LAKE ORION – Paint Creek Country Club will debut as a Golf Association of Michigan tournament host Monday through Wednesday with the 9th GAM Net Match Play Championship presented by Dunham’s Sports.
A field of 50 golfers with GAM GHIN Handicap indexes of 20.4 or lower will play 18 holes of stroke play for net scores on Monday to determine a low 16 golfers to fill out a match play bracket. The round of 16 matches and quarterfinals are Tuesday, and the semifinal and final matches are on Wednesday.
The Net Match Play Championship is part of the GAM’s continuing effort to serve beyond the elite golfers with competitive tournaments by handicap index.
Precautions in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic will be in place, including digital scoring, pre-packaged food, and social distancing golf practices.
Paint Creek’s golf course is parkland style design by Don Childs, who renovated an original course and added nine holes in the early 1990s. It’s a picturesque layout featuring bent grass tree-lined fairways that roll over knolls and hillsides. Wetlands come into play with island and peninsula greens, and dogleg holes offer risk-reward options.
Three sets of tees accommodate players of varied abilities with a maximum distance of 6,476 yards.
The private club also features a grill and banquet facilities, a fitness facility with locker rooms, saunas, and indoor golf net. The attached swimming complex includes a Junior Olympic pool, kiddie pool, adult hot tub and lighted tennis courts.
A year ago, Chris Badgley of Trenton turned back the 2018 defending champion Joe DeNino of Taylor 3 and 2 in the championship match at Lakelands Golf & Country Club. Badgley, 33 and the director of finance for Henry Ford Health System, won for the first time in his second appearance in the finals. He played off an 11-handicap for the final match, which gave him three shots on DeNino in the final.
Badgley and DeNino, a drag racer and retired mechanic, will be in the field this year, as will 2014 champion Michael Hayes of White Lake.
“Handicap adjusted tournaments give me a chance to play competitive golf,” Badgley said after winning last year. “I’ve been playing about 20 years, and I was self-taught until I took a few lessons the last few years. I love the competition. Winning on top of that is the greatest.”
RESULTS, PAIRINGS: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/5911263086991428129
-Greg Johnson [email protected]
