Men’s & Women’s MI Amatuer
Spring Lake’s Nick Krueger Wins 111th Michigan Amateur Championship
By Greg Johnson
A pair of 21-year-olds, both with two years of college eligibility remaining, battled to the end, and an extra 19th hole when the first 18 ended all square, to determine the winner of the 111th Michigan Amateur.
Nick Krueger of Spring Lake and Grand Valley State University lost a lead, rallied with dramatic shots and won the title, at Hawk Hollow in East Lansing, July 1.
Krueger turned back Patrick Deardorff of Clarkston, and Eastern Michigan University.
After ending the front 9 all-square, Krueger had a 2-up lead through 12 holes when Deardorff rallied by winning holes 13, 14 and 15 to take a 1-up lead. He had that same lead at No. 18 tee before Krueger rolled in a downhill 20-foot putt for birdie to tie the match and force extra holes.
On the 19th hole of the match, hole No. 1 at Hawk Hollow, Deardorff missed the fairway for the first time in eight rounds this week, pulling his tee shot into the marsh penalty area along the right side of the fairway. After a drop from an unplayable lie and a few more shots, Krueger, a Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference individual champion in 2021, was conceded a birdie putt for the biggest victory of his golf career.
“You dream of making putts on 18 like that to win events like this and it is so cool to be able to finally be in that position and come home with a win,” he said. “It means a lot, and I know this tournament has a lot of history, and it means so much to be able to compete in this and be one of the names on that trophy.”
His march to win the historic Staghorn Trophy included a tense 1-up morning semifinal win over August Meekhof of Eastmanville and Michigan State University, while Deardorff was topping the Hawk Hollow home course hero, David Szymanski of Holt, 2 and 1 in the other semifinal.
“If you told me at the start of the week that I was going to come in second and go 20 holes in the championship match against a high-level player like Nick Krueger, I’d be like, heck yeah, I’ll take that right now,” Deardorff concluded.
Anci Dy Tops Her Sister Anika Dy to Win Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship in a First-Ever Sister Showdown
By Tom Lang, with Greg Johnson contributing
The Dy sisters apparently wanted more family time; well, at least 3 holes worth in the Michigan Women’ Amateur.
Playing golf side-by-side their entire childhood and in high school at Traverse City West before splitting off to college – Anika to U-M and the younger Anci to the Univ. of Indianapolis – on a Friday in mid-June at Great Oaks CC, they went 21 holes before deciding the winner of the 106th GAM Women’s Amateur Championship.
Anci won it on the par 3, 3rd hole.
The sister showdown – the first ever in the championship’s rich century-plus history – was set up in the semifinals when Anika turned back Western Michigan University-bound Megha Vallabhaneni of Northville 3 and 2 in the morning, and Anci outlasted Anika’s Wolverine teammate and last year’s Am runner-up, Mikaela Schulz of West Bloomfield, in 20 holes.
The Dy sister’s both shed tears when it was finished, some due to exhaustion from five consecutive days of golf (plus three holes) and some from the closeness of family and what it all means to both of them. Mom, Tess Dy, got into the hug-fest as well to congratulate both of her daughters for a well-played match.
“I think she’s really proud of me,” said Anci, 19, of her big sister, who’s actually a little smaller in stature. “I think she was able to see where I’ve come from with my game from a few years ago to now. I feel like, actually, I know she is going to try extra hard to get me the next time, but for today, she’s really proud of me.”
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