Written By: Greg Johnson
ANN ARBOR – Polo Fields Golf & Country Club has hosted several amateur tournaments over the years, but next week marks the first time the GAM Senior Match Play Championship will visit and play for the Jerry A. Walker Memorial Trophy.
The 16th edition of the championship presented by Stifel Investment Services will feature a starting field of 156 golfers starting Tuesday and continuing through Friday.
The field includes those playing for the overall (age 55-plus) championship as well as those competing in a Super Senior (age 65-plus) division.
The field will play 18 holes of stroke play on Tuesday to determine a bracket of 32 golfers for the Senior division and a bracket of 16 for the Super Seniors. Match play will start Wednesday and continue through to Friday morning’s championship matches in each division.
The Polo Fields, a regular host of GAM tournaments, was designed by Ann Arbor’s own Bill Newcomb, an award-winning designer and former University of Michigan golfer.
The facility opened in 1995 and is a private golf club with a links style design featuring generous fairways, a variety of distinctive design features through the 18 holes and fast challenging greens. The course plays to a maximum of 6,828 yards and has multiple tee positions starting from 5,122 yards.
Jim Mrozinski is the director of golf operations and Chris Krug is the superintendent. Visit polofieldssccmi.com for more information.
Last year at Flint Golf Club, Mike Ignasiak of Saline held off Michigan Golf Hall of Famer Greg Davies of West Bloomfield in the championship match for his first individual senior title. The Super Senior final featured a pair of Michigan Golf Hall of Famers as John Morgan of Novi topped then-defending champion Bill Zylstra of Dearborn Heights.
Ignasiak and Morgan are defending their titles, and Davies and Zylstra are back in a stellar field that includes several past overall and super senior champions; Steve Maddalena of Jackson, David LeVan of Ann Arbor, Mitch Wilson of Portage, Kevin Klemet of White Lake, Mike Raymond of Jackson, Ray Emsley of Davisburg and Ian Harris of Bloomfield Hills.