By Greg Johnson- for www.skyviewsports.net– AUGUSTA, Mich. –
Jared Aldrich of Ada and Derek Blodgett of Rockford, a pair of 43-year-old salesmen, survived a three-hole aggregate net score playoff and won the 10th GAM Team Chapman Championship presented by Summit Golf Brands Wednesday at Gull Lake View Golf Club and Resort’s Stoatin Brae Course.
“Honestly, it was an all-around ham-and-egg win,” Aldrich said. “Derek’s short game was on par with his chipping, and I was putting well, and if I didn’t drive it well, he did. It was a true ham-and-egg win for us.”
Aldrich and Blodgett shot a 5-under 66 in regulation in the unique format, as did Justin Scollin of Royal Oak and Matt White of Whitmore Lake setting up the playoff, which was also played with net scoring.
“We pulled it off scrambling on the first two holes of the playoff (holes 1 and 2), somehow making a bogey when we were both in the tall grass on the second hole,” Aldrich said. “There was pressure there that we are not used to, but we did make a good solid par on the third hole of the playoff (hole 18) to win it.”
The team of Jonathan Joseph of Wyoming and Justin Knoper of Grandville and the duo of Kevin Demorest and Robert Tuson of Clarkston tied for third after net rounds of 68.
A field of 42 teams played 18 holes of net stroke play in the format that calls for each player on the team to hit tee shots and then play the teammate or partner’s ball for the second shot. After the second shot the partners then select the ball with which they wish to score and play that ball alternately to complete the hole.
“This is the third time that we have played in this (tournament), and we were in contention the last time we did it, too,” Blodgett said. “The format is enjoyable, especially for a kind of higher handicap player that I am. It helps when you have a lower handicap player that can get you off the tee and then I can kind of contribute where I’m best around the pin.”