Michigan Golf Journal June 2021

Michigan Golf Journal Players Watch List Ongoing Success Nationally for GAM Winners By Tom Lang Young competitive golfers from Michigan often test their skills in Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) tournaments throughout their teenage years and college days – many of them focused on a dream of reaching the professional level. Success stories include Brian Stuard of Jackson earning a PGA Tour win in the 2016 Zurich Classic and continuing to add to his 20-career top 10 finishes and $11 million-plus in PGA Tour career earnings. There’s Ryan Brehm of Traverse City and Joey Garber of Petoskey – both former Michigan Amateur champions and both grabbing PGA Tour Korn Ferry wins – playing regularly on that tour (Garber) and the PGA Tour (Brehm) most of the last three years. Mt. Pleasant native Kelly Robbins had a solid LPGA Tour career (9 wins), and Farmington Hills native Meg Mallon (1983 Michigan Women’s Amateur) is in the World Golf Hall of Fame after a 23-year pro career filled with 18 wins, including two U.S. Women’s Open titles and eight consecutive Solheim Cup teams. Liz Nagel of DeWitt is currently on the LPGA Tour carving out her dream. Here are four younger golfers to watch: Sarah White : White – a 2014 high school state champion from East Kentwood – took full advantage of the first time she got into an LPGA Symetra Tour event by winning the Founders Tribute, in August of 2020. The former high school hockey player on the East Kentwood boys’ team scored a final hole birdie for a 15-under par score to edge out Sophia Popov by one stroke, the day prior to Popov heading overseas and shocking the world by winning the 2020 Women’s British Open. White has full Symetra Tour status for 2021.