who is an AJGA winner and was part of state championship team in high school, said her mother initiated the idea that she should play in an event with Ghelfi this summer before returning to school.

  “We’ve never played together besides these little events we do at school,” she said. “It was fun to see each other and play in this. We came in, stayed for a night at Michigan, practiced at the facility and then drove up to play.”

  Ghelfi, the 2017 Massachusetts Women’s Amateur Champion, said they traded off days in the event with their play.

  “Yesterday I kind of took the reins, and today Sophia took them,” she said. “So, we definitely made a good team. There were a lot of times where someone would make an easy par so the other person could really go for the birdie.”

   The duo said they played the classic golf course with small greens with care.

  “The course is kind of tricky, so we tried to play smart,” Ghelfi said. “Our goal was to get to 10-under. We came up two shots short, but we came to win and we did that. It was fun.”

  Trombetta said they took what the course gave them.

  “The only bogey we made was the first hole we played in the tournament, and then we did a good job of accepting what the course gave us,” she said. “We didn’t pull the driver if we didn’t have to, and we were hitting hybrids off tees and irons into holes. We let the come to us and didn’t force it.”

 -Greg Johnson, [email protected]

 

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