Slade leads after first day of county tourney

Spencer Slade of Ann Arbor takes a one-shot lead into Sunday's final round of the Washtenaw County Men's Golf Championship after firing a 5-under par 67 Saturday at Pierce Lake Golf Course in Chelsea.

Slade, the 2007 Ann Arbor city champion, leads 2008 city champion Adam White by one shot. Neither has previously won the county tournament.

Rounding out the top four are 2008 Ann Arbor city senior champion John Richart, who shot a 2-under par 70, and three-time Ann Arbor city champion Andrew Walton, who fired a 1-under par 71.

Benign weather conditions and soft greens made it the lowest scoring opening day in tournament history. Five golfers in the field of 42 shot par or better for the day, and more than half the field broke 80.

The final threesome of Slade, White, and Richart tee off Sunday at 12:20.

County Tournament Returning to Pierce Lake

The many forced carries over wetlands on the back nine at Pierce Lake Golf Course await this year's field in the Washtenaw County Men's Amateur Golf Championship, September 26-27 in Chelsea. (photo by Lon Horwedel)

For the first time in three years, the Washtenaw County Men's Amateur Golf Championship will return to Pierce Lake Golf Course in Chelsea, the weekend of September 26-27.

Pierce Lake was the original site of the county tournament, hosting the championship from 2001 through 2005. Washtenaw Country Club hosted the tourney in '06 and '07. Last year's tournament was held at The Polo Fields Golf and Country Club.

The change of venue back to a public course owned by the county, seems fitting for 6-time tournament champion, Mike Ignasiak, Saline, who practices and plays most of his golf at Brookside Golf Course in Saline, a public track.

Ignasiak's domination of the tournament at Pierce Lake began in storybook fashion when he sank a 210-yard 4-iron for a double eagle on the par-5, 4th hole en route to a final round 66 and the first of his five straight triumphs in 2001.

The only two times Ignasiak didn't win the county championship were in 2006, when he was beaten by Mark Doyle in a three-hole playoff at Washtenaw Country Club, and again at WCC in 2007, when he was playing in the U.S. Public Links championship in Oregon and wasn't in the county tournament field. Last year he returned to form winning his sixth crown at The Polo Fields. 

The field for the county amateur is limited to the first 78 players with a USGA handicap or 8.0 or less. Historically, the field has topped out at 56 or 57 players, but the past few years members of the Washtenaw County Golf Association have made a concerted effort to up those numbers by opening the tournament to junior golfers.

This will be the second year the boys high school golf season won't conflict with the county tournament since the MHSAA (Michigan High School Athletic Association) switched the boy's golf season to spring and the WGA hopes all young golfers add the county tournament to their competitive schedules.

To get an application for the tournament, visit your local pro shop or go to milesofgolf.com. The cost is $90 for golfers over 18, and $60 for all junior golfers. Golfers over the age of 50 are automatically entered into a senior division for the tournament.