Kimberly Dinh: GAM Women’s Player of the Year
By Greg Johnson
In September Kimberly Dinh of Midland was the first Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) member to win the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship, and recently her golf club, Midland Country Club, hosted a special celebration of that accomplishment.
“I’m still searching for perspective,” she said that night surrounded by friends and family at her club. “I mean, I exceeded all expectations and that happens so rarely in golf.”
The national championship put her far and away on top of the 2023 GAM Points List and Dinh has been named the GAM Women’s Player of the Year for the third consecutive year. Player of the Year point totals can be found on a pull down from the PLAY tab at GAM.org.
“Winning the U.S. Mid-Am made it an incredible season, but winning Player of the Year again is a nice cherry on top,” she said. “I’m so grateful for the opportunities to compete. The competition I face in our Michigan tournaments pushes me, keeps me working on my game.”
Dinh, age 31 and an associate research scientist at DOW Chemical, rallied from a 3-down deficit by winning six of the final seven holes to claim the 36th U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship on the North Course at Stonewall in Elverson, Pa. She beat Kelsey Chugg of Salt Lake City, Utah, the 2017 champion, 2-up in the title match.
That win, another win in the GAM Mid-Amateur Championship and a semifinal appearance in the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship helped her build 1,090 Player of the Year points. Chelsea Collura of Wyandotte, a member at West Shore Golf & Country Club, was a local qualifier medalist for the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur and winner of the GAM Women’s Tournament of Champions. She finished second with 635 points.
Dinh played collegiately at the University of Wisconsin, then played club golf as she made her way through the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said she didn’t expect this level of success in the sport.
“I knew golf would always be a part of my life. One of the reasons I still compete is because during college I got a lot better and really learned to appreciate that when I put a lot of effort into it, I can improve so much.”
