97th Michigan Amateur

June 15–21, 2008

The 97th Michigan Amateur Championship was played at The Moors Golf Club in Portage from June 17-21, 2008. The Moors, established in 1979 as a private golf club for those who love the game, hosted this most prestigious event three years after hosting the Michigan Junior Amateur Championship. Designed by Arthur Hills, The Moors is immaculately maintained and features, arguably, the three most difficult collective finishing holes in the Midwest. This was the first time the Championship as been in the Kalamazoo/Portage area since Gull Lake CC hosted the event in 1950.

The Championship Field of 156 golfers was determined through exemptions and twelve sectional qualifiers held May 5-31. The Michigan Amateur is open to all amateur golfers residing in Michigan with a USGA Handicap Index not exceeding 5.4. The Championship has included five Moors members in the field the last two years with John Barry reaching the semi-finals two years ago. In this year's event, Barry, Mitch Wilson, and Adam Anderson represented The Moors.

The Championship Field played 18 holes of stroke play on Tuesday, June 17 and Wednesday, June 18 to determine the 64-player match play field. Brian Hayward and Randy Hutchison had the lowest 36-hole total, were named co-medalist and have their names engraved on the Charles Kocsis Medalist Trophy.

Match play began on Thursday, June 19, with a morning round of matches followed by a second round of match play in the afternoon. By the end of the day, the field was reduced to the “Sweet Sixteen”, who were honored at the annual Sweet Sixteen Dinner that night. Match Play continued on Friday and Saturday, June 20 and 21, with two rounds of matches per day. All three Moors members made it to the match play. John Barry lost his first round match, Mitch Wilson won his opening match to reach the round of 32, and Adam Anderson won three matches to reach the Elite Eight, before losing a close match to Mark Schoenborn. The 18-hole Championship Match between Jimmy Chestnut and Steve Cuzzort was played Saturday afternoon. Jimmy Chestnut was crowned 2008 Michigan Amateur Champion on Saturday.