FULLER CUP MATCHES: PGA Stops Streak, Tops GAM 10-8

BIRMINGHAM – The PGA Team won seven of the 12 singles matches to end a five-year losing streak and win the 51st Fuller Cup Matches, 10-8, on Monday at Birmingham Country Club.

Wins late in the day by Kosta Ramirez of the Mines Golf Course in Grand Rapids and Patrick Wilkes-Krier of Kendall Academy in Ypsilanti made for the final two-point margin. Ramirez topped Jared Lyons of Portage 2 and 1, and Wilkes-Krier beat Charles DeLong of DeWitt 1-up.

Other PGA winners included Jim Deiters of Midland Country Club, Scott Hebert of Traverse City Golf & Country Club, Kyle Dobbs of Tap-Ins Golf in Howell, Jeff Roth of BOYNE Golf, and Matt Thompson, the golf coach at Hillsdale College.

GAM winners in singles included Chad Johnson of Farmington Hills, Lorenzo Pinili of Rochester Hills and Michigan State University’s golf team, Bradley Smithson of Grand Rapids and Michigan State, Greg Davies of West Bloomfield and Nick Krueger of Spring Lake and Grand Valley State’s golf team.

The morning four-ball matches ended in a 3-3 tie. The GAM won the first two matches of the afternoon, but then the PGA won five consecutive matches to set the stage for a win.

The PGA, which dominated the matches in the first three decades of play, now lead the series 36-13-2.

The format has changed over the years, but the matches are presented to promote sportsmanship, friendship and quality golf among professionals and amateurs. The matches are named for the late Ernest Fuller, a Michigan golf course developer. The GAM team is selected through the use of the GAM Honor Roll and availability, and the PGA selects its team from the players who won Section events in the last year, the host Professional and its Player of the Year Points.

FootJoy and Levelwear were the clothing sponsors for the teams, and Birmingham CC hosted the event for the matches for the third time (1990, 2018, 2023)..