GAM

Sweet 16 Ready for Round Two at 97^th Michigan Women’s AmateurEAST LANSING – After the first round of match play at the 97^th Michigan Women’s Amateur at Walnut Hills Country Club, the field has been honed to the “sweet 16”. Kimberly Dinh (Midland); Jennifer Elsholz (Grand Rapids); Sarah Hoffman (Saline); Hailey Hrynewich (Muskegon); Aya Johnson (Muskegon); Lindsey Lammers (Milan); Chloe Lawrie (Swartz Creek); Christine Meier (Rochester Hills); Julia Montgomery (Shelby Twp.); Kelsey Murphy (Plymouth); Liz Nagel (Dewitt); Elle Nichole (Okemos); Ella Pendy (Grosse Pte. Fms.); Emma Salata (Ann Arbor); Jacqueline Setas (East Lansing); and Sarah Thompson (Canton) advanced to round two of match play and will begin teeing off Thursday at 8 a.m,Pendy competed against her cousin Tenley Shield (Grosse Pte. Pk.) in the first round of match play which she said felt a bit surreal. “We have played a lot of casual rounds together but we really have never competed against each other like this so it was a little weird,” said Pendy.  “She was playing very well and she was four down and came back to take it to 18 holes. My brother Tommy was on my bag today and when she started to come back he told me just take a deep breath and walk more slowly to my ball.  That helped. I just had to slow down my process a little.” Meier, who was champion in 2011, said a difficult downhill putt turned things around for her on the back nine.“We both started out bad and then hit our stride after the turn,” said Meier, who played against Allyson Geer of Brighton. “The turning point was 16. I made a slippery, downhill putt and it was my first birdie of the day. ”Only one match went extra holes. Hrynewich and Gabrielle Shipley (Hastings) needed 20 holes to complete their match. “On the 20^th hole, we both hit close to the hazard but she ended up going into it,” said Hrynewich. “I was able to play it and get a good second shot and that was how I finally won the match.”  Most players agreed conditions were the best on day three that they have been so far this week. Monday’s stroke play round was rainy and Tuesday, although dry, was very windy. The weather was sunny and cool for Wednesday’s first round of match play and players said you could not tell that the course had been saturated with rain on Monday. The 97^th Michigan Women’s Amateur is sponsored by Palace Sports & Entertainment. Admission is free and spectators are welcome.