Plum Hollow Country Club in Southfield, Travis Pointe Country Club in Ann Arbor and Dearborn Country Club will each host a third of the field Monday and Tuesday for the 11th GAM Senior/Mid-Am Team Championship.
A field of 81 teams, or 182 of Michigan’s top golfers, will compete in the opening segment of the popular championship that features a Senior golfer over age 55 teamed up with a Mid-Amateur golfer over age 23.
The Plum Hollow and Travis Pointe fields play 36-holes or two rounds on Monday, and those playing Dearborn CC compete over two rounds on Tuesday.
The teams play four-ball, also known as best-ball, in a morning rounds, and foursomes, also known as alternate shot, in the afternoon rounds.
Three winning and three runner-up teams will be determined out of the teams at each site, and those six teams will be invited to play in the finals of the championship on Tuesday, Oct. 13, at Barton Hills Country Club in Ann Arbor.
The first segment of the championship was originally scheduled for May 18 but was moved to Monday and Tuesday because of state pandemic restrictions that were in place in May. The finals are typically presented near the end of the season.
Travis Pointe, which from 2016 to 2018 hosted the LPGA Volvik Championship, was designed by Michigan golf architect Bill Newcomb, and opened in 1977. It features six sets of tees to fit golfers of all skill levels. The course can be played from 5,264 yards to a difficult 7,326 yards. Travis Pointe had hosted several Golf Association of Michigan championships in recent years, including the Michigan Amateur Championship, as well as several Michigan PGA tournaments and USGA qualifiers.
Plum Hollow features a classic course created by the legendary English design team of Colt & Alison. It hosted the 2015 Michigan Amateur, and has a rich history that includes being the site of the 1947 PGA Championship and the 1957 Western Open. The club was founded in 1921, and greets golfers with rolling hills, surprising elevation changes and five par 3 holes that impact scoring with demanding shots and small, undulating greens.
Dearborn Country Club dates to 1923 when Henry Ford requested a course be built that anybody could use. The legendary Donald Ross was hired to design it and it opened for play in 1925. In 1966, architect C.E. Robinson redesigned the course and increased the size of the greens. The Club hosted the PGA Tour Champions’ Senior Players Championship in 1990 and has also hosted two LPGA tournaments over the years.
Last year in the finals Detroit Golf Club members Grant Bruce of Birmingham and Michael Coriasso of White Lake emerged as champions at Barton Hills. They are returning to defend their title and will be playing Monday at Plum Hollow. The 2017 champions, Tom Gieselman and Scott Strickland, are playing at Travis Pointe, and the 2011 winners Bill Zylstra and Mike Ignasiak are playing at Dearborn.
