Written By: Greg Johnson
EAST LANSING – Landon Guenther of Grand Blanc and Olivia Griswold of Portage capped the summer golf season as winners of the GAM Junior Invitational presented by Absopure Sunday at Michigan’s State University’s Forest Akers West Golf Course.
Guenther shot a 6-under 65 for a 137 two-day total and then won with a par on the first hole of a sudden-death playoff with JP Levan of Grand Rapids to take the boys’ title.
Griswold, meanwhile, shot a 72 for 149 to slip past Hannah Kim of Troy and Belen Berishaj of Birmingham by one shot to take the girls’ title.
Champions were also crowned in the 15-and-under division with Owen McGlinch of Livonia topping the boys, and Isabelle Duflo of Ada topping the girls.
Guenther started the final round five shots behind Levan but made three birdies on each nine in building his rally. Levan shot 70 for 137 to force a playoff. They played hole No. 10, a par 3, and Guenther made par to Levan’s bogey.
Linus Vandenberg of Hamilton shot a closing 75 for 143 and third place, and Tommy Preston of Grand Rapids shot 71 for 144.
“I hit the irons pretty good today and putted pretty well,” said Guenther, a 17-year-old senior at Grand Blanc High School. “I haven’t really played that much the past few weeks with school and stuff, but I think it was good. It gave me a break from golf. I wasn’t mad yesterday. I had a lot of good looks. I just didn’t really make anything, so I knew if I rolled it well today, then it would probably be the opposite of yesterday.”
In the girls’ competition, Griswold, the champion at the start of the summer season in the GAM Girls’ Championship, was three shots off the lead starting the final round but consistently made pars and mixed in a pair of birdies to offset two bogeys.
Kim and Berishaj shared the lead after first-round 74s, and both shot 76 for 150 in the second round. Griswold passed them with four holes to go in the round.
Saisha Patil of Okemos and Tula Puzzuoli each shot 75 and tied for fourth place at 153.
“I feel very good about how I played, especially going into (the MHSAA) state finals next week and I will be playing against all the same girls,” said Griswold, a 17-year-old senior at Portage Central High School. “I’m really looking forward to it. I’ve been working really hard, especially going into the end of the season. I didn’t have a great round yesterday, so I really wanted to get back out and do better, and I did that.”
In the 15-and-under boys’ competition, McGlinch shot a final-round 74 for 147 in a close battle through the day with Watson Mercier of Novi, who shot a final 76 for 148. Rishi Manikandan of Grand Blanc, who shot 73 for 150, was third.
In the 15-and-under girls’ competition, Isabelle Duflo shot 80 for 158 to earn the win. Emily Ngo shot 80 for 162 and second place.
