Dinh Leads Michigan Women’s Am With Opening 65

109TH MICHIGAN WOMEN’S AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Midland’s Kimberly Dinh Shoots 65, Sets Pace at Eagle Eye

  EAST LANSING – Kimberly Dinh knew she was making progress with her putting. She could see it in practice.

  The 32-year-old associate research scientist at Dow Chemical saw it on the course Monday shooting a 7-under 65 in the first round at the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship presented by Carl’s Golfland at Eagle Eye Golf & Banquet Center.

  “It was nice to see some putts drop,” said the 2023 U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Champion and 2021 Michigan Women’s Amateur champion. “The progress showed up on the course finally.”

  Dinh’s 65, two shots shy of the women’s course record, led by three shots through the first of two rounds of stroke play.

  Anika Dy of Traverse City, the former University of Michigan golfer, shot 68 to stand second.

  University of Wisconsin golfer Kate Brody of Grand Blanc shot 70 and was third alone.

  Three more collegiate players shot 71, including Olivia Stoll of Haslett and Grand Valley State University, Bridget Boczar of Canton and Baylor University and Elise Fennell of Caledonia and Illinois State University, who was the runner-up in the championship last year.

   Macie Elzinga of Byron Center and Bowling Green State University, 2017 champion Elayna Bowser of Dearborn, Kamryn Shannon of Jackson and Ferris State University and Olivia Hemmila of Troy at Oakland University all shot even-par 72.

  Defending champion Shannon Kennedy of Beverly Hills and Michigan State University was among the golfers who shot 73.

  The field will play another 18 holes of stroke play Tuesday to determine the low 32 scorers to fill out the match play bracket. The round of 32 will be played Wednesday with the round of 16 and quarterfinal matches on Thursday and the semifinals and final match on Friday.

   Dinh, who hit 17 of the 18 greens in the first round, said being a stroke play medalist is nice, and she will make the effort to be the medalist and top seed in the second round.

    “But that’s not the ultimate goal of this tournament,” she said. “I’ll concentrate on playing steady golf and not try to force anything. I don’t get a whole lot of competitive tournament rounds in anymore, so I’m trying to use these two days to shake some rust and get through some of the nerves that come with competition. It’s a long week if you keep playing well, so I just try to get a little better each day.

  She said saving par at hole No. 6 with a 10-foot putt, which is where she missed her only green, helped keep the round together, but the highlight shot was on the hole before. She hit it to three feet on No. 5.

  “Then I birdied (No. 7) too,” she said. “That was a good stretch there, but mainly I played steady. I hit a lot of greens, hit a lot of sensible shots and just didn’t get myself in any trouble.”

  Dy, who won the 2019 Michigan Women’s Open Championship as a 17-year-old amateur, said she was surprised with how well things went in the first round.

  “I wasn’t sure that 68 was in the cards,” she said. “I don’t play golf too much anymore. I ran a half-marathon just a few days ago. But I came out and putts started dropping.”

  Dy said the putter was the key.

  “Honestly I didn’t hit it very good,” she said. “I got lucky a few times, a couple of long putts went in and then I hit it close a few times and happened to make those putts, too. It kept me out of trouble.”

RESULTS: Visit GAM.org