Future Wolverine Joey Garber wins Michigan Amateur

Surrounded by a near-record crowd of family, friends and club members, 18-year old Joey Garber of Petoskey won the 99th Michigan Amateur Championship at Oakhurst Golf & Country Club, 2 & 1 over Eric Lilleboe of Okemos.

Garber took control of the match right out of the gate by winning the first three holes.

“It’s all about getting into the moment and getting the lead,” said Garber. “He’s a good player and he played everyone really well this week. “My caddie (Jimmy Dewling) and I had a game plan before I teed off on the final match to turn at all square and then start my push on the back. I’ve played holes 10 through 18 really well this week. I knew those holes had to be where I took the lead.”

It didn’t go exactly how Garber had planned, because Lilleboe won three holes in a row to go 1 up after 9 and kept the lead until hole No. 12, where Garber won the hole to bring the match back to all square. Garber proceeded to win 13 with a par.

“He deserved to win,” said Lilleboe. “We’re friends, we’ve played together a lot up north and he’s a really good player. I just finished up my senior year at Ferris State University and my last amateur tournament will be the U.S. Amateur Qualifier at Boyne – The Heather Course on July 22 before turning professional this fall."

Garber has won four GAM Championships in the last four years, but "I really wanted to win this championship; it’s the most important tournament in the state.”

Garber is also the third youngest player ever to win the Michigan Amateur Championship. The second famous amateur ever to live, Chuck Kocsis won it in 1930 at the age of 17, and Korey Mahoney won it at age 18 in 2002.

By winning the Michigan Amateur, Garber receives an automatic five-year exemption into the Michigan Amateur Championship, as well as The Western Amateur, Susquehana Amateur in Pennsylvania, the Michigan Open and the GAM Championship.

College players advance at Michigan Amateur

CLARKSTON, Mich. - The 40-somethings are out. The young guns are in. And Tom Werkmeister won't be around on the weekend at Oakhurst Golf & Country Club in Clarkston to defend his Michigan Amateur title.

Tom Werkmeister, 42 (Kentwood), was defeated by Eric Lilleboe, of Okemos after 20 holes. The roles were reversed for Lilleboe, a Ferris State player, who lost last year to Werkmeister in the quarterfinals on the last hole.

"I wanted to play him again and knew I would because he has been the best amateur in the state for the last year, it was a grind and I was glad I got to play him but at the same time I didn't want to," said Lilleboe.

Joseph Juszczyk, a former Wayne State player from Dearborn Heights and the 2009 Michigan Amateur Championship Medalist, will face Lilleboe in the first semifinal at 8 a.m. The two are familiar foes as they have faced each other about 10 times this past year in college and other amateur events.

The other match will also feature two college players Joey Garber (Petoskey) and Nick Carbary (Kalamazoo). Garber, 18, is an incoming University of Michigan freshmen, who made 4 birdies on the holes 13 -16 to finish off his match against 38-year-old Jeff Champine (Rochester Hills), 4 and 2. Garber's previous best finish in the Michigan Amateur was as a quarterfinalist:

"It's good to get past the hump to the elite 8, it will help me make the transition from junior golf to college golf," he said.

Friday Quarterfinal Match Play Results
Lilleboe def. Werkmeister, 20 holes
Juszczyk def. Brownback, 3 & 2
Garber def. Champine, 4 & 2
Carbary def. Peterson, 19 holes

Saturday Semi-Final Matches

Lilleboe vs. Juszczyk 8:00 am

Garber vs. Carbary 8:15 am

Top seeds falling at Michigan Amateur

Clarkston, MI – There were a lot of surprises during the first two rounds of match play at the 99th Michigan Amateur Championship at Oakhurst Golf & Country Club, as five of the top ten seeds lost their matches. The medalist, Tim Katanski (Ypsilanti) lost his first match to the 64th seeded player, David Brownback (DeWitt) 3&2.

Brownback won in a playoff to survive stroke play.

“I missed my wife’s and my anniversary on Tuesday, missed my wife’s birthday on Wednesday and I even had a special dinner planned for her but then had to call her to cancel because I was in a playoff for the final spot so I’m in the dog house and I don’t even get paid for this.” said Brownback. “The only way I can make this work is if I come home with the trophy.”

The group in the sweet sixteen is rather young, as 11 of the players left are under age 25, including Nick Carbary (Kalamazoo), Chris Cunningham (Milford), Kasey Hocquard (Cheboygan), Joseph Juszczyk (Dearborn Heights), Chad Johnson (Plymouth), Eric Lilleboe (Okemos), Joey Garber (Petoskey), Drew Preston (Ada), Matt Thompson (Battle Creek), Hrynewich, Brett Hudson (Bloomfield Hills), and Aaron Peterson (Ann Arbor).

The Championship continues on Friday morning at 8:00 a.m. There are several intriguing matchups, including the 2009 Michigan Amateur runner-up Matt Thompson (Battle Creek) vs. Jeff Champine (Rochester Hills) and Juszczyk (2009 Michigan Amateur Medalist and Wayne State Senior) vs. Johnson, his college teammate. The quarterfinal matches will take place on Friday afternoon, with the semifinals and final match scheduled for Saturday.

Michigan Amateur heads into match play

Clarkston, MI – For the second straight day at the 99th Michigan Amateur Championship, only two players Tim Katanski (Ypsilanti) and Johnathan Pauli (DeWitt) broke par at Oakhurst Golf & Country Club. Katanski followed his first round of even-par 71 with a 69 today to capture medalist honors. Katanski’s two day total of 140 edged defending Champion Tom Werkmeister (Kentwood) who shot 70-73-143, and Pauli who shot 73-70-143 and Nick Carbary (Kalamazoo) who shot 71-72-143.

“I had a good feeling coming in here,” Katanski said. “Oakhurst’s superintendent (Kyle Celmer) has this course in phenomenal shape and the greens are rolling great. It’s a comfortable yardage into the holes and the fairways are very generous. I only missed one fairway all day on hole # 9. I love the layout of this course. I think Oakhurst is a fair test and has plenty of room to hit the ball perfectly.”

Werkmeister bogied the last three out of the four holes.
The Championship continues on Thursday morning at 7:15 a.m. with the beginning of match play. The 64-player field was completed after David Brownback (Haslett) captured the final spot in a playoff. The ten players who finished at 156 had an immediate hole-by-hole playoff for one spot. Two rounds of matches will be played on Thursday to reduce the field from 64 to the “Sweet Sixteen.”

The leaderboard following Wednesday’s second round of stroke play at the 99th Michigan Amateur Championship played on the par-71 Oakhurst Golf & Country Club.

Tim Katanski, Ypsilanti 71-69-140
Jonathan Pauli, DeWitt 73-70-143
Nick Carbary, Kalamazoo 71-72-143
Tom Werkmeister, Kentwood 70-73-143
Eric Lilleboe, Okemos 73-71-144
Matthew Thompson, Battle Creek 70-74-144
Martin Jeppesen, Ypsilanti 73-71-144
Payne Gniewek, Trenton 74-71-145

Familiar names atop Michigan Amateur first-round leaderboard

Clarkston, MI – Difficult conditions at Oakhurst Golf & Country Club led to plenty of high scores in the first round of stroke play qualifying at the 99th Michigan Amateur Championship on Tuesday, June 22, 2010. The championship field of 156 Michigan players faced a constant swirling wind, 3 to 4 1/2-inch rough, and green speeds stimping at 10 1/2. Only two players shot under par, and 71 players shot 80 or over.

Defending champion, Tom Werkmeister of Kentwood, and University of Michigan junior-to-be Matt Thompson of Battle Creek, last year's runner-up, both shot 70. The duo attributed their solid rounds to consistency and talked about the difficulty of the greens.

“I got off to a good start and turned at one over”, Thompson said. “I birdied holes #16 and #17 which calmed my nerves. This course fits my game. It’s probably one of the toughest courses that the Michigan Amateur Championship has ever been played on.”

Werkmeister had this to say: “I played really badly yesterday during my practice round and didn’t know what was going to happen today,” he said. “I was consistent. I had two birdies on holes #5 and #7 and one bogey. I played the tough par 3’s even par – so I was happy with that. It was very windy and we did get caught in the rain early on but overall I’m happy.”

Stroke play continues Wednesday morning at 7:30 a.m. Following Wednesday’s round, the 36-hole stroke play medalist will be determined and a hole-by-hole playoff will take place, if necessary, to cut the field to an even 64 players for match play. Match play begins Thursday morning with two rounds of matches on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.

* Here is the leaderboard following Tuesday’s first round of stroke play at the 99th Michigan Amateur Championship played on the par-71 Oakhurst Golf & Country Club:

Matthew Thompson, Battle Creek 37-33-70

Tom Werkmeister, Kentwood 34-36-70

Nick Carbary, Kalamazoo 37-34-71

Tim Katanski, Ypsilanti 36-35-71

Greg Reynolds, Grand Blanc 37-35-72

Jeff Champine, Rochester Hills 35-37-72

Martin Jeppesen, Ypsilanti 37-36-73

Eric Lilleboe, Okemos 36-37-73

Erik Schleicher, Grosse Pte Shores 38-35-73

Eric Spencer, Bloomfield Hills 37-36-73

Kevin Klemet, White Lake 37-36-73

Steven Fedewa, Howell 36-37-73

Jonathan Pauli, DeWitt 36-37-73

Anthony Sorentino, Shelby Twp, 35-38-73

99th Michigan Amateur set to tee off at Oakhurst in Clarkston

Golfers teeing it up in this week's Michigan Amateur will have their hands full with the treacherous greens of the Oakhurst Golf & Country Club in Clarkston.

The 99th Michigan Amateur, run by the Golf Association of Michigan, tees off with stroke play on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by 64 players who then advance to match play starting Thursday until a champion is crowned Sunday.



Tom Werkmeister, 42, of Kentwood, returns to defend his title.

"It's been a privilege being champion," he said at media day Monday. "I've lived on a cloud the past 12 months. It's something that you can never take away from me."

Werkmeister beat the University of Michigan's Matt Thompson in last year's final, but even he concedes Thompson will be tough to beat this year. Thompson, a sophomore, was all-Big Ten after setting a Wolverine scoring record average of 72 for 18 holes during the season.

"I can't see him staying an amateur much longer," Werkmeister said.

Thompson hopes to seal the deal this summer.

“I was able to compete to (nearly) win some tournaments (within the last year),” Thompson told mlive.com. “I put myself in position and was close to the lead going into the last rounds. Hopefully I can get in position and figure out how to close some of those tournaments out.”

Oakhurst should be a great match-play venue, according to all involved. There are several potential drivable par-4s, notably the 303-yard 16th hole. Dean Horn, the president of Oakhurst, said the course, which opened in 1998, has never been in better shape. The beautiful 40,000-square-foot clubhouse will provide many a comfortable home base for all involved.

Michigan golf legend Dan Pohl, who won twice on the PGA Tour, said the Arthur Hills course has the toughest set of greens he's ever had to read.

"The eyes show you one thing and the ball will go the opposite," agrees Bruce Baringer, a four-time club champion who will have the home-course advantage this week.

Ken Hartmann, the senior director of rules and competitions for the GAM, said the par 3s will make or break the players.

"No. 8 (200 yards), No. 12 (189 yards) and No. 14 (175 yards) are pretty nasty," he said.



Oakhurst plans to use the tournament to showcase its course and facilities. The club has added 35 new members this year, despite the economic challenges of the golf scene in metro Detroit. The club, built inside a 400-home community, boasts 300 members, a large pool, tennis courts and a market next to the clubhouse.

"There is a heartbeat here," Horn said. " ... We like to think the best years are ahead of us."