Harbor Springs, MI – Chad Kurmel, professional at the Spartan Golf Academy at MSU has really taking a liking to the golf courses at The Highlands, formerly known as Boyne Highlands as he picked up his third strait Adidas State Pro Am title. This time however it was with a new partner, amateur August Meekhoff.
115 teams teed it up in this scratch best ball pro-am event using the Hills and Heather Courses at The Highlands and sponsored by Adidas. Teams played both the Arthur Hills and Heather Courses on Monday and then were repaired by score for their second round on Tuesday on the other course.
Heavy rains on Monday made things difficult for players and staff as play was delayed for approximate 3 hours as the golf courses became unplayable. After a break in the weather and a lot of maintenance work on the greens teams were able to get back on the course and all but one group was able to finish the round.
After round 1 it was 3 teams tied at the top with rounds of -7 under par. The teams of professional Jeff Caminiti from Maple Hill Golf Course and his amateur partner Ricky Shilts and professional Kyle Dobbs from Oak Pointe Country Club and his amateur partner Jay Phillion had rounds of 65 on The Hills and professional Zach Rosendale from MSU Forest Akers and his amateur partner Caroline Ellis had 65 on The Heather.
With a crowded leaderboard and sitting two shots back after a round of 67 on The Heather Chad and August knew it would take a really good score on The Hills to have a chance. That is exactly what they did with a great round of -8 under par, 64 on The Hills to win by one shot !
Heading into the par 5 18th hole on the Hills they knew they were tied for the lead and needed to make birdie. This looked a little less likely after August hit his tee shot into the water. He then proceeded to take a drop and hit an 8 iron to about 10 feet and make the putt for the birdie – clinching the victory !
The Spartan trend continues as August Meekhof is a sophomore at MSU and a member of the golf team and Chad won the event the last two years with Dan Ellis, the Assistant coach of the MSU Men’s Golf Team.
We would like to thank our host site The Highlands. Their staff and the resort continues to impress every year. The golf courses drew rave reviews from the players as the condition was excellent despite the heavy rains on Monday.
We would also like to thank our sponsor Adidas. This is the 5th year in a row that Adidas has been the sponsor of this event. They set up the Mobile Pro Shop again this year in the Country Club of Boyne where each player received $100 to spend there. We appreciate their continued support of this event and the Michigan PGA Section.
For complete results click HERE