Trenton’s Laura Bavaird Wins GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur
By Greg Johnson
Laura Bavaird has been there and done that as a competitive golfer, but she found another first in golf.
The two-time Michigan Women’s Amateur champion, former collegiate standout at Western Michigan University and winner of the 2010 Canadian PGA Women’s Championship as a tour professional, won the 27th GAM Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship at Twin Lakes Golf & Swim Club.
It was her first Mid-Amateur title and her first GAM title since being reinstated as an amateur in 2021. She did it with a 65-70-135, 10 shots clear of the field.
“I mean, once a competitor, always a competitor, whether that’s amateur or pro, so it’s important for me to retain that identity,” said the 39-year GAM Foundation director. “I work hard to maintain my game for that reason.”
Defending champion Elayna Bowser of Dearborn and 2022 champion Chelsea Collura of Riverview, tied at 145.
A Senior Division champion and a 19-24 age group champion were also determined.
The Senior champion was GAM’s most decorated golfer, 11-time Mid-Amateur champion Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett, who won for the second consecutive year in the Senior Division. The age 19-to-24 winner was Elise Fennell of Caledonia, an Illinois State University golfer who was recently named Missouri Valley Conference Freshman of the Year.
Slobodnik-Stoll, the head women’s golf coach at Michigan State, shot a 1-under 141 total for the two rounds. Lori Schlicher of Lewiston, last year’s GAM Senior Women’s Player of the Year, shot 147 for second.
Slobodnik-Stoll was pleased she was able to win despite not having spent much practice time as she was busy coaching the Spartans through the NCAA Championships, and last week she caddied for one of her players, Brooke Biermann, in the U.S. Women’s Open at Erin Hills in Wisconsin.
“Being on the bag (for Brooke) was inspiring and so I tried to take what I saw there and absorb it in place of having time to practice,” she said.
Fennell won the younger group competition by six shots – which included her first ever hole-in-one (6-iron, 161 yards, hole 16), for a two-day total of 146.
