Chestnut wins 97th Michigan Amateur

PORTAGE – For the second straight year, a golfer with ties to Michigan State University won the Michigan Amateur Championship. Grand Blanc’s Jimmy Chestnut, a 2005 MSU graduate, captured the 97th Michigan Amateur, 4 and 2, over 2007 runner-up Steve Cuzzort of Grosse Ile June 21 at The Moors Golf Club.

Chestnut went 1 up on the first hole and never looked back. “I really wanted to win this championship. It’s the most important tournament in the state,” Chestnut said. “You feel like a king for a week. The names on the trophy are a who’s who of golf, like Chuck Kocsis.”

By winning the Michigan Amateur, Chestnut receives an automatic five-year exemption into the Michigan Amateur, as well as The Western Amateur, Susquehana Amateur in Pennsylvania, the Michigan Open and the GAM Championship.

“He (Chestnut) took advantage of opportunities and I didn’t,” said Cuzzort, who was the 2007 GAM Champion and the 2007 Amateur runner-up to former MSU star Ryan Brehm.