HARBOR SPRINGS — Shea Harmeson put on quite a show during the first day of the 113th Michigan Amateur Championship on the Heather course at the Highlands at Harbor Springs.
The Traverse City Central graduate and Saginaw Valley State University golfer got a measure of revenge for northern Michigan golfers when he knocked off top-seeded and strokeplay champion Scott Strickland in the round of 32 during the matchplay portion of the annual Golf Association of Michigan event.
Strickland had beaten Kingsley’s Matt Otsby in the first round Wednesday by going up three hole victories with two to play. Harmeson, the 32nd seed, pulled off the upset later in the day in the second round with a 2-up win over Strickland to advance to Thursday’s Sweet 16.
“It was one of those really fun matches where we were just going back and forth the whole time,” Harmeson said. “It was always consistent, and you knew the only way you’d beat him was to hit really good shots.”
Harmeson missed the cut into matchplay a year ago in his first appearance, but he made it this year and got to play four rounds of golf in two days — a feat he hasn’t accomplished before.
“That was definitely tough, but it was a lot of fun,” Harmeson said. “That made it a lot easier.”
Harmeson, who was a second-team All-GLIAC selection for the SVSU golf team, bested Jeffrey Andrus, 3 and 1, to get his opportunity at Strickland in just his second Michigan Amateur appearance.
Harmeson said he was hitting the ball well off the tee and was consistently hitting onto the greens, which made it easier for him to at least make par and not give up any holes to his competition.
“Going off last year, I just wanted to make the cut this year,” Harmeson said. “And then once you do that, you just try to take it as far as you can.”
The Elite Eight was as far as Harmeson’s journey would go Thursday. In the Sweet 16 matchup, he beat Interlochen golfer and 17th-seeded Bryan Haase, 5 and 4, but then fell victim to an upset of his own against 57th-seeded Jimmy Dales, 3 and 1.
“Making it through to the Sweet 16 was awesome, and then my goal from there was to make it to the Elite Eight and get the exemption for next year,” said Harmeson, who now gets an automatic bid into next year’s matchplay tournament at the Michigan Amateur Championship for finishing in the top eight. “That’ll make it a little easier to make it back there and go for the whole thing again. It’s a tough tournament to get into, so that will make it easier to get ready for it.”
The last time Harmeson played at the Highlands was at a three-day junior golf tournament during the summer heading into his senior year at TC Central.
“I remembered the course, but seeing it again was definitely different,” he said.
The 19-year-old Harmeson impressed many during his strong run, including Strickland, who said their match turned at the 17th hole.
“I hit a bad shot, and he hit an unbelievable shot from the fairway bunker at 17,” he said. “He’s a very good player. He’s got a great golf game, and we had a lot of fun. I think we both played well and would have beaten a lot of other guys out there.”
Harmeson, who won the Ferris State University Invitational during his collegiate season, was excited when he realized he was matching up with Strickland in the afternoon.
“I knew it wouldn’t be easy by any means,” he said. “It’s always good to beat someone who’s ranked better than you.”
Harmeson’s high school coach, Lois McManus, was happy to see the continued success of one of her former players.
“He did great,” McManus said. “I’m so proud of him, and I love that I got to coach him and spend four years of his high school career with him.”
Harmeson also played in the Michigan Open last week, where he finished 29th a year after finishing outside of the top 60.
“Going from there and then taking this all the way to the Elite Eight was crazy,” he said. “It felt very good.”
Harmeson has a couple of Traverse City Junior Golf Association tournaments up next on the docket, but he gets a bit of a break before the college season starts up in the fall.
“I got a little week break here after these busy last two weeks,” he said.
In Friday morning’s Final Four, Dales will take on No. 28 Drew Miller in one semifinal, and 31st-seeded McCoy Biagioli squares off against the highest-remaining seed, No. 6 Matt Zerbel, in the other semi.
The winners square off in the afternoon to decide the 113th Michigan Amateur Championship.