GAM Junior Championships

Tommy Preston Wins both the GAM Boys and the Mich Junior Championships for Season Sweep

By Greg Johnson

    Tommy Preston of Grand Rapids rallied to win the Michigan Junior Amateur Championship, then weeks later, won the GAM Boys’ Championship, for the season sweep of the top two junior events for boys on the GAM schedule.

    Preston was struggling to find fairways with his tee shots early in the title match of the Michigan Junior Amateur at Bedford Valley Golf Club, and faced a 2-down deficit to Harris Hoekwater, also of Grand Rapids, through eight holes.

   Then things changed – suddenly. He chipped in from 35 feet on No. 9 for a birdie, rolled in a 30-foot putt on No. 10 for a birdie and made a 15-foot putt for another birdie on 11 for a 1-up lead.

    One of Preston’s goals for 2026 was to win GAM Junior Boys’ Player of the Year honors after being the GAM 15-and-Under Junior Boys’ Player of the Year in 2025.  The 16-year-old took a giant step toward that mission by shooting a 6-under 66 in the final round to win the GAM Boys’ Championship at Polo Fields Golf & Country Club by four shots.

MICHIGAN GIRLS’ JUNIOR AMATEUR: Sixtine Charnelet Rallies to Win 

   EAST LANSING – Sixtine Charnelet of Bloomfield Hills was in trouble at the turn in the final match of the 48th Michigan Girls’ Junior Amateur Championship.

   Her opponent, 12-year-old Lilo Tsai of Ann Arbor, the surprise of the tournament Tsai, as the youngest stroke play medalist in the tournament’s history, had a 3-up lead at the turn at Forest Akers West Golf Course.

   “I just battled through,” said the 15-year-old Charnelet, who rallied with a 3-under back nine for a 2-up win in what will be her last GAM tournament because her family is scheduled to move back to her native France.

   “It means so much to win this,” she said. “I haven’t won a GAM event before, and it's really nice to win one, but also because I’m leaving. It’s like a good way to finish, and it’s match play. I love match play.”