Golfer from Byron Center wins medal at Michigan Girls State Amateur Championship

Macie Elzinga of Byron Center shot 5 under par (70-69—139) to earn a medal at the 46th Michigan Junior Girls State Amateur Championship at Forest Akers West Golf Course in East Lansing.

She finished the match one stroke ahead of Grace Slocum of Traverse City and will lead 16 players into the match games starting Thursday.

“(Winning a medal) means everything to me,” said Elzinga, who will play at Bowling Green next season. “I’ve been playing in this tournament since I was 12, and this is the very last Junior GAM tournament of my life.”

“To be able to win this part of the tournament is something very special.”

Alena Li of Okemos, who won last year’s stroke play medal, shot 73 of 147 to become the No. 3 seed. Mia Melendez of Ann Arbor and Logan Bentley of Addison each shot 76 of 148 to round out the top five.

The under-15 division featured an eight-golfer match play tournament, with Saisha Patil of Okemos winning a medal for the second year in a row.

Patil shot a 5-under course score of 67 for 139, finishing well ahead of two players in second place – Tula Puzzuoli of Washington Township, who shot 79 for 153, and Hannah Kim of Troy, who shot 78 for 153.

“I’m really excited,” said Patil. “This is my best result so far. I’m really proud of myself. The last few weeks leading up to this were a bit tough, but I think I made a good comeback.”

Elzinga was a semifinalist at the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship this month.

“I missed a lot of shots, but I made up for the bad ones with some pretty good shots,” she said. “My putter was really hot, so that helped. I really didn’t know it would be that close (to win the medal).”

“I didn’t look at the leaderboard, but the fact that I won by just one stroke makes me very grateful that my putter worked today.”