Garber Takes Michigan Junior Amateur Title
8/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 13, 2010
DEARBORN, Mich. -- Incoming freshman Joey Garber (Petoskey, Mich./Petoskey) of the University of Michigan men's golf team made it a clean sweep of the state's amateur championships after his dramatic come-from-behind win to capture the Michigan Junior Amateur Championship title on Thursday (Aug. 12) at Dearborn Country Club.
With the win, Garber becomes the first player to capture both the Michigan Amateur and the Michigan Junior Amateur titles in the same year. It also makes him the second player to win both tournaments in the 99 years of the Michigan Am and the 32 years of the Junior Am.
Garber won his third straight junior am medalist honor with a seven-under 203 (67-70-66) in stroke play. With the No. 1 seed in match play, Garber made quick work of his first two opponents with a 7-and-5 victory over 16th seed Eric Giddings and a 4-and-3 win over ninth seed Rick Voyvodic to advance to the semifinal for the third straight year.
Garber snapped his semifinal drought and advanced to the championship with a 3-and-1 win against fifth seed Jared Dalga. In the other semifinal Tyler Pope-Furgeson defeated Evan Bowser in 19 holes.
In the final match, Garber found himself down three holes early as Pope-Furgeson took advantage with his putter. With Garber down three with seven holes remaining he began his dramatic comeback as he won the 12th hole with a birdie. With back-to-back wins on the 15th and 16th holes, Garber squared the match with just two holes remaining. After the duo halved the final two holes, the match was extended back to the first hole.
In the first extra hole, Garber smashed his drive straight down the middle leaving himself 85 yards to the pin. After knocking a sand wedge to within six feet, Garber found himself in prime position to take the hole and the title. Pope-Furgeson who hit his drive behind a tree in the right rough, faced a 20-footer for bogey and conceded the hole -- and the championship -- to Garber.
Garber, who recently was named Michigan's "Mr. Golf" for the second straight year, will be one of two newcomers -- along with signee Matt Felsenfeld -- to join a Wolverine squad that advanced to its third straight NCAA Regional appearance and includes seven returning letterwinners.
32nd Michigan Junior Amateur Championship
Dearborn Country Club (Dearborn, Mich.)
August 9-12, 2010
Joey Garber
Stroke Play, 67-70-66/203 (-7)
Match Play, No. 1 seed
First Round, defeated Eric Giddlings, 7-and-5
Quarterfinal, defeated Rick Voyvodic, 4-and-3
Semifinal, defeated Jared Dalga, 3-and-1
Championship, defeated Tyler Pope-Ferguson, 19 holes
N O T E S
• Garber becomes the first player to win both the Michigan Amateur and the Michigan Junior Amateur in the same year. In June, Garber defeated Eric Lilleboe, 2-and-1 to claim the Michigan Amateur title at the Orchard Lake Country Club (June 27).
• Garber matched Ryan Brehm as the state's only players to have won both the Michigan Amateur and the Michigan Junior Amateur. Brehm, a former All-American at Michigan State and current assistant coach, won the Junior Amateur in 2002 and the Michigan Amateur in 2007.
L I N K S
• Golf Association of Michigan
• Garber Wins Michigan Amateur Championship (MGoBlue.com) - June 27, 2010
• Incoming Wolverine Garber Named Michigan's Mr. Golf (MGoBlue.com) - July 1, 2010
• Historic Double (Petoskey News) - August 12, 2010
Contact: Tom Wywrot (734) 763-4423
