East Lansing?The 86th GAM Championship tournament finished today, August 7, at Walnut Hills Country Club, crowning Steve Cuzzort (Grosse Ile) the 2007 Champion. After uneasy weather and rain delays this morning, the final 18-hole stroke play round was finally played and ended with Cuzzort posting an impressive 69 for a combined score of 209 to gain the Championship title. John Carras (Midland) came in close behind Cuzzort with a total score of 210 to earn the Runner-Up title.
The 2007 GAM Championship consisted of three 18-hole rounds of stroke play, two contested on Monday, August 6, and the final round played today, August 7.
Carras was the leader after the first 36 holes of competition, posting a strong score of 138. Meanwhile, Grant Tungate (East Lansing) followed one stroke behind Carras with a 139. Cuzzort came in at third after the first two rounds of play, posting a 140. Finally, Chad Horner (Essexville) matched Cuzzort?s 140 after an impressive second round score of 66 to make up for his first round score of 74.
A rain delay postponed the final round of play for two hours. After all of the waiting, it was Steve Cuzzort, a Michigan State golfer and the 2007 Michigan Amateur Runner-Up, who pulled ahead to win just one stroke ahead of Carras.
Cuzzort had just finished a long week of tournament play prior to the GAM Championship and admitted to feeling tired. His thoughts going into this tournament were nonetheless positive. Cuzzort simply claimed, ?My goal is always to win.?, and he did just that.
This is not the first time 20-year-old Cuzzort has competed in the GAM Championship. In 2004, he earned the Runner-Up title, and last year he finished in 5th place. The key to his win this year was his short game. Cuzzort claimed, ?My short game was phenomenal.? Teeing off strongly and outputting his opponents lead to a solid victory for Cuzzort.
After great finishes in both the Michigan Amateur and the GAM Championship, Cuzzort is finally done with summer tournaments. He will start up again with college golf at Michigan State in only three weeks.
Up next in GAM tournaments is the 16th GAM Women?s Championship, set for August 13-14 at Saginaw Country Club.
