GLADWIN — Lori Schlicher of Lewiston won her fourth consecutive Michigan Women’s Senior Amateur Championship title and had to hold off a three-time winner Julie Massa of Pentwater to make it happen Tuesday at Sugar Springs Golf Club.
Schlicher felt she was in a must-make situation with a final six-foot par putt to close out the 2 and 1 win in the championship match of the 22nd edition of the championship.
“I knew I needed to make that putt because if you let Julie start getting momentum, you’re in big trouble,” she said. “And my first (putt) went by a pretty healthy amount. I’m not known for my superb putting, but I did make that putt.”
Schlicher, who will be 65 next week, won the first two holes and four of the first six before Massa rallied with wins on hole No. 8 and the first two holes of the back nine to trim Schlicher’s lead back to 1-up.
“Getting the lead early really helped me,” Schlicher said. “Julie was not doing Julie things in the beginning. She was off for a while, and it was a good thing for me. I needed it because then she started doing Julie things and it got pretty tight.”
Schlicher fended off Donna Tepper of Grosse Pointe Park 5 and 4 in the semifinals, while Massa topped the stroke play medalist and top match play seed, Cherie Robinson of Traverse City, 6 and 5, in the other semifinal.
Schlicher said the final putt was big, but she also hit some good shots at critical moments in the title match.
“At 14 I was in the sand, and I hit a wonderful shot out and it saved me, otherwise I was on my way down,” she said. “Then I had a really good chip on 15. I kind of had her then.”
Sugar Springs, a residential community located between West Branch and Gladwin, hosted the championship for the fifth consecutive year.
“The course is friendly and it’s nice,” Schlicher said of Sugar Springs, the site of each of her wins. “The greens are fast, so that always takes me a little while to adjust because I’m not used to fast greens. On that last putt, I was adjusted finally.”