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
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