Contender makes early case
April 18, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A younger Grand Rapids West Catholic boys golf team felt it left too many strokes on the course in tying for fourth place at last spring's Division 3 Final at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East.
A season older and remembering that disappointment, the Falcons have left some of the state's top teams in their wake in starting this spring among the hottest teams in Michigan.
West Catholic received this week’s team Second Half High 5 after impressive showings in back-to-back tournaments against some of the state’s top competition. The Falcons shot 315 on April 12 to finish five strokes back of top-ranked Division 1 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central at the Kent County Classic at The Highlands. The next day, West Catholic shot a 303 in the Haslett Invitational at Forest Akers East to edge a bevy of strong Division 2 and 3 teams, including the No. 1s in both of those state polls.
“We pretty much expect to contend with anybody,” West Catholic coach Andy Weatherhead said. “We’d like to consistently get to the low 290s. I think that’s possible.”
Four returnees from last season’s team key this line-up. At the top is junior Sam Weatherhead – Andy’s son – who is arguably the state’s top player and finished runner-up at the Division 3 Final after losing a tie-breaker.
He won the individual medal at Kent County with a 68 – four better than Forest Hills Central’s Andrew Yeager, who has signed with the University of Michigan – and then shot a 3-under-par 69 to win at Forest Akers East.
Weatherhead is joined by seniors Matt Kowalczyk and Dalton Drumm and junior Adam Rooney. They all shot 87 or better at Kent County and 83 or lower at Forest Akers East.
All four have taken a jump this spring. Weatherhead shot in the 60s a few times last season, but has been there all this season so far. Kowalczyk and Drumm have cut strokes by improving their course management. And as a group, last season’s Finals jump – the Falcons finished 10th in 2010 – provided a confidence boost they continue to ride.
“No doubt, they were pretty excited,” Andy Weatherhead said of the Haslett Invite win. “We felt going in, as the only west side team going over there, we were in it to win it. We were a little upset the day before because we didn’t win the Classic, but we thought we were good enough. That’s the big thing about golf – thinking you’re good enough.
“It was kind of a spring board last year. We worked hard enough, and we’re good enough to be here.”
Click to read more about this week's other High 5s honorees.
PHOTO: Grand Rapids West Catholic tied for fourth at last season's Division 3 Final at Michigan State's Forest Akers West.
NorthPointe Follows Ace to Team Title
June 9, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian junior Erik Fahlen should consider playing in rain more often.
After all, it’s hard to imagine many better scores being turned in if there had been perfect weather on the second day of the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Boys Golf Finals at Forest Akers East.
Fahlen shot a great score during Friday’s first round, firing a 71, but did even better amid far more miserable conditions during the second and final day.
The steady rain was no hindrance to Fahlen, who shot a 5-under par score of 67 to win the medalist honor.
More importantly to Fahlen, it wasn’t the only first-place prize he got his hands on.
Thanks to four golfers breaking 80, NorthPointe Christian captured its first MHSAA team title trophy since 1996 with a sizzling score of 595. (NorthPointe's first two championships in boys golf came under its former name, Grand Rapids Baptist.)
It all started with Fahlen, who said he never had shot a score that low in rain before.
“Rain is always a battle keeping all your stuff dry,” he said. “It’s always hard to keep focus, and that was the important thing for today. In Florida weather I’ve shot this score, but not in Michigan rain.”
Fahlen had six birdies and one bogey on Saturday, finishing three strokes overall ahead of Thomas Hursey of Suttons Bay (67-74-141).
For NorthPointe Christian, it was a culmination of a year’s worth of anticipation after they left Forest Akers East with the runner-up trophy last year, but knowing every single golfer in its lineup was coming back.
“As soon as we left, we said we have to come back next year and tear it up,” Fahlen said. “All year long, that was on our team’s mind. That was our goal the whole season, to work hard for this exact day. We came out and accomplished it.”
NorthPointe Christian coach Erik Fahlen, Sr., said his squad shot its best 36-hole score at the tournament “by a lot.”
“It was a great day,” Fahlen, Sr. said. “The kids handled the rain well today. The kids came ready to play.”
Two-time reigning team champion Clarkston Everest Collegiate and Kalamazoo Christian tied for second with a 628.
Everest Collegiate entered the day just six shots behind NorthPointe Christian and saw Mitch Lowney shoot a 70 to finish with a two-day total of 145.
But NorthPointe Christian had too much depth for anyone else to compete with this time.
“You can’t win on the first day but you can lose on the first day, and we didn’t,” Everest Collegiate coach David Smith said. “We kept ourselves close. We thought that would send a little message, but it didn’t. They kept firing bullets, and we couldn’t do anything about it.”
Colin Sikkenga led the way for Kalamazoo Christian with a final total of 143 (72-71) to tie for third individually with Clinton’s Austin Fauser.
PHOTOS: (Top) Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian poses for a photo after clinching the LP Division 4 title. (Middle) Everest Collegiate’s Mia Korns connects on a drive. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)