Traverse City’s Grace Slocum Wins 35th GAM Women’s Championship

By Greg Johnson

    ST. CLAIR – Grace Slocum’s five-shot lead dwindled to one when she bogeyed holes 9 through 12, and a little later it was her University of Wisconsin teammate, Kate Brody of Grand Blanc, who made a dramatic push to close the gap with an eagle-3 on the par 5 15th hole at St. Clair Golf Club.

    And that was just a minute or so after Logan Bentley of Addison and Oakland University made a hole-in-one in the group ahead of them on hole 16.

    “Obviously I know Kate is a wicked good golfer, so I was not shocked when that eagle putt went in,” Slocum said. “I felt some pressure. It was a little crazy there, but I knew I still had the lead, and that I still needed to make some shots.”

     Slocum did make some shots, including making an all-important birdie, on hole 17, with a wedge shot to six feet that gave her a two-shot lead going to 18. The 19-year-old who just finished her freshman year at Wisconsin closed with a careful bogey, a round of 74 for 1-under 143 and the win in the 35th GAM Women’s Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland.

    It was the Traverse City native’s first GAM win since she was a junior golfer at 15, and after a few close calls, including being runner-up a year ago in the GAM Women’s Championship.

    “It feels great because I’ve been pretty close to winning in the past year or so, and finally winning another GAM tournament means a lot,” she said. “I was struggling with the speed of the greens out there, coming up too short, or going too long during the middle of the round. I was glad I was able to make a few at the end. And I have to thank my caddie, Josh, (her twin brother). He’s my caddie in a lot of tournaments and very good at reading putts.”

    Brody ended up with a 72 and 144 total, one shot shy of her Badger teammate. Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, the recent GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur champion, made 18 pars in a 72 for 145 and third place.