GAM WOMEN’S FOUR-BALL: Lori Schlicher and Donna Tepper, Rachel Niskanen and Zoe Dull Emerge as Winning Teams
(Pictured above: Rachel Niskanen and Zoe Dull, left, and Donna Tepper and Lori Schlicher, right.)
GRAND BLANC – Lori Schlicher of Lewiston and Donna Tepper of Grosse Pointe Park got the win after runner-up finishes the last two years, and Central Michigan University teammates-to-be Rachel Niskanen of Negaunee and Zoe Dull of Spring Lake already have the teamwork thing worked out.
Schlicher and Tepper won the Senior Division and Niskanen and Dull won the Overall Division in the 15th GAM Women’s Four-Ball Championship presented by Saint John’s Resort Tuesday at Atlas Valley Golf Club.
The two teams will have their names inscribed on the permanent tournament trophy, which is named The Garety/Hiestand Trophy in honor of Michigan Golf Hall of Fame members Joan Garety and Mary Jane Hiestand.
Garety and her longtime four-ball teammate Terry Delcamp were the defending champions and have their names on the trophy eight times.
They finished second this time to Schlicher and Tepper, who shot a final 2-under 70 for 141 and a three-shot win. Garety, who is from Ada, and Delcamp, who is formerly of Grand Blanc, closed with a 73 for 144.
Two teams finished at 151, including Debra Horning of Bloomfield Hills and Lori Rogers of Macomb, who shot a final 77, and Brenda Deona of Portage and Chris Zeigler of Kalamazoo, who shot 76.
Schlicher and Tepper felt like they were due to win together.
“This is our third time playing together and we finished second the last two times, so we wanted to get this one and it was fun,” Schlicher said.
Tepper said neither one of them is a leaderboard watcher, so they ignored it and tried to put a good round together.
“We knew it was tight at the end because we were playing with (Garety and Delcamp),” she said. “We both had moments, some better than others, but we ham and egged it pretty well and we had some great putting today. Our putting was strong.”
Tepper said they had a few nervous moments coming in when they both ended up in the trees on Nos. 15 and 16.
“But we finished strong,” Schlicher said. “We hit some good shots on the last few holes. We persevered.”
In the overall division Dull and Niskanen shot a 4-under 68, including birdies in three of their last five holes, and finished at 3-under 141.
Logan Bentley of Petoskey and Rachel Fay of Addison, both headed to Oakland University this fall, shot 67 for 142, and high school golfer Annie Flavin of Plymouth and Brooke Morris of Canton and Central Michigan University shot a final 66 for 143 and third place.
Dull, who will be a freshman at CMU, met Niskanen, who will be a junior, on a recruiting trip last fall. Niskanen was her host team member and the two became fast friends.
“She texted me earlier this summer and asked if I wanted to play in the four-ball and I was in,” Dull said.
Niskanen said after Monday’s round they counted 21 birdie chances of which they converted one in a round of 73.
“We got fired up to do better,” she said. “We didn’t really talk about winning. We didn’t look at the leaderboard. We just tried to play better, and it happened.”
They figured out the teamwork thing to the point they took turns worrying about holes.
“We alternate who worries and the other just plays, and we did it the whole time,” Niskanen said.
Dull said it was exciting mainly because they played much better on the second day.
“We hit a lot of good shots and made some putts today,” she said.
Niskanen said Dull will be a great addition to the CMU team.
“It’s super exciting having Zoe coming into our team,” she said. “I’m super happy with how it went the last couple of days. We did some good bonding.”
RESULTS: See GAM.org or the Golf Genius App.
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