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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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Vanitvelt Returns to Lead Loaded Powers
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
May 17, 2017
Blaise Vanitvelt has been a dominant force on the golf course this season.
But more importantly, the Flint Powers Catholic senior is enjoying playing with his younger brother and their friends – who are carding great scores of their own.
“Our starting five, we’ve all grown up playing together,” Vanitvelt said. “I just feel good when I’m out there playing. I’m happy with how the whole team is playing, really.”
Vanitvelt, who spent his junior year at Bishop’s Gate Golf Academy in central Florida, was 9-under par through three Saginaw Valley League tournaments, with scores of 69, 71 and 67. He’s leading a team that is frequently shooting in the low 300s, or better.
“We just posted a 299 at Currie Golf Course up in Midland – it’s a very challenging course,” Powers coach Bob Beach said. “I have a very good team this year.”
On the night Powers shot its 299, Vanitvelt led the way with his 67, which tied the best round of his life. His brother Ty, a freshman, and Zack Hopkins each shot 75s for Powers, while Andrew Hayward added an 82. Powers has had several other players figure into the scoring this season, including Joe Coriasso, who is headed to Mott Community College to play next season and was the medalist in the Genesee County Tournament.
Blaise Vanitvelt could see this coming. He and his teammates have put in a lot of time on the course after their regular practices. It’s something that’s been happening for several years.
“We’re all members at Warwick Hills in Grand Blanc; it’s awesome,” Vanitvelt said. “Every day we go to practice for an hour, then we’ll go to Warwick, eat, and practice more. It’s a good practice course. It kind of tests a lot of different stuff for us. The practice facility is super nice there, and the guys from the Grand Blanc team are always there.
“I’ve always been looking forward to this. We go down to Kentucky to play in tournaments together. It’s nice to be on the same team.”
Being a part of this team is a major reason Vanitvelt – who was the No. 1 golfer for Powers as a freshman and sophomore – came back from Florida. It was something he advertised as the plan all along, even if he wasn’t always 100 percent sure of it.
“I told my girlfriend and told my teammates that I was coming back for my senior year,” he said. “Me and my parents had talked about it, and decided that if the academy and me agree that I need to stay, I would.
“But I wanted to be home with family for my senior year.”
A talk with his academy coaches helped validate the decision, and Vanitvelt said he returned to Michigan with a strong summer on the course. It was strong enough that Eastern Michigan University offered him a scholarship. He committed to the Eagles in the fall.
Beach said it was clear that Vanitvelt had improved when he returned, and he wasn’t surprised by it. Not just because of what the golf academy offered in terms of skill building, but because of Vanitvelt’s ability and work ethic.
“A lot of it is heart and desire -- work ethic,” Beach said. “That’s where Blaise excels. He wants to get better, he wants to be the best he can be. Blaise does have the heart for it. He has the desire, and he’s willing to work for it. He’s worked extremely hard.”
When he came back, Vanitvelt was able to step right back into a leadership role for the Chargers, and he did so not only with an improved game, but also some new learning methods to share with his teammates.
“I always try to help them out with stuff,” Vanitvelt said. “When we go to practice, I talk with coach, and we play a lot of games -- working on mental games and handling pressure. When we go back to Warwick, we always play against each other, and I try to incorporate high pressure games as much as I can. I help my brother out a ton. He does listen to me – sometimes. That’s why I was excited to come back.
“I wasn’t trying to be bossy or anything. We all can play golf on our own, and if I can help out I will. I’m always rooting for them.”
Ty Vanitvelt agreed that his brother has leant a helping hand. But mostly, he’s just happy to have him back.
“It’s really fun playing with him, especially with how good he’s playing,” Ty Vanitvelt said. “High school is different than any other type of golf, so to have my brother there, it helps a lot. When he went to school last year, he learned a lot about golf and his swing. If I’m not hitting it good, I’ll go to him. He’s very informative if I have a question. Very helpful.”
As the postseason approaches, the Chargers have high hopes but know they’ll have to be at the absolute top of their game. They moved up to Division 2 this season, and are in a Regional with St. Johns, East Lansing and DeWitt, the top three placers at the 2016 Division 2 Final. To even get to the final weekend Powers will have to finish above at least one of those teams at The Emerald Golf Course on May 31.
“We always talk about being state champs, but if we all play like we know we can play, it’s going to be hard to beat us,” Blaise Vanitvelt said. “I know our team can put up a good number and threaten them. I think we’re getting to the point, we’ve shot in the low 300s a good number of times, that I think we should be able to contend if we all play as well as we can.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Flint Powers’ Blaise Vanitvelt tees off. (Middle) Vanitvelt leads the No. 4-ranked team in Lower Peninsula Division 2. (Photos courtesy of Blaise Vanitvelt.)