Eichhorn Ends Stellar Career with Sweep
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2017
GLADSTONE — It was business as usual for Hunter Eichhorn at Thursday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Boys Golf Finals.
The Carney-Nadeau senior fired a 6-under-par 66 on this sunny and mild day at Irish Oaks Golf Course for his fourth consecutive U.P. title.
He also helped the Wolves secure their third straight team championship with 327 strokes, 13 fewer than runner-up Cedarville. North Central placed third at 361.
This marked a nine-stroke improvement from a year ago for Eichhorn, who shot 75 on the same course.
“I hit the ball real well today,” said Eichhorn, who will continue his golf career at Marquette University in Milwaukee. “I didn’t get any bogeys, which is a huge part of it. There’s a little more pressure and more people watching you in the U.P. Finals, but it’s just something you have to get used to.
“I think playing Division I golf is going to be awesome. It’s something I’m prepared for. I’m looking forward to seeing how my game stacks up with the best college golfers in the world. I’m very excited to go there.”
Eichhorn, who will major in business communications, was every bit as happy with the Wolves again taking the team title.
“Winning as a team is a great feeling,” he said. “We’ve had the same team for basically three years, and this was our best score as a group. Everybody kept getting better, which put us in position to succeed.”
Cedarville senior Avry Freel, who’s attending Ferris State University this fall in preparation for his player’s ability test, earned runner-up honors with a 70. Carney senior Mason Linder and North Central junior Ben Snyder shared third place at 80.
“This is the best score I’ve had in a tournament,” said Freel. “My approach shot was working pretty well, and the course and weather conditions were nice. I was a little nervous and three-putted the first hole. Then, I birdied the second hole and settled in. It was hard to get used to the greens at first. We’ve had Finals here the last two years and we practiced here yesterday (Wednesday). I knew which clubs I needed to use.
“I’ve played with Hunter the past three years. I always try to beat him, but he’s such a good player. I have a feeling he’s going to do quite well in college.”
First-year Carney coach Mike Polfus said this was a fun season for him and the players.
“The kids were great and fun to be around,” he added. “Hunter has been phenomenal. He’s an unbelievable leader, and the kids got along real well. There would sometimes be little bit of good-natured ribbing when a kid would miss a shot, and they always complimented each other on a good shot.
“We knew Cedarville would probably the closest team to us, and their kid (Freel) shot a real nice score. It’s good for Hunter to have that competition. It makes him play better and concentrate more.”
Cedarville coach Rob Freel said he was happy with where the Trojans finished.
“I think they played very well,” he added. “Avry had an excellent round. I think Avry and Hunter gave us a real good show. Our boys did as well as they could. It was a little emotional on the last hole.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Carney-Nadeau’s Hunter Eichhorn chips a shot near the green at Thursday’s U.P. Division 3 Golf Finals at Gladstone’s Irish Oaks Golf Course. Eichhorn was medalist with a 66 and led the Wolves to the team title. (Middle) Cedarville’s Avry Freel watches a putt on the way to finishing individual runner-up. (Photos by Mike Mattson.)
Luke's Medalist Run Keys Marquette's Team Championship
By
Justin St. Ours
Special for Second Half
June 3, 2021
HARRIS — The individual winner of the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Boys Golf Final wasn’t 100-percent sure what his running score was until he stepped up to the tee on hole 18.
Marquette senior Joe Luke, seeing Menominee’s Brady Badker — a Great Northern Conference rival — watching on from the end of the 18th hole, caught up and realized he had victory in his grasp.
“Just before 18, I had no clue (about my score),” Luke said. “There was this phone app we were using to keep score, and I wasn’t on my phone (beforehand) because I figured I would just put it all in afterwards so I could keep focus on my game. Then, once I got to 18, one of my buddies in the group told me Brady (Badker) was plus-three. So, I was like, ‘Oh, boy.’ I didn’t really want to know that because I was plus-one at the time.
“I came in, and I saw him up on the hill watching me, which is normal. We always played together in the normal GNCs. Then, I ended up bogeying the last hole, and I knew I had to come out with a bogey. I was probably a little bit nervous, but I was also very excited. Maybe a little teary too because it’s my last meet for high school.”
It wasn’t an easy win for Luke on Thursday in Harris. Despite the top two golfers finishing ahead of third place by five strokes, Luke edged Badker by just one with a 2-over 74.
“I didn’t think I was going to come in and win this. I just wanted to shoot a good enough score for the team for us to win,” Luke added. “I felt pretty confident with the team aspect for winning the UPs. It was really nice helping the team out there. Just coming into it, I knew probably after the front nine that I was even, so I was like, ‘I actually have a really good shot at this. I just have to keep playing the way I am, and maybe shoot even on the back too. Maybe I got this thing in the bag.’ It was really exciting. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, and I really enjoyed the round and the course and the people I was playing with.”
The rest of Luke’s team followed his example, as Marquette also earned the team championship by a five-stroke margin (325) over Houghton (330). The title was Marquette's first since 2013 and followed a runner-up finish to Houghton in 2019. The 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.
“It was fun to watch all five boys play well,” Marquette assistant coach Rick Rhoades said. “They all played solid. This course was playing pretty tough. This is one of the tougher courses in the U.P. It was just great watching them come together as a team. They’ve been playing good all year, so it was nice to cap things off with a win.”
Despite some missed strokes, Houghton coach Corey Markham was happy with his team’s performance.
“I thought it was a real solid performance for our team,” he said. “When you’re five strokes behind the first place, you look back and see a few places where you wish you could have shaved a stroke here or there, but I thought we had a great day on a great course.”
Luke and Badker both finished the front nine at par with two bogeys and two birdies for Luke and one apiece for Badker.
“Some of the harder holes (went better for me) as well,” Luke said. “It’s weird. It’s always the hard holes that I seem to birdie in. … Number four connected pretty good. Off of the tee shot, it was nice right in the middle, and I was able to pull a nice 8-iron up into the wind. Four was probably the big one because it's one of the hardest out there. A hole like that definitely improves the day.”
It was four holes into the back nine, on the 13th, that Luke gained separation. He birdied the dog-legged, long par-4, and it gave him the cushion he needed as he turned up a bogey on the hazardous 14th. He added two more bogeys on holes 16 and 18 for the 2-over finish.
Badker didn’t have the benefit of a birdie cushion entering the 14th, and after back-to-back bogeys and another on the 17th, finished 3-over.
It was a four-way tie at third with Houghton’s Marino Pisani and Brady Schmierer, Ishpeming Westwood’s Tyler Annala and Kingsford’s Matt Solda with 80 strokes apiece.
Following Houghton in the team standings was Calumet with 334 strokes, Menominee with 341 and Kingsford with 347.
Luke finished his thoughts with his thanks.
“I just want to say thanks to my teammates for all the years coming up,” he said. “Also, my family, they’ve been a huge support, and definitely coach Ben (Smith) and Rick Rhoades for being out there. It was a big support for them this year to be with me, and I definitely needed Rick for a few rulings to figure out the best shots here and there. It’s nice to have someone to be able to connect with. Thank you to everybody. It was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed it. Thank you to Brady too. I love the competition we had this entire year.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette’s Joe Luke follows through on an iron shot during his run to the Upper Peninsula Division 1 individual championship Thursday. (Middle) Menominee’s Brady Badker sends an approach toward the green during the UPD1 Final. (Photos by Justin St. Ours.)