Written By: Greg Johnson
TECUMSEH – The Private Team continued its recent dominance in the Women’s Atlas Trophy Matches, capturing its third consecutive title and fifth championship in the last six years over the weekend at Tecumseh Golf Club.
The Private Team seized control of the competition on Saturday, building a commanding 9-3 lead through the four-ball and foursomes rounds before putting the match out of reach on Sunday. A dominant 10-2 performance in singles matches secured a decisive 19-5 victory.
With the win, the Private Team extended its lead in the all-time series to 19-12-3 in the 34-year history of the matches.
The Private Team set the tone early on Saturday, edging the Public Team 3½-2½ in four-ball play before delivering a near-sweep in foursomes, surrendering just a half-point to take a six-point advantage into Sunday’s singles competition.
Tecumseh Golf Club was hosting the matches for the second time.
The top women golfers in the state representing private golf clubs and public venues made up the two teams in the Ryder Cup-style competition.
The Women’s Atlas Trophy matches, named for the late Edward Atlas, a noted golf leader in Michigan, were first played in 1989 and have become a competition between women GAM members who are members of a private club, and GAM members who do not belong to a private club. The matches are unique in that teams are made up of golfers of all ages, including seniors and juniors.
The GAM selects the captains of both the “Public” and “Private” teams. The captains select 12 team members each, using GAM Honor Roll points and other criteria.
Representing the winning Private Team this year, which was captained by Judy Lazzaro, were Ashleigh Duflo, Cathy Netter, Chaille Payne, Chelsea Collura, Donna Tepper, Elayna Bowser, Elise Fennell, Kimberly Dinh, Laura Bavaird, Lillian O’Grady, Lily Bargamian and Shelly Weiss.
