Eskymos Unseat 3-Time Champ Houghton
June 1, 2017
By Ryan Stieg
Special for Second Half
MARQUETTE — It isn’t easy to topple a team that has won the last three titles, but the Escanaba boys golf team pulled it off Wednesday afternoon at the Marquette Golf Club.
The Eskymos unseated Houghton as Upper Peninsula Division 1 champion, outlasting neighboring Gladstone by one stroke (319 to 320) to claim the title and leave Escanaba head coach Brian Robinette with a big smile on his face.
“The boys have had the ability to do something like this all year long, and I kept telling them about the idea of making teams beat you,” Robinette said. “For a while, we weren’t doing that, but little by little, they figured out how to fight their way to good scores. They fought hard today up until the moment that they signed their scorecards, and that was great to see.”
For Gladstone, it was a disappointing end to the day after coming up just short of a title once again. Braves head coach Dane Quigley was a little down afterwards, but he was proud of how his squad performed and likes the group he has coming back next year.
“Today was just a heartbreaker,” he said. “We’ve been trying to get that title the last few years, and I thought we might have the team to do it this time, but it didn’t work out. We actually did pretty well with our numbers three, four and five guys stepping up, but unfortunately, Esky had guys in the 70s and that’s hard to beat. The good thing is that we have some really good golfers coming back next year, and I think we’ll have another good chance to win it.”
Negaunee, which finished second to Houghton last year, took third place this time in the 11-team tournament and had its best performance of the year with a 327. As a result, Miners head coach Dustin Hongisto was very pleased with what he saw.
“I was really happy with how we played,” he said. “We had three solid scores and today was actually our lowest team score of the year. My number one guy (Carter Mason) struggled a little bit today, but he’s had a great career with two conference championships and he was medalist last year, so he has nothing to be ashamed about. But his brother (Jordan) made up for that, and everyone else kind of picked up the slack.”
Marquette tied with the Gremlins for fourth place with a 337, while Calumet finished sixth with 338.
Redmen coach Ben Smith felt his young squad learned a lot and thinks there’s a lot of potential for next season.
“Whenever you host a meet like this, you hope that it will give you a good advantage, and it did a little bit,” he said. “Jordan Jurmu had a solid round (81) after battling some cold weather. We had a couple of guys shoot 85s, and that was good. There was a lot of older guys on the other team, and I think that will help us get a taste of what it takes to win. Hopefully, we can build on today and we can keep plugging away for next season. I think we’re going to see some good things.”
Individually, Houghton senior Ben Strong was the medalist shooting a 73. He was happy with his performance and was glad to end his Gremlins career on a good note.
“I think I had a good day overall,” he said. “I made a couple birdies and kept it together mentally throughout the round today. I played really well my four years in Houghton. My freshman year, I placed fourth and now as a senior, I won U.P. Finals. You can’t get much better than that.”
Menominee’s Evan Kramer took second with a 75, and Negaunee’s Jordan Mason finished third with a 77, while the Eskymos’ Johnny Kositzky and Parker La Pointe as well as Gladstone’s Bryce Douglas tied for fourth at 78.
PHOTOS: (Top) Negaunee’s Carter Mason lines up a putt on the way to shooting an 80 on Wednesday. (Middle) Gladstone’s Bryce Douglas watches his approach shot; he finished fourth individually. (Photos by Rachel Oakley.)
Iron Mountain's Pigeon Holds On to Finish 1st, Hancock Claims Team Title
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 29, 2024
CRYSTAL FALLS – Iron Mountain junior Cooper Pigeon started Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Final with a birdie.
He made sure the rough patch that followed was short lived – and it’s a good thing he did, because Hancock’s Jackson Sintkowski made sure there wasn’t much margin for error.
Pigeon carded a 76, a single stroke ahead of Sintkowski, to win the medalist honor at Young’s Golf Course.
“He has the mindset that he doesn’t let that bother him,” Iron Mountain coach Steve Flaminio said. “He turned it around and got a couple birdies and righted the ship. He figured it out like he always does and started playing pretty strong.”
It wasn’t an easy course, nor was it a perfect day to golf. The sun was out, but it was windy, which could exaggerate any minor errors, Pigeon said.
Some of the pin placements were tough, Flaminio said, and the greens were super fast – Flaminio watched kids three and four putt many times throughout the day.
“There were some young guys out there struggling. Cooper figured it out, and that was key,” he said.
The Finals title was Pigeon’s first. He knew he had a chance to win after shooting a 73 in his last round at this course.
“But you have to play well, and you can’t get ahead of yourself,” he said.
The bulk of the U.P. summer awaits him and he plays golf almost daily, so he could certainly be a force to be reckoned with next season as well.
“It’s sweet; hopefully we can get another one next year,” Pigeon said.
Flaminio said the rest of the team was excited for their individual champ because they can see how hard he works at his craft.
“So to see him come home as medalist in the U.P. is pretty awesome,” he said.
Sintkowski, the runner-up from Hancock, did leave with some hardware himself as he led the Bulldogs to their first U.P. Finals team title since they won Division 2 back-to-back in 2013 and 2014.
He was one of four Bulldogs to finish among the top 10 individuals – Bryce Hanner placed fifth with an 83, Kirby Storm was sixth with an 86 and Drew Sturos tied for 10th with an 88.
Hancock competes in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference, where it finished runner-up to Division I Houghton throughout much of the season. That doesn’t mean the Bulldogs have been golfing poorly.
“The kids have been playing well all year,” Hancock coach Paul Sintkowski said.
The Bulldogs came into this tournament with the lowest team average, so they considered themselves the favorites and lived up to that high expectation.
“We had the guys to get it done today, but you still got to get it done,” said Sintkowski, who earned his first U.P. team title in nine years of coaching. “They got it done today. I’m real proud of these guys.”
Hancock was led by the West-PAC Player of the Year, Jackson Sintkowski, a junior. And their team got a big boost this season when Hanner decided to join the golf team.
“Bryce Hanner was a nice addition to our team this year,” Coach Sintkowski said of the senior. “He decided to play golf this year, and that really bolstered our lineup down the stretch. It gave an extra solid player where we could always count on a good score for him.”
Painesdale Jeffers finished as the team runner-up, 15 strokes behind Hancock, 333-348. St. Ignace was third, Iron Mountain fourth and Munising fifth.
Owen Kuehnau of Stephenson carded an 81 to take third place individually, and St. Ignace’s Sawyer Graham was fourth with an 82.
PHOTOS (Top) Iron Mountain's Cooper Pigeon drives on No. 14 at Young’s Golf Course on Wednesday. (Middle) Hancock’s Jackson Sintkowski follows his drive on the same hole. (Photos by Jason Juno.)