ROCHESTER — The two University of Wisconsin golfers and soon-to-be roommates went at it like a couple of, well, Badgers, in a quarterfinal match of the Michigan Women’s Amateur Championship at Oakland University Golf & Learning Center Thursday.
Traverse City’s Grace Slocum and Grand Blanc’s Kate Brody battled for 24 holes on the Katke-Cousins Course with Slocum finally ending an epic quarterfinal match with a 10-foot birdie putt.
Slocum earned a spot in the semifinals joining Lauren Timpf of Macomb, Bridget Boczar of Canton and Elise Fennell of Kentwood.
Slocum will play Timpf in an 8 a.m. Friday semifinal, and Boczar and Fennell will follow at 8:15. The winners play for the championship in the afternoon.
“I told Kate one of us has to win with a birdie putt, not a bogey,” Slocum said. “We couldn’t make the birdie putts, but we sure made a lot of tough par putts to keep the match going. I’m glad I won with a birdie. I’ve played a lot of golf with Kate, and I know what she’s capable of, and I knew the match was going to be a grind. It was a long grind.”
The match was back-and-forth sometimes in dramatic fashion and even stalled once because Slocum had a brief bloody nose.
Brody, who will be a senior at Wisconsin, came out making putts and won the first four holes of the match, but Slocum, who will be a sophomore, battled back with birdies and eventually had a 2-up lead after winning holes 13 and 14. Brody, however, won 15 and 16 and saved a par after hitting a shot into the pond on No. 17. They halved the 18th hole with pars and that pattern continued into extra holes, which were played starting on No. 10.
Slocum saved a par after hitting the same tree twice on the second-to-last hole and then made the birdie to end things on the par 3 15th.
“Grace made par from some bad spots,” Brody said. “I definitely thought I had some holes in the bag, but she just grinded it out. I feel like I played really solid. I gave it my all and I’m proud of that. I just didn’t drop any putts outside of 10-feet, and it’s hard to win in match play when you are not making some putts. You don’t get any momentum.”
Brody said her and Slocum talked about wishing they were meeting in the final match of the tournament instead.
“I’m very proud of her,” Brody said. “She works really hard. I’m rooting for her to win this thing for sure.”
She will have to get past Timpf to have that opportunity in the finals. The Purdue University golfer topped former University of Michigan golfer Anika Dy of Traverse City 2 and 1 in their quarterfinal match.
Timpf, the stroke play medalist earlier this week and the top seed, is in the final four for the first time and excited about it.
“In this tournament you have to look at it step by step and each match is one step,” she said. “I just set small goals of winning matches instead of looking at the overall picture and that helps a lot. It’s great to be in the final four, but right now, next step is the semifinals, and I know I’ll be playing a great player.”
Boczar, who has completed her golf career at Baylor University and will graduate in December, is also in the semifinals for the first time. She topped Jessica Jolly 3 and 2 in the Round of 16 in the morning and then earned her first semifinal berth with a 3 and 2 quarterfinal win over Olivia Stoll of Haslett, the former Grand Valley State University standout.
“I was hitting solid shots and I was able to make a few putts,” Boczar said. “I dropped like a 20-footer to win the match against (Jolly) on 16 and it was awesome to end a match on a high note like that,” she said. “Then against (Stoll) I birdied 15 at the end and then had an unbelievable chip on 16, like a 35-yard shot, and hit it to a foot. It was a good day. I was tired, but I made good shots when I needed them.”
Fennell is not a stranger to the semifinals. This is the third consecutive year the Central Michigan University golfer has made it to the final day. She lost in the title match in 2024 to Shannon Kennedy and was beaten by eventual champion Macie Elzinga in the semifinals a year ago.
“Three years in a row so I’m hoping I can get it done this time,” she said after turning back Ashleigh Duflo of Ada and the University of Findlay 4 and 3 in the quarterfinal match. “I’m playing pretty good and I’m excited for the chance. I made a lot of clutch putts when I needed to today, to either win the hole or stay in the match.”
She said she has learned from the past years.
“I’ve learned to just try and stay in the match, make enough putts and hang around and not fall behind too early,” she said. “I stayed in there today and then made the shots to win.”