Andrew Tindall (left) and partner Mike Ignasiak. (Photo courtesy of GAM)

Saline’s Mike Ignasiak has long played in the Golf Association of Michigan (GAM) Senior/Mid-Am Team Championship with Bill Zylstra of Dearborn. When Zylstra opted out this year, Ignasiak, 55, took on the Senior role and called on Andrew Tindall, 32 as his partner. Tindall is a Manchester native currently living in Chelsea.

Ignasiak earned his second GAM Senior championship last month, and it was a first GAM title of any kind for Tindall at Meadowbrook Country Club. The winning duo shot a final 3-under 69 with a 4-under 32 on the front nine playing best-ball, and a 1-over 37 on the back nine playing alternate shot.

It was good enough for a one-shot win over two teams. A field of 105 teams, or 210 of Michigan’s top golfers, competed in the 36-hole opening segment of the tournament that featured a Senior golfer (55-and-over) teamed up with a Mid-Amateur golfer (23-and-over).

“Nothing beats winning,” said Ignasiak, who is a former Major League pitcher and Dairy Queen owner in Saline. “We played well right from the get-go. We had a shot every hole for birdie. There were maybe one or two holes where we had a struggle, but we made some key putts and we brought it in. Alternate shot is tough, but we kept giving ourselves chances for birdie.”

Tindall, who works for Consumers Energy in Jackson, said the score could have been even better.

“We missed probably three or four putts we maybe should have made,” he said. “For alternate shot, that was probably about the worst we could have shot with the chances we had. It was fun. We got going on the front. It’s a really tough golf course. It was my first time seeing it.”