Written By: Greg Johnson
EAST LANSING – Sixtine Charnelet of Bloomfield Hills and soon to be Paris, France, was in trouble at the turn in the final match of the 48th Michigan Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship.
Her opponent, 12-year-old Lilo Tsai of Ann Arbor, the surprise of the tournament, had just chipped in on No. 9 for a birdie and a 3-up lead at Forest Akers West Golf Course.
“I just battled through,” said the 15-year-old Charnelet, who rallied with a 3-under back nine for a 2-up win in what will be her last Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) tournament because her family is scheduled to move back to her native France on Friday.
“I didn’t play very good on the front nine, and she is so consistent with making pars, but I started making putts on the back nine.”
She made a 25-footer on the par 3 No. 10 and was 2-down. Then she made a 10-footer on No. 13 and was just 1-down, and she finally tied the match by dropping a 20-footer for birdie on 15.
Then things happened quickly. She went 1-up on 16 when Tsai made bogey. They tied the par 5 17th, and then Charnelet closed it out with a six-foot slider for par on No. 18.
“It means so much to win this,” she said. “I haven’t won a GAM event before, and it’s really nice to win one, but also because I’m leaving. It’s like a good way to finish, and it’s match play. I love match play.”
Charnelet, who was born in France, has lived with her family around the world in her 15 years, including Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, and in South Africa. They have lived in the U.S., in Bloomfield Hills, for the last three years, and she played on the Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook girls’ golf team.
In addition to having her name inscribed on the Wright Memorial Trophy for the victory, she also receives a USGA exemption into the U.S. Girls Junior Championship, July 13-18.
“I hope we can work out a way for me to play,” she said. “I do plan to keep playing golf and hopefully get the chance to come back to the U.S. to play college golf. I would really like that to happen.”
During her trophy ceremony speech, Charnelet thanked her mental coach, Ian Martin of Brighton, who was in the gallery and said he met her at the Whole Golf facility in Bloomfield Hills.
Charnelet said one of the things they worked on was how to approach the last few holes of a tournament.
“It’s exactly what I did today,” she said. “I accepted that there was going to be stress and that there was going to be moments when the shots were not very good. You have to accept it, enjoy that you are playing and play the best you can.”
Charnelet earned her spot in the afternoon title match with a 5 and 4 win over McKenzie Stevens of Northville.
Tsai, the youngest stroke play medalist in the tournament’s history, beat Saisha Patil of Okemos 2 and 1. Patil was the runner-up in the 2025 championship.
Like Charnelet’s rally to win in the overall division, Belen Berishaj of Birmingham came from behind to win the 15-under division championship.
Hannah Kim of Troy was 2-up through 14 holes, but Berishaj won the 14th hole, finally tied the match with a 30-foot birdie putt on the 17th and then won No. 18 with a par to take the title, 1-up.
Kim, also 13 and the GAM 15-and-under Girls’ Player of the Year in 2025, was the runner-up in the division for a second consecutive year. Berishaj claimed a second GAM title, having won the GAM 14-and-under Match Play Championship last summer.
She said Kim was playing very well, but she knew she needed to stay focused on her game.
“I knew if I stayed focused something good would happen,” Berishaj said. “It’s match play and really anything can happen.”
It did, especially with the long putt on 17 to tie the match and send it to 18.
“I felt confident with it, but I didn’t expect to make it and then it went in,” she said. “This means a lot. It shows my hard work is paying off.”
Berishaj earned her spot in the final match with a 3 and 2 win over Eleanor O’Grady of Grand Rapids in the semifinals. Kim beat Isabelle Duflo of Ada 5 and 3 to get to the final match.
