REDFORD TOWNSHIP – When Bryon Scott of Farmington Hills and Joe DeNino of Taylor worked together 12 years ago at Village Ford in Dearborn, they also started working on Bryon’s golf game.
“Joe has helped me refine my game, keep me within myself and bring me from a 20-handicapper down to the 9.8 that I am now,” Scott said after the duo shot a net 10-under 62 to win the finals of the 32nd GAM Net Team Championship presented by Michigan Golf Live at Western Golf & Country Club Friday.
“Joe played his usual great way and I had a 79, which is my best score in a GAM tournament, in any competition,” he said. “You know, we have worked hard on our games all year and we work really well together.”
Eric and Julie Kenar, the husband-wife duo from Bloomfield Hills, shot 64 to finish second, and Adam Golden of Fraser and Gerald Drouillard of Canton teamed up for a 65 to take third.
Eight two-person teams played in the finals having advanced from the tournament’s earlier play this summer at Edgewood Country Club when 80 teams squared off in a net four-ball scoring format.
Scott, a musician and song writer who owns and operates Great Scott Social Media with his wife Maura Stackpoole-Scott, is 38 and DeNino is 65, retired, known for his drag racing success, and has been one of the top net players for several years.
“I used to try and kill the ball, but then I started following his tempo,” Scott said. “For his age and height, he can still get the ball out there 250 yards, and he is great with his short game. He’s lost some distance with age, but his putting and chipping is all still there.”
Scott said DeNino made a key actual birdie on the 16th hole Friday.
“He snuggled up an approach really close and making birdie there when we were not getting a shot was big,” he said. “One of the other teams was getting close but getting that one allowed us to go par-par and win.”
Earlier this week, Scott and DeNino, took second in the net division of the GAM Two-Person Scramble at Oak Pointe Country Club, and earlier this summer at Edgewood, Scott and DeNino were in a three-way tie for second but lost the shot at a trophy in a scorecard playoff.
“We still qualified for today’s finals, but no hardware,” Scott said. “That wasn’t a big deal but it kind of made us extra hungry to come and win this. We wanted to take something home this time, and we played well in the Scramble so we really went after it.”
