AM 14 & UNDER MATCH PLAY: Watson Mercier of Novi, Belen Berishaj of Birmingham Win

AM 14 & UNDER MATCH PLAY: Watson Mercier of Novi, Belen Berishaj of Birmingham Win

  LANSING – Watson Mercier of Novi and Belen Berishaj of Birmingham emerged as champions of the 9th GAM 14 & Under Match Play Championship presented by Absopure at Woodside Golf Course.

   Mercier, 13, topped the field of boys after beating Leland DeKorver of Jenison 1-up in the nine-hole championship match Thursday afternoon, and Berishaj, 12, topped the field of girls with a 2 and 1 nine-hole championship match win over Eleanor O’Grady of Grand Rapids.

   “It feels really great to win, it means a lot,” said Mercier who with a par on the par 3 No.8 hole took a 1-up lead and tied the final hole for the win.

  It was Mercier’s second GAM title. He won the GAM 12-and-Under Championship last summer.

  “I’ve been improving,” he said. “I was trying to get the ball on the green (in regulation) and then two-putt, and I was able to do it a lot today.”

   Mercier took the final 1-up lead in the close match at No. 8 with a chip and five-foot putt for par while DeKorver made a bogey.

  He earned his spot in the final match with a 1-up win over Liam Oostveen of Kalamazoo in the morning semifinal match. Meanwhile, DeKorver made his way to the title match with a 3 and 1 semifinal win over Graham Hammer of Traverse City.

  In the girls’ competition, Berishaj became a first-time GAM winner, though she did reach match play in the Michigan Junior Girls’ Amateur earlier this summer.

  “It’s really special to win,” she said, noting she lost to the eventual 15-and-under Michigan Girls’ Junior Amateur champion Cameron Baker in her previous match play experience. “This time I was able to beat a really good player.”

   Berishaj took a 1-up lead on the seventh hole saving par after a second shot flared right and missed the green.

  “I was able to chip it up there and make the putt though,” she said. “It was a good up-and-down.”

  At No. 8 Berishaj and O’Grady both his tee shots just short on the front apron of the green. Berishaj was able to chip and make the putt to save par once again and close out the win. She said the key for her over the two days was trying to make bunch of pars.

  “I hit a lot of greens, but when I didn’t get on the green, I made some up-and-downs,” she said.

  Berishaj said she takes the same approach for every tournament.

  “I always want to win,” she said.

  Both finalists had tough semifinal morning matches to play through to get to the title match. Berishaj had to go one-extra hole to turn back Victoria Thein McCulloch of Shelby Township, and O’Grady had to go 10 holes to top Presley Kiehler of South Lyon as well.

  The shot of the day was made by Hammer, who won his championship consolation match in the afternoon against Oostveen with the help of a hole-in-one at No. 8. He used a 5-iron for the 166-yard shot. It was his first ace.

  “I didn’t see it,” he said. “I was picking up my tee, but then I heard my dad yell.”

  Winners were determined in several flights in the tournament designed to help prepare young golfers for GAM competitions in the future. Find the results at GAM.org or on the Golf Genius App.