ROYAL OAK – Just last week Julie Massa of Holt won the GAM Senior Tournament of Champions, and this week she showed she has little trouble competing with golfers of any age by winning the GAM Tournament of Champions presented by OmniKinetics Monday at Red Run Golf Club.
“This is the last thing of the season for me and winning the last two makes me feel really fortunate,” said the 56-year-old who has been the GAM Senior Women’s Player of the Year for four consecutive years.
“I lost this one in a playoff last year to Stacy (Slobodnik-Stoll of Haslett), so it feels good to come out on top this time.”
Massa shot an even-par 72 and topped 13-year-old junior golf standout Sophie Stevens of Highland who shot 73.
“I had never met her before but obviously she can really play,” Massa said. “That’s great at age 13. This is not an easy course. You really have to make sure you are on the right side of the holes because the greens are tough. I had a few pins today where I ignored the flag and just hit it to the middle of the green. It paid off, too. I had five birdies to go with three bogeys and one double-bogey.”
Ashley Crain of Bloomfield Hills finished third with a 76, and Audrey Akins of LaSalle, the GAM Mid-Amateur champion this summer, was fourth with a 78.
Massa, who was also a Tournament of Champions winner in 2010, started on No. 10 tee and had two early birdies at 11 and 14. She made her double-bogey on 17 when she left a shot in a greenside bunker but followed it up with a birdie on 18.
“That put me back under par so I felt happy about that,” she said. “It was an interesting round. I chipped in on No. 3 from over the green. It was one of those should I chip, or should I putt decisions. I chipped and it went in so that was great. Overall, it was a pretty nice round. Making five birdies kept me going.”
The field of golfers playing in the season-ending tournament Monday were eligible by having won a GAM member club championship or a GAM title during the 2019 golf season.
