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GOLF ASSOCIATION OF MICHIGAN

Werkmeister Falls in Round of 32; Sweet 16 Set at Michigan Amateur Championship

ATTENTION SPORTS DEPARTMENTS

For Immediate Release
GAM Media Relations (Greg Johnson and Tonia Laird)
102nd  Michigan Amateur Championship at Muskegon CC
Media Phone: 248.408.0085
www.gam.org
June 21, 2013

WERKMEISTER FALLS IN ROUND OF 32; SWEET 16 SET AT MICHIGAN AMATEUR
   Note: Recap and two rounds of match play results and pairings will be included in this transmission. Another transmission includes photo choices of Chapman, Werkmeister and Baker.

   MUSKEGON – Tom Werkmeister’s two weeks of Michigan golf brilliance was halted in the second round of matches in the 102nd Michigan Amateur Championship sponsored by Miles of Golf/Kendall Academy/Titleist.
   Andrew Chapman, a 33-year financial advisor, former University of Michigan golfer and reinstated amateur, outlasted Werkmeister in 21 holes in an afternoon round of 32 Thursday at Muskegon Country Club Thursday.
   Werkmeister, the 2009 Michigan Amateur champion who last week was the first amateur to win the Michigan Open in 38 years, led the field for the first two days of stroke play as medalist, and won his morning match (2 and 1 over Carson Castellani).
    “It will take some time to recover from this one,” he said. “I had loftier goals than to lose in the second round. I would definitely say he outplayed me. I only made two birdies today, and that’s not going to cut it. It wasn’t easy out there, but I didn’t play like I have been playing.”
   Chapman bombed his drive on the No. 3 hole, the final hole of the match with Werkmeister, and had exactly 40 yards left on the 383-yard par 4. He said he called on a drill he worked on just last week with Scott Hebert, the head professional at Grand Traverse Resort and Spa and a six-time Michigan Open champion. He hit the shot to four-feet and made the winning birdie.
    “We hit these little shots from 40 yards, 50 yards, 60 yards, all the way back to 110,” he said. “I had 40 right on the button, so that is a shot I have no problem with.”
    Chapman said his matches with Hebert have also helped him in his approach to meeting Werkmeister in the second round of matches.
   “I don’t really think about who I’m playing, and my pro at home is Scott Hebert, and we play straight up all the time,” he said. “He’s pretty good, so I’m alright no matter who I get paired up against. Tom and I had a good match. We had some sloppy holes, but we had some good ones. He’s a great guy, a great champion. He’s a strong, strong player, so I was fortunate to get past him.”
    Chapman headed the “Sweet 16” when the round of 64 and 32 matches were complete. He will play another Traverse City golfer in the round of 16 in Nikolaj Brons-Piche, an 18-year-old Texas Wesleyan University golfer who also plays out of Grand Traverse Resort. Piche beat Bryan Nordquist of Kalamazoo 3 and 2 in the round of 32.
   Others moving on include Casey Baker, 35 and a former Golf Association of Michigan champion who took out two of the local favorites to reach the “Sweet 16” for the fourth time.
   The vice-president of Carl’s Golfland in Bloomfield Hills beat the local favorite, 19-year-old Reed Hrynewich, a Muskegon CC member, in 19 holes in the round of 32, and beat Mona Shores teacher Kyle Kurant 4 and 3 in the morning.
   “I got the local guys and I think even my caddie I hired was a teammate of (Hrynewich), so he was conflicted,” Baker quipped.
   Baker is confident, in part, because he likes the golf course.
   “It’s one of my favorite ones that we play,” he said.
   One former champion, 45-year-old Greg Davies of Waterford, the 2006 champion, is still in the hunt for another title. He beat Blaze Hogan of Big Rapids in the round of 32 by a 3 and 2 score.
  Russ Cunningham of DeWitt, the Oakland University golf coach who was the GAM Golfer of the Decade in the 2000s, beat Erik Schleicher in the final match of the day to make it to the round of 16.
   A pair of 51-year-old amateurs stayed alive with Scott Wirth of Grand Blanc and Tom Gieselman of Commerce Township reaching the round of 16. Wirth beat Spencer Slade of Saline 4 and 3 behind six birdies in the round of 32, and Gieselman took out Muskegon CC member Joe Balaskovitz of Montague, 1-up. Also in the final 16 is 49-year-old Mike Ignasiak of Saline, who is a former major league pitcher.
     The youngsters are represented, too. Justin Pahl, a 17-year-old from White Lake and Lakeside High School, is the youngest still in the mix, but he is joined by Sam Weatherhead of Grand Rapids, who is 18 and headed to Michigan State to play golf. Otto Black of Pinckney, the Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year for the University of Toledo, also won two matches to move on.
     Rounding out the final 16 are Nate Golomb, a banker from Belmont, 2012 GAM champion Jared Dalga of Grand Rapids, Brad Bastion of Clinton Township, Loyola of Chicago golfer Nick Dennis of Waterford and golf club-fitter Ryan Johnson of New Boston.
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MICHIGAN AMATEUR THURSDAY QUOTE SHEET

Andrew Chapman, 33, Traverse City, former UM golfer, made match play in the U.S. Amateur last year.

  “It was nice to win a couple of matches today. I don’t really think about who I’m playing. My pro at home is Scott Hebert, and we play straight up all the time. He’s pretty good, so I’m alright no matter who I get paired up against.”
  “Tom and I had a good match. We had some sloppy holes, but we had some good ones. He’s a great guy, a great champion. He’s a strong, strong player, so I was fortunate to get past him.”
  “We’ve got this little wedge drill out at Grand Traverse Resort. We hit these little shots from 40 yards, 50 yards, 60 yards, all the way back to 110. I had 40 right on the button on the playoff button, so that is a shot I have problem with it.”
  “(Hebert) stole the drill from Mike Bender, but if you talk to him, it’s his,” he said and laughed. “We just did it the other day. He was getting ready for the national club pro, and I was getting ready for this. He had a little friendly wager.”
   “The highs and lows of match play have been smoothed out for me over time. I don’t get as fired up, and I don’t get as down in the dumps. It gives me a chance late.
   “Again, it’s a day out of the office, beautiful day in Muskegon. I’m just happy to be playing golf.
   “When I was 3-down my (college roommate at U-M and golf teammate) Andy Matthews, a former Amateur champion, showed up. That gave me a little boost, and a little more wind in my sails. It was good to see him.
   “I just keep plugging along. I know Nikolaj Brons-Piche from the Kingsley Club up north, so that will be a fun match.”

Tom Werkmeister
  “It will take some time to recover from this one. I had loftier goals that to lose in the second round. I would definitely say he outplayed me. I only made two birdies today, and that’s not going to cut it. It wasn’t easy out there, but I didn’t play like I have been playing.”
  “It might take a while to recover from this one. I’m disappointed.”
“He did a great job on the last hole. He hit a big drive and had only about a 40-yard chip shot left. He made the birdie in sudden death. He beat me. I made too many mistakes today, for sure.”

Brad Bastion
“It’s been beautiful out there, I feel good.
I made the final eight in 2011, and I’d like to do better than that. Match play is fun, but I prefer stroke play. It is, what it is. Happy to be here. This is a great tournament. I look forward to it all year.

Scott Wirth
First sweet 16
“I was considering this being my last year (of tournament golf) because of my daughter.” He wants to watch Victoria play. She was his caddie and she is 15 and plays at Grand Blanc. He is a Flint Elks member.
“I played wonderful. I had my round 6-under after 13 holes. I was doing a little bit of everything. It was good. Shot 4-under on the front and never looked back.”
 “I had a wonderful day. I’ve been hitting the driver good all tournament.  Now I’m getting a good feel for the greens. Things are starting to go together.

Round of 64 Match play results:
Left side Bracket:
Tom Werkmeister, Kentwood def. Carson Castellani, East Lansing 2&1
Andrew Chapman, Traverse City def. Brett Quitiquit, Highland 3&1
Bryan Nordquist, Kalamazoo def. Mike Brown, Grand Rapids 2&1
Nikolaj Brons-Piche, Traverse City def. Blake English, Charlotte: 2&1
Justin Pahl, White Lake def. Jordan Weinger, Farmington Hills 1 up
Jake Losey, Grandville def. Mark Brinkman, Ann Arbor 1 up
Ronnie Coriasso, Grand Blanc def. Patrick Colburn, Traverse City 3&2
Nate Golomb, Belmont def. Dieter Schultz, Fort Gratiot 2&1
Scott Wirth, Grand Blanc def. Alexander Dombrowski, 1 up
Spencer Slade, Saline def. Brett Hudson, Bloomfield Hills 4&3
Nick Dennis, Waterford def. Chet Vandenberg, Martin 2&1
Sam Stark, Hartland def. Trent Davison, Rockford 4&3
Reed Hrynewich, Muskegon def. Charlie Olson, Suttons Bay 5&4
Casey Baker, Ann Arbor def. Kyle Kurant, Muskegon 4&3
Brad Bastion, Clinton Twp. def. Anthony Keim, Holt 4&3
Brody Schiller, Freeland def. Jud Kotas, Grosse Pointe Farms: 3&2
Right side Bracket:
Otto Black, Pinkney def. Kyle Rodes, Plymouth 3&1
Nicholas Campbell, Britton def. Tom Sullivan, Grosse Pointe: 2 up
Tom Gieselman, Commerce def. vs. Derrek Klimek, Ada 1 up
Joe Balaskovitz, Montague def. Bill Zylstra, Dearborn Heights 5&3
Mark Foster, Davison def. Timothy Coffey, Midland 3&1
Jared Dalga, Grand Rapids def. Evan Bowser, Dearborn 3&2
Sam Weatherhead, Grand Rapids def. Max Kollin, Farmington Hills 2&1
Nathan Clark, Charlotte def. Anthony Provenzola, Brighton 19 holes
Mike Ignasiak, Saline def. Mike Nagy, Manistique 2&1
Andrew Yeager, Grand Rapids def. Jeff Champine, Rochester Hills 4&2
Blaze Hogan, Big Rapids def. Peter Farner, Kalamazoo 3&2
Greg Davies, West Bloomfield def. Steve McKalko, Troy 2 up
Justin Holyszko, Bay City def. Steve Fedewa, Troy 4&3
Ryan Johnson, New Boston def. James Piot, Canton 4&3
Russ Cunningham, DeWitt def. Connor Jones, Shelby Twp 1up
Erik Schleicher, Grosse Pointe Shores def. Austin Kreger, St. Clair Shores 1 up

Round of 32 Match play results:
Chapman def. Werkmeister 21 holes
Brons-Piche def. Nordquist 3&2
Pahl def. Losey 3&1
Golomb def. Coriasso 2&1
Wirth def. Slade 4&3
Dennis def. Stark 5&4
Baker def. Hrynewich 19 holes
Bastion def. Schiller 6&4
Black def. Campbell 1up
Gieselman def. Balaskovitz 1up
Dalga def. Foster 1up
Weatherhead def. Clark 19 holes
Ignasiak def. Yeager 4&2
Davies def. Hogan 3&2
Johnson def. Holyszko 1 up
Cunningham def. Schleicher 2&1

Friday morning 16 matches:
Chapman vs. Brons-Piche: 8:00 am
Pahl vs. Golomb: 8:10 am
Wirth vs. Dennis: 8:20 am
Baker vs. Bastion: 8:30 am
Black vs. Gieselman: 8:40 am
Dalga vs. Weatherhead: 19 holes
Ignasiak vs. Davies: 9:00 am
Johnson vs. Cunningham: 9:10 am

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