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Hackett Dominates Again in D4
June 15, 2013
By Tom Kendra
Special to Second Half
EAST LANSING – Father’s Day came early this year for Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central golf coach Steve Rider.
The first gift came from his team, which brought home Hackett’s third MHSAA championship in the past five seasons at Saturday’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final.
The Fighting Irish dominated from the start, surging to a 10-stroke lead after Friday’s opening round and extending it further Saturday, finishing with consecutive rounds of 300 for a 600 total, 21 strokes better than second-place Saginaw Nouvel.
“We’ve been fortunate, and we’ve had a good group of kids come through here in recent years and they’ve been successful,” said Rider, who was still drying off after a celebratory dousing of water from his players. “Our goal was to win a state championship, and what a way to go out.”
Suttons Bay (630) placed third, followed by New Lothrop (642) and Fowler (657) in a tournament played in near-perfect conditions with no rain and very little wind at Forest Akers East golf course at Michigan State University.
The next early Father’s Day present came from his own son, Ted Rider, who won a two-man playoff on the second hole to repeat as Division 4 medalist.
Ted Rider opened with a 1-over 73 on Friday, then shot the round of his life to get into the playoff – a 3-under par 69 – for a 142 total. That equaled individual qualifier Zack Bialik of Manistee Catholic Central, a senior who shot back-to-back 1-under par rounds of 71.
Rider won on the second playoff hole when Bialik’s par putt just burned the edge of the cup.
"I honestly wasn’t thinking about the individual part of it at all this weekend,” said Ted Rider, who finished second at the Final as a sophomore before winning it the past two years. “It’s just so great to win the team state in my senior year. I’ve never been in a playoff at the state finals, so winning that was like icing on the cake.”
Coach Rider acknowledged his team will be hard-pressed to “three-peat” next spring, as he will be losing the top four players off of this year’s team – three of whom finished among the Top 10 individually Saturday.
In addition to Rider, Hackett junior Colin Joseph finished third overall after back-to-back rounds of even-par 72. Joseph will not be back with the Irish next year as his family is moving to Ohio.
Finishing ninth for Hackett was senior Luke Stull, who shot rounds of 73 and 75. Senior Spencer Walter (166) and sophomore Joe Wenzel (168) completed the scoring for the Irish.
After posing for some unique team pictures, including a cheerleader-like pyramid, Coach Rider reflected on an amazing five-year run, which now features three MHSAA championships and a runner-up finish a year ago to Lake Leelanau St. Mary.
“These kids love to play golf together. They push each other, but they love each other,” said Rider, who also coached his older son, Jack, on the Hackett championship teams of 2009 and 2010; he now plays for Grand Valley State’s golf team. “This has been a very special run.”
Coach Rider also has not decided whether he will bring back the Kelly green shorts, complete with white shamrocks, which one of the parents located earlier this month and his team and coaches wore on Friday and Saturday.
“I’m thinking we’ll probably retire the shorts, but I’m not sure; we played pretty well in them,” Rider said.
Saginaw Nouvel placed second behind the 1-2 punch of senior Brody Schiller and sophomore Nick Ludka.
Schiller shot consecutive 73s to finish fifth overall and Ludka, who had the low round on Friday with a 70 before falling back to a 77 on Saturday, placed sixth. The Panthers were unable to make a move on Hackett, with only one other score in the 70s.
Suttons Bay, New Lothrop and Fowler all struggled in Friday’s opening round and then played much better on Saturday to secure top-five team finishes.
Suttons Bay, which entered the Final ranked No. 2, wound up third after shooting 322 on Friday and 308 on Saturday. Senior Sean Lammy led the resurgence, bouncing back from a 76 with a 71 on Saturday, second only to Ted Rider’s 69, to finish tied for sixth individually.
New Lothrop did not have a single player in the Top 10, but locked up its fourth-place team finish by shaving six strokes off Friday’s score.
Fowler, paced by the steady play of junior Austin Feldpausch (74-73-147) was five shots better on Saturday than on Friday to hold off Pentwater for fifth place.
Other individuals placing in the Top 10 were Eau Claire senior Andy Vanderburg (145) who took sixth, and Petersburg-Summerfield senior Wyatt Spalding (148), who tied for ninth.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kalamazoo Hackett’s Ted Rider tees off during the individual playoff Saturday at Forest Akers East. (Middle) Manistee Catholic Central’s Zack Bialik watches one of his tee shots during the playoff. (Click to see more at HighSchoolsSportsScene.com.)
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Champions Prevail by Narrowest of Margins
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2018
GLADSTONE — A tie-breaker was needed to determine a team champion Thursday at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Boys Golf Final.
Cedarville and Ontonagon finished with 351 strokes apiece on this warm and humid day at Irish Oaks Golf Course.
It was Ontonagon, however, crowned champion for the first time since 2006 based on a lower score by its fifth golfer.
Ontonagon’s No. 5 golfer, senior James Domitrovich, shot 100 and Cedarville’s fifth score was 104, enough to give the Gladiators the edge.
“The kids on both of our teams have a great work ethic,” said Ontonagon coach Adam Spaulding. “The boys and girls are out there every day practicing, and the results have shown. The kids have come a long way in three weeks. Our course (Ontonagon Country Club) didn’t open until May 12 (due to weather and course conditions), but they understand the situation.”
Crystal Falls Forest Park placed third at 355, followed by three-time reigning champ Carney-Nadeau at 370 and Dollar Bay at 484.
Forest Park senior Lee Hedtke was medalist with 80, followed by Ontonagon juniors Henry Menigoz and Ed Polakowski and Cedarville senior Trevor Khollman at 82.
“In the first nine holes, I played solid,” said Hedtke. “I hit the ball straight, and staying on the fairway makes the game a lot easier. My short game was real good, and my putting was even better. It’s a great feeling to do something like this at the end of the year.”
Hedtke, who plans to enroll at Northeast Wisconsin Technical College in Green Bay this fall, fired a 35 through his first nine holes. A brief downpour then provided its share of challenges during the second half of the tourney.
“It was pouring for three holes in a row, and I got a little frustrated for about 4-5 holes,” said Hedtke. “That can get into your head very quickly. Then, I became a little more patient and birdied one hole.
“A 35 in the first nine set the tone. We were waiting for the rain to stop, yet we wanted to keep playing at a fast pace. You just have to play through it.”
Cedarville freshman Caleb Khollman placed fifth at 83. He was followed by Powers North Central senior Ben Snyder at 86, Carney sophomore Max Baumler, Cedarville freshman Jay Freel and Chassell junior Blade Warren all at 87 and Forest Park sophomore Evan Hedtke and junior Riley Hendrickson and Dollar Bay sophomore Ashton Janke all firing 89.
“That wasn’t bad at all,” said Cedarville coach Rob Freel. “Our second, third and fourth guys played about the same. I’m happy with the way we played. Our boys have a young group coming back, and our girls finished in a good place.”
Pickford junior Cody Campbell sank a hole-in-one, using a 9-iron on the No. 5 hole.
“It felt nice,” Campbell said of his tee shot. “It came off great and got a lot of elevation right away. It was jaw dropping. It was also very exciting. It’s a very rare event to have happen.”
PHOTOS: (Top) The Ontonagon boys won the U.P. Division 3 Golf Final title Thursday at Gladstone’s Irish Oaks Golf Course. Members of the team are, from left: Henry Menigoz, Bradley Myhren, James Domitrovich, Eddy Polakowski, Tomas Immonen and Coach Adam Spaulding. (Middle) Forest Park’s Lee Hedtke watches a putt roll toward the hole Thursday; he shot 80 for the boys medalist honor. (Photos by Mike Mattson.)