HIGHLAND, MI–The 29th Michigan Junior State Amateur Championship, sponsored by Osprey Recreational Properties, crowned Philip Snow (Northville) the 2007 Stroke-Play Champion today, July 17, at Prestwick Village Golf Club.
After two 18-hole stroke-play rounds Monday, July 16, Snow was the leader, posting two impressive scores of 69 for a 36-hole total of 138. David James (Warren) followed at Snow?s heels, posting a 70 and a 69 for the first and second rounds, respectively, for a combined score of 139. Drew Preston (Ada) posted two strong scores of 70 to secure the third position with a 140. The cut-off for the last round of stroke play held today was 150 with all players at or below that mark continuing on and the rest going home.
Today?s final round of stroke-play ended with Snow posting a 70 for a combined score of 208. Barrett Kelpin (Kalamazoo) came into the picture after posting an impressive 68 in today?s round for a total of 209, just one stroke shy of Snow. James and Preston both came in at 211, James posting a 72 and Preston a 71 for today?s round.
Snow, an 18-year-old graduate of Northville High School, plans to take his skills on to Michigan State University this fall. A main component in Snow?s game is consistency. Of today?s victory, he claimed, ?I put the ball in the fairway and I made a lot of putts. That was probably the biggest thing: I made a lot of Birdie putts.? He said his main focus was, ?Just scoring, getting the ball in the hole.? Snow does admit to feeling the heat from Kelpin, as he was 4 under through 16, but clearly didn?t let that get to him too much.
The second half of the Junior State Am will begin tomorrow, July 18, with 16 players in Match-play. The first round is scheduled for the morning and the Quarter-finals are set for the afternoon. The Semi-finals and Finals will be held Thursday, July 19.
