Written By: Greg Johnson
FARMINGTON HILLS – Greg Davies of West Bloomfield believes in preparation.
“If I have a goal it is to be as prepared as I can possibly be going into whatever tournament I’m playing,” said the 56-year-old wealth management advisor and Michigan Golf Hall of Fame member.
“If I’m fully prepared and the game is there – some weeks it is, and some weeks it isn’t – then I feel I have a shot for a high finish.”
High finishes, including winning this year’s GAM Senior Championship and making his 11th appearance in the “Sweet 16” of the Michigan Amateur Championship, propelled Davies to the top of the 2023 Senior Men’s Points List, and he has been named the GAM Senior Men’s Player of the Year, Ken Hartmann senior director of competitions and USGA services, announced today.
“To get my name on that list with the guys I’ve looked up to my whole life, Randy Lewis, Greg Reynolds and Pete Green, who have won everything and kept winning as seniors, it’s just very humbling,” he said. “I want to thank the GAM and Ken Hartmann and the volunteers for all the work they do for the golfers. The age division tournaments, all the handicap events for men, women, juniors and seniors, the GAM has to be one of the top if not the top state association in the country.”
Player of the Year point totals can be found on a pull down from the PLAY tab at GAM.org. Last week Kimberly Dinh of Midland was named the Women’s Player of the Year and August Meekhof of Eastmanville was named the Men’s Player of the Year. Earlier this week Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett was named Senior Women’s Player of the Year. Over the next few weeks the GAM will announce more Players of the Year in gender and age categories. The Players of the Year are presented by Carl’s Golfland.
Davies, an Orchard Lake Country Club member, also highlighted his year with a runner-up finish in the GAM Senior Match Play Championship to Mike Ignasiak of Saline and qualified for the U.S. Senior Open. The 2006 GAM Men’s Player of the Year finished the season with 595 points.
David LeVan of Ann Arbor and Barton Hills Country Club was second with 355 points, and Steve Maddalena of Jackson and the Country Club of Jackson was third with 317.5. Rounding out the top five were Jerry Gunthorpe of Ovid and Owosso Country Club (285) and Tom Gieselman of Commerce Township and Oakland University Golf & Learning Center (205).
Davies, who started in the game as a caddie at Edgewood Country Club and played collegiate golf at the University of Oklahoma with four future PGA Tour winners, said he thoroughly enjoys competitive golf.
“I enjoy practicing and enjoy the process of trying to get better golf wise and physically, too,” he said. “I play with the young kids at the club, play the back tees, and I feel like that helps keep me competitive.”
Working with Orchard Lake CC trainer Tom Kruszewski has helped greatly, too, Davies said, and he plans to continue workouts through the winter with him.
“I’ve worked with him the last three years and he makes sure when I work out I do the right things,” he said. “I don’t have the constant issue of a bad back any longer.”
Before joining Orchard Lake, Davies dominated Michigan Public Links tournaments for several years and was that association’s Player of the Year a record eight times.
“From a young age, growing up playing junior golf and all the way through college and now as a senior I’ve loved competing,” he said. “I’ve always loved being a (snow) skier and golfer. I thoroughly enjoy both sports. I just love the competition.”
Hartmann said he wouldn’t be surprised if Davies wins Senior Player of the Year multiple times in the years ahead.
“As long as he keeps working out and the back holds up,” he said. “His game is as good as ever because his short game is so impressive, one of the best I’ve seen in Michigan golf. He is never out of a hole or making a big number. He truly can get up and down from any place on the course. We saw him hit a few shots this summer that were just hard to believe. You see them and then you think, really, he did that. Again.”
