ROCHESTER – Oakland University’s popular Katke-Cousin Golf Course will host the GAM Tournament of Champions and GAM Senior Tournament of Champions Monday.
Male and female champions will be decided when The Tournament of Champions plays in the morning, and senior male and female champions will be determined in the Senior Tournament of Champions in afternoon action.
A field of 105 golfers, each eligible for having won a GAM member club championship or a GAM title during the 2020 golf season, will play in the final 18-hole stroke play tournaments in celebration of the season.
Oakland University is home to the two award-winning golf courses and the Golf & Learning Center, which includes a Rick Smith Academy.
Several professional and amateur tournaments have been hosted on the courses in recent years, including the 2015 Tournament of Champions, GAM qualifiers, high school championships and the Michigan PGA Professional Championship. It’s also home to the collegiate teams of Oakland University.
The Katke-Cousins Golf Course, named for benefactors Marvin Katke and Harold Cousins, opened in 1977 and was designed by Michigan designer Bill Newcomb with architect Bob Beard on the sprawling Meadow Brook Hall grounds. The parkland-style course with classic features can be played from five sets of tees up to 7,225 yards.
The other facility course is the R&S Sharf Course, named for benefactors Stephan and Rita Sharf, which opened in 2000 and was designed by noted teacher and designer Rick Smith.
Manager Bill Rogers, a PGA professional, heads the staff at Oakland U., which includes PGA Professional Perry Busse and Superintendent Tom Schall. For more information on the facilities, visit oakland.edu/ougolf.com.
Julie Massa of Holt won both the Senior women’s TOC and women’s TOC titles last year because she was eligible to play in both and they were on different days at different sites. Massa, who will be inducted into the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame in 2021, has won the season-ending senior women’s title three consecutive years and won the women’s TOC title twice in the past.
Jack Versau of Portage is defending his men’s title and Kevin Klemet of White Lake is defending his senior men’s title.
Also returning are 2017 winner David Praet of Lake Orion, 2015 winner Anthony Sorentino of Rochester Hills, 2011 women’s champion Ashley Crain of Bloomfield Hills, 2016 senior women’s winner Terry Delcamp of Grand Blanc and 2014 senior women’s winner Barb Schmid of Grand Rapids. Delcamp is also a two-time winner from 2008 and 2014. She is playing in the senior tournament this year.
