Dy sisters finish in top 5 for GAM Player of the Year
Nov. 10—FARMINGTON HILLS — Traverse City West graduates, MHSAA girls golf state champions and sisters, Anika and Anci Dy, finished in the top five for the Golf Association of Michigan's Women's Player of the Year.
Anika and Anci finished fourth and fifth with 405 and 365 points, respectively. They forged a notable golf season moment when they squared off in the championship match of the Michigan Women's Amateur Championship at Great Oaks Country Club. Anci, a University of Indianapolis golfer, bested her older sister, Anika, who plays for the University of Michigan, in a dramatic 21 holes.
Kimberly Dinh of Midland was named the GAM Women's Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.
The 30-year-old keyed her season with the U.S. Mid-Amateur run and topped the list with 635 points. A Senior Research Specialist for Dow Chemical in Midland, she paired her four weeks of vacation from work with tournaments.
Laura Bavaird of Trenton, a GAM member as the director of the GAM Foundation, was second with 445 points. Bavaird also made a run in the U.S. Women's Mid-Amateur, ironically falling in the round of 32 to Dinh, 5 and 4.
Sophie Stevens of Highland and Prestwick Village Golf Club, the GAM Women's Champion this summer, was third with 415 points.
Dinh called winning the Player of the Year an unexpected bonus.
"I don't play in a ton of tournaments so I want to play great in those I get a chance to play in, especially the GAM tournaments," she said. "They are run so well. The competition is the best players in our state and everybody is friendly. To be the Player of the Year again is exciting. I really wasn't expecting it."
Dinh said her highlight golf moment of the summer wasn't on the GAM or USGA schedule. She played with fellow GAM member Chaithra Katamneni of Midland against the LPGA stars as a two-person team in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational (72-hole, $2.5 million foursomes and four-ball LPGA Tour competition).
"That was a great thrill getting to play in my hometown against the LPGA players," she said. "It's rare that you get to play in your hometown, so to do that and represent the golfers from here and have family and friends out to watch was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We didn't make any putts and we missed the cut, but we didn't play poorly and I know I enjoyed every minute out there, especially seeing all the people I've met over the years through golf."
As for next year, Dinh plans a similar schedule.
"I still set goals — I like to have a carrot to chase when I get a chance to practice," she said. "I still enjoy playing and I feel I can get better in a lot of areas and get better at getting the ball in hole. Also, for me, golf has a social aspect that I enjoy. I enjoy just getting out with friends, and I enjoy competition. With most of the tournaments I play, it is a bit of both."
