There’s a decent chance that the winner of the Miles of Golf City of Ann Arbor Men’s Championship comes from the opening-round 8:20 a.m. tee time Friday.

The threesome of Matt Paterini, Adam White and Andrew Walton has won five of the last eight tournament titles at Leslie Park Golf Course. They’ll play together in the first two rounds before Sunday’s final round.

Paterini, who helped Saline to a second-place finish in Division 1 in 2008 and tied for eighth individually, won the title last year after a six-hole playoff with Aaron Peterson. Paterini started the final round three strokes back.

“It was great, it’s my hometown tournament, so it was nice to win it,” Paterini said. “It’ll be fun (to play with White and Walton). We’ve had some good showings the last couple years.”

White played at Dexter and had a stint with the Eastern Michigan golf team. He won the city championship in 2008 and was three shots back of Paterini last year. White was second in Division 2 as a junior for the Dreadnaughts and in 2001 captured the Michigan Junior Amateur title.

White and Walton have a bit of history at the city tournament. When White triumphed in 2008, Walton was in his group. The duo was paired when Walton won his most recent title in 2006 as well. They also played against each other when Walton was playing for Huron High School.

“I’m glad to be paired up like that,” White said. “It’s nice to be playing with guys that will be up near the lead. It helps to know where you stand. It will be fun to play with those guys, should be good competition in the first couple rounds.”

Walton - who spent time on the University of Michigan golf team - is a three-time champion, winning in 2002, 2005 and 2006. He also has the advantage of knowing the Leslie Park track better than his playing partners. Walton works for Ann Arbor Parks and Recreation’s golf department and ran the tournament last year. This year, his boss is taking the reins so Walton can get back in the action.

“Adam is familiar with the course, and, of course, Matt won last year,” Walton said. “But I don’t think either of the guys has seen the course as much as I have over the past 10 years. Knowing the greens and some of the subtle nuances, it’s certainly helpful. I have to be careful to not take that for granted, either.”

All three players know that to win, they likely have to stay near par. Last year Paterini won with a one-over-par 217, and past winners have all been in the same range. The tournament record of 7-under-par 209 was shot by Bill Lyle in 2003.

“Par is good score there,” Paterini said. “You can’t force putts or be too aggressive. Take your birdies when you can get them.”

“A number doesn’t always mean a ton,” Walton said. “But you can’t go too far over par and expect to be in it. There are too many good players in the field not to have someone play really well and set the pace.”

The tournament concludes Sunday, with the final group set to tee off around 2:20 p.m. You can follow the tournament scores at http://a2golf.org/.

Friday and Saturday tee times