Golf notebook: Michigan's Joey Garber, Greenhills' Henry Do start strong in Junior State Amateur

Posted on Thu, Aug 12, 2010 : 10:12 a.m.

A pair of the area’s top male golfers are battling in Dearborn, three women with local ties finished near the top of the leaderboard in East Lansing, and a bevy of the area’s up-and-coming juniors took to the fairways in Ann Arbor in what was the busiest week of the summer for local golfers.

Incoming Michigan freshmen Joey Garber, who earlier this summer won the Michigan Amateur, and Ann Arbor Greenhills’ sophomore Henry Do, who finished second at the Boyne Tournament of Champions, finished the stroke play portion of the Golf Association of Michigan’s 32nd Junior State Amateur in first and second place, respectively.

The only separation between the two came from Garber’s one-stroke edge on the opening day when he shot a five-under 67 to Do’s 68. Garber finished with a 13-under 203 and is alone in first. Do is tied for second with Evan Bowser of Dearborn at 204.

Playing at the 85-year old Dearborn Country Club, the four-day event is in match play. The top 16 players after stroke play advance into a bracket that will conclude Thursday. Garber and Do both won their opening match-play rounds on Wednesday and would face each other in the finals.

Michigan freshman Caramia Sitompul had one of the lowest day-two scores at the 19th GAM Women’s Championship Tuesday, firing a one-over par 73 at Forest Akers Golf Course. That was good enough to put her in a fifth place tie at 150.

Natalie Brehm, playing on her home course, won with a 146. Darby Peters, an Eastern Michigan junior who lost in a playoff at this event last year, shot 74-76 to join the group of four golfers tied with Sitompul in fifth. Elise Swartout, a Pioneer High School graduate who then played for Western Michigan, tied for 17th with a 155.

At Huron Hills, Saline High School's Steven Cole shot a final-round 70 to erase an eight-shot deficit in the final round of the Herb Fowler Memorial Junior Championship. Cole trailed Logan Simmonds of Howell 138-146 heading into Wednesday’s final round.

Simmonds shot 79 Wednesday, in a round that was delayed an hour and a half by storms. Pioneer grad Zach Averill, who was tied with Cole heading into the final round, shot a 71 to finish a stroke behind the champ.

In the girls flight, Saline junior Karla Gross led wire-to-wire, nearly becoming the first girl in the history of the tournament to shoot the lowest score. Her 74 Wednesday gave her a tournament total 217, one stroke behind boys champs Cole and 13 better than her nearest competitor, Hornet teammate Shannon Fraser.

In the under-12 Mini Fowler division (they play nine holes a day), Ann Arbor’s Arjun Lama topped Rahul Ramanathan of Ann Arbor 89-94 in the boys competition, while Jane Taylor of Ann Arbor won in a playoff with Lisa Gross, also of Ann Arbor, in the girls competition.

Ann Arbor Senior Championship: Registration is currently open for the 2010 Ann Arbor City Senior Championship, held August 21-22 at Leslie Park. Information can be found online at a2golf.org.