Eichhorn Leads Carney-Nadeau Title Hunt
May 29, 2015
By Keith Shelton
Special for Second Half
GLADSTONE — Carney-Nadeau sophomore Hunter Eichhorn has displayed a flair for playing under pressure in a tournament atmosphere. He proved it as a freshman a year ago, winning a playoff for his first Upper Peninsula medalist.
This year however, there was nothing but dominance.
Eichhorn blazed through the course at Irish Oaks, collecting multiple birdies and blowing the rest of the field away with a 4-under par 68 — among the lowest scores in recent U.P. Finals history — to once again take medalist honors Thursday at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final.
Eichhorn's 68 came in six strokes better than anyone else, and also bested his winning score from last season by three strokes — the result of relentless work to continually improve his game. In fact, after finishing his round Thursday, Eichhorn immediately went back to work on the putting green, displaying the kind of work ethic rarely seen in a young athlete.
"I always like to improve. I keep putting in time, and it was nice to see the results show that," Eichhorn said.
Carney-Nadeau head coach Jake Polfus has seen Eichhorn's competitive side come out plenty of times before, but is still impressed by it.
"What does he do when he gets done with his round? He goes to the putting green," Polfus said. "How many kids do you see do that, especially when you have to walk that far. It's a tribute to how much time he puts in."
Like a true competitor however, though generally satisfied with his round — he came up with six birdies and avoided a double bogey — Eichhorn remained slightly critical of himself.
"I didn't hit my tee shots very straight today, but I putted well and I was able to recover. I hit some solid iron shots from places I didn't want to be in," he said. "I had two good eagle putts and both came about an inch from the hole, but tapping birdies aren't that bad I guess. I had one bad lip-out for par, and I 3-putted another hole, but that was about it."
Led by Eichhorn, the Wolves also were able to claim the team title for the first time in school history with a total score of 342 — two strokes better than Munising and DeTour — among the 23-school field. That largely was due to the performance of sophomore Kage Linder, who shot a career-best 86, and freshman Chase Linder, who shot 53 on the back nine, but recovered to card a 45 on the front, coming in under 100 for that final push.
"Chase played a lot better in the front, and Kage had his best round of the year by about 8-10 shots. That's huge," said Eichhorn. "To be able to get a team trophy for the first time is pretty awesome. It's all about the team. I like to improve on myself and win, but it's nice to get a team trophy."
Painesdale-Jeffers, which was shooting for a U.P. Finals four-peat, settled for fifth and couldn't overcome a steep drop-off after runner-up medalist Jacob Zerbst's 74. All five of Cedarville's golfers came in under 100 as well, as the Trojans placed fourth with a team score of 347.
Thursday marked the final event of Dave Duncan's long coaching career. Duncan, who has a 429-166 record coaching boys basketball, will retire just as his son Joey, an all-state basketball player and solid golfer in his own right, graduates.
There was much anxiety and excitement toward the end of the day as players and coaches gathered around the scoreboard. Munising and DeTour were among the first complete teams to finish, and both came in at 344. The tiebreaker went to Munising, with the Mustangs' fifth golfer Kyle Welters (98) providing the necessary edge.
The Wolves may not be going anywhere, anytime soon. All five of their golfers Thursday were freshmen or sophomores, and with the star power of Eichhorn, interest in the program could only grow. On Thursday, Eichhorn was the only golfer to have a decent-sized gallery following him throughout the day.
"Hunter really played great today, better than I think he was even expecting. For as much golf as he plays, he's only going to get better," said Polfus. "Chase going from a 53 on the back nine to a 45 out front, that's huge for us, and really made a big difference. Kage shot his best score of the season.
"It's just awesome," Polfus added. "The kids were excited as they were adding up the scores. It's really cool."
PHOTOS: (Top) Carney-Nadeau’s Hunter Eichhorn unloads a shot en route to a first-place 68 at Thursday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Middle) Painesdale-Jeffers’ Jacob Zerbst lines up a putt on No. 14 at Irish Oaks Golf Club. (Photos by Keith Shelton.)
Northville Rises from Low-Scoring Pack to Finish with 1st Finals Victory
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 10, 2023
ALLENDALE – A mere six shots separated the top three teams at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Boys Golf Final.
Out of the competitive tussle emerged a first-time champion.
Northville captured the program’s first Finals title after fending off its two closest competitors.
The Mustangs shot a two-day total of 605 to clip runner-up Rochester Adams (607) and third-place Brighton (609).
Adams’ junior Peter Roehl won the individual title after closing with a final-round 68.
“This program has never won a team state title in golf so this team, yesterday and today, just battled and battled and battled,” Mustangs coach Matt Lewicki said. “It’s been one of the toughest state finals we’ve ever seen from a competition standpoint top to bottom, so for these guys to prevail, it's incredible.”
Four seniors catapulted Northville to the win, led by Mason Sokolowski with a third-place finish.
Sokolowski fired a 144 (70-74), while teammate Greg Braun shot a pair of 74s and finished 11th overall.
“This is crazy, our first boys golf championship,” Sokolowski said. “Everyone had each other’s back, and we were having fun out there in our last high school tournament.
“We’ve been going back and forth all year (with Brighton), and today was about smart golf. No big numbers and not getting ahead of ourselves. We just battled on a really tough course.”
The unsung hero for Northville was senior Thomas Forsythe, who hadn’t competed during the last two weeks due to the team’s talent and depth and had to go through qualifying for the opportunity to play.
“He wasn’t expecting to play in this tournament and he came out and really contributed and really helped the team,” Lewicki said. “He came in and had a counting score yesterday and nailed it down today. He came through a gauntlet of qualifying to get in this tournament, and it was incredible for him and the rest of our seniors.”
Forsythe shot a 156 (77-79), while senior Ryan Gallagher added a 157 (79-78).
“I’m overwhelmed,” said an emotional Forsythe. “I had to qualify to get into this, and now we’re state champions. We have some good players on this team, and I’m happy that I could help and get this done.
“We just took it one shot at a time and managed to pull through. I’m happy for all the seniors, and this is the first one in school history. It’s a big deal and means a lot.”
Northville and Brighton entered the final round knotted at 300.
“The mindset today was to have fun, and the reason they were here was because they worked their butts off to get here,” Lewicki said. “Just stay calm and stay confident. Don’t get too high or too low.”
Adams trailed by nine strokes entering Saturday, but posted the best final-round score (298) to jump into second place.
Senior Justin Oviatt finished eighth overall with a 147 (74-73).
“These kids had a great year, and I think we had 10 first or second-place finishes,” Highlanders coach Matt Zavadil said. “Overall they had a great year, and to finish it off with runner-up is pretty good.”
Roehl shot a 72 on the first day, but stormed to the top of the leaderboard with stellar play and finished Saturday with a tournament-low 3-under-par round.
He bested runner-up Drew Miller of East Lansing, who shot a 143 (74-69).
“I was just trying to make par on every hole,” Roehl said. “I knew scores might be a little lower, but I didn’t really look at the leaderboard and just played the golf course hole by hole. It worked out in the end.”
Roehl drained a 20-foot eagle putt on the fourth hole.
“That kickstarted my round,” he said. “I cooled off a little bit but finished strong. It feels good to win, but it stings to come up short as a team.”
Two Brighton players, seniors Winston Lerch and Andrew Daily, finished among the top 10 individuals.
PHOTOS (Top) Mason Sokolowski putts during Northville’s title-clinching round Saturday. (Middle) Adams’ Peter Roehl tracks a shot during his medalist weekend. (Below) East Lansing’s Drew Miller follows one of his approaches. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)