Bartnick Wins 11th GAM Super Senior Championship

David Bartnick of Livonia Wins 11th GAM Super Senior Championship

  SAGINAW – David Bartnick said competitive golf doesn’t get easier with age, but winning is as special as ever.

  The 66-year-old Livonia resident shot a closing even-par 71 Tuesday to win the 11th GAM Super Senior Championship presented by Saint John’s Resort at Saginaw Country Club.

  He birdied the 18th hole for a two-day final total of 1-under 141, four shots better than Mike Raymond of Jackson, who shot 71 to close at 145, and Greg Zeller of Jackson, who shot 74 for 145.

  Ian Harris of Bloomfield Hills, the Super Senior champion in 2018 and ’19, shot 75 for 146 and fourth place. Four golfers tied at 147.

   “I was starting to play pretty well the last couple of weeks, and I was looking forward to this tournament, trying to get ready for it the last two or three weeks,” said Bartnick, the 2018 GAM Senior Amateur Champion.

  “This (win) is right up there because as I get older, it’s not easy to get out there and compete and there are some very, very good players that are out still playing at our age. This is right up there with winning the senior seven years ago. It feels great.”

 Bartnick wasn’t the only champion crowned.

   In the Legends Division for golfers age 70-plus, Michael Parker of Lapeer shot 70 for 139 and won by nine shots.

  Tied for second at 148 were Terry Moore of Grand Rapids, the 2015 Super Senior champion, who shot 72 to close, and Mike Fedewa of Canton, who shot 73.

  John Armstrong of Plymouth, who shot 74 for 149, and Dan Hughes of Saginaw, who shot 71 for 151, rounded out the top five.

  The Grand Legend Trophy for the lowest score by a player over age 75 went to Moore, who turned 75 this year.

  Bartnick, the owner of DB Communications, started his final round with birdie and rallied to the birdie finish after making bogeys at holes 13, 14 and 16.

  “It was really competitive out there,” he said. “It was going back and forth, and it was tied for a while. I made a strong birdie at 18 for a good finish.”

   Raymond, 71 and electing to play for the Super Senior title, won a scorecard playoff for the second-place trophy. He said he didn’t look at live scoring and had no idea he finished second.

  “I thought I probably had to get it to 3-under,” he said. “I never looked. I knew I was far enough back that somebody was going to play well. I’m not shocked that Dave finished under par.”

RESULTS: GAM.org or on the Golf Genius App.