Eastern Michigan Athletics
Fleet Finishes as Runner-up at the Michigan Women's Amateur
7/11/2008 5:30:40 PM | Women's Golf
Dewitt, Mich. native falls to defending champion Laura Bavaird on the 19th hole
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EAST LANSING, Mich. — Eastern Michigan University senior-to-be Stephany Fleet's (Dewitt, Mich.-Dewitt) championship run finished just short at the 92nd Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) Women's Amateur Championship, July 7-11, here at Walnut Hills Country Club. Defending champion and former Western Michigan University standout Laura Bavaird was able to pull away on the first playoff hole to claim the title during the final round Friday, July 11.
Fleet, who battled back from a three hole-deficit to start the match, was 1-up following 16 holes but Bavaird pulled even on No. 17. The battle between 2008 Mid-American Conference second team honorees remained all square until the 19th hole, when Bavaird was able to claim the hard-fought decision.
Fleet, who was runner-up at last summer's USGA Women's Public Links Championship, entered the final match after defeating top-seeded Shasta Averyhardt in the morning semifinal on the playoff's 21st hole. She entered match play seeded fourth after opening the event with a 150 (73-77).
Fleet's climb to the top of the GAM Women's Amateur Championship did not come without some trepidation. She went 1-up on the 14th hole, holding that lead until Averyhardt scored a tough birdie on No. 18 to extend the match. Both players parred the first extra hole and both bogeyed the second hole.
On the 21st hole, a par 4, Averyhardt hit her tee shot under a tree on the right side, while Fleet was safe in the fairway. Fleet put her approach shot on the right front corner of the green and then two-putted from 35 feet. Averyhardt left her approach shot in the left front bunker, then three-putted from 30 feet.
Fleet won her first-round match 6 & 5 over teammate and 29th-seed Stephanie Bevington (Owosso, Mich.-Owosso). She then advanced to the second round of match play with a 1-up victory over 20th-seeded Natalie Brehm. In the quarterfinal Fleet took care of two-time state champion Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll 3 & 2 before facing off against Averyhardt in the semifinal.
Besides Fleet and Bevington, EMU players Courtney Aili (Chelsea, Mich.-Chelsea) and Darby Peters (Lake Orion, Mich.-Lake Orion) also advanced to match play. Peters, heading into her sophomore year in 2008-09, dropped her first round match to Jenny Calkins, 4 &2, while Aili, also a senior-to-be in the fall, downed 11th ranked Stephanie Mory, 2 & 1, before falling to Shanna Page, 3 & 2, in the second round.
The Eagles completed a record-setting 2007-08 season with a second-place showing at the 2008 Mid-American Conference Championship at the Brickyard Crossing in Indianapolis, Ind., April 25-27. Under the guidance of third-year head coach Sandy Wagner, the Green and White won a school-record four in-season tournaments. Additionally, the Eagles’ scoring average of 307.1 was the lowest total in the program’s 14-year history. The mark is 17.61 strokes per 18 holes (307.01 to 324.68) better than when Wagner arrived on the Ypsilanti campus.
