It's Championship Time for Badker, While Houghton Holds On for Team Title
By
Todd Rose
Special for Second Half
June 1, 2022
BARK RIVER – From the Division 3 boys basketball championship game at the Breslin Center to the Great Northern Conference golf final at Escanaba Country Club, the story of much of Brady Badker’s senior year has been second place.
That changed Wednesday afternoon, as Menominee’s Badker won the individual championship at the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final at Sage Run Golf Course in Bark River.
“This one feels good to get off my chest,” Badker remarked after the win. “The last two things I cared about most were basketball and golf, and (it was) runner-up, runner-up. But, this one was kind of the one I wanted really bad because last year I came up short.”
Badker shot a 75 on Wednesday to earn a three-stroke win over Houghton’s Marino Pisani.
Badker marked the front nine as the place where he earned his advantage.
“I’d say on the front nine my approach shots were kind of getting real close,” he said. “I got good looks at birdies instead of those long five-foot par putts. Those are the ones you have to save out here because it’s a tough course. When you’ve got those five-footers for birdie instead of five-footers for par, that really helps to keep your mindset going.”
Aside from the added challenge of wind, the Sage Run course itself presents a challenge on its own.
“A lot of courses that we play up here, you’re hitting wedges and all that in the greens,” noted Badker. “Here, you’re hitting 8-irons and 9-irons, so it’s a little bit higher. You have to think about the wind and the bunkers around the green and behind the hole. If you can hit it long or if you can hit it left, it’s a lot tougher. You kind of have to hit your spots or you’re going to struggle here.”
Runner-up Pisani, a Houghton sophomore, felt he had a bit of a rough start and end but still enjoyed the sunny, warm day at Sage Run.
“I thought it was a pretty solid round,” Pisani said. “I started off slow. I had a triple and a couple doubles but rebounded well, stayed composed and kept level-headed. … Somebody told me I was about one back of (Badker) with four to go, and I struggled to close out a bit. I took a double on one of my last holes and had a couple missed putts, but I’ll try not to think about it too much.”
While Pisani finished runner-up in the individual standings – ahead of a three-way tie between Cole Myllyla (Kingsford), Cooper Pigeon (Iron Mountain) and Tyler Annala (Westwood) for third – his Houghton Gremlins shot a collective 329 to take home the team championship.
“Overall, I thought the team did great,” Pisani said. “Every guy performed well, and I think it was just a great day for golf in general.”
Houghton coach Corey Markham shared his excitement as well.
“I’m really proud of the kids,” he added. “We had never seen the course until yesterday. We came down to do a practice round, and the wind was howling like 30, 35 mile an hour. So it was hard to get a read on how you’re playing the course in those kind of winds. But, they got to see the course and how it was laid out, so that really was great.
“They showed up. I told them going in if we could average between 80 and 85, we’d be right in the mix. We had Marino go down into the 70s, and the rest were all between 80 and 85. So, I’m really proud of how they played today.”
The U.P. Finals championship rounds out a successful year for the Gremlins, who also collected top honors in the Western Peninsula Athletic Conference.
“It was a really good year for us,” said Markham. “We started off slow. We had a late spring, and we had no practice before we played our two first meets and our course opened one day before our third meet. We had a slow start, but once we started playing and getting in a groove we won most of the meets we played in the last quarter of the season.”
Finishing second with a score of 334 was GNC champion Marquette.
“Going in, I thought if the guys played well and had a really good day there would be a good chance we’d be in the mix,” said Marquette coach Ben Smith. “I bet if you asked the kids while they were out there, you probably wouldn’t get too many ‘it’s going great Coach’ responses. But, conditions were tough out there. Obviously, the wind and the course itself is not easy. … But, credit to the kids, they hung in there.”
Smith added that close matches throughout the season helped prep Marquette for the competitive nature of the U.P. Finals.
“We’ve had a couple matches this year that came down to a shot or two,” he said. “So, I think the kids kind of bought into the idea that every swing matters and even if it doesn’t seem like it’s your day, just try and get the ball in the hole. Credit to them, they hung in there for each other and were able to come out with a second-place finish.”
The margins at the top of the team standings were thin as the top five all shot within 12 strokes of each other. After Houghton (329) and Marquette (334) were Calumet and Kingsford tied at 337, with Escanaba rounding out the top five at 341.
PHOTOS (Top) Brady Badker of Menominee tees off on hole 16 at Sage Run Golf Course during Wednesday afternoon's MHSAA U.P. Division 1 Boys Golf Final in Bark River. (Middle) Houghton holds up its first-place team trophy. (Photos by Todd Rose.)
Summer Swing Fuels Traverse City Hopefuls
April 28, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – When Todd Hursey talks about all the MHSAA Finals golf champions that have come out of the Traverse City area in recent years, he cites one common denominator.
The Traverse City Junior Golf Association, started more than three decades ago by one of the area's most respected high school coaches to promote the game and provide local school programs with more skilled golfers.
“For the most part, it’s been accomplished with a steady (flow) of TCJGA kids,” the Suttons Bay coach and TCJGA executive director said of the area's recent success.
Consider this: Four area schools have captured eight of the last 16 MHSAA Division 4 boys championships.
A year ago, Suttons Bay earned its fourth team title while Leland’s Joel Sneed successfully defended his individual crown, edging Suttons Bay’s Devin Capron by two shots.
The girls matched that double last fall as Traverse City West claimed the Division 1 team title while Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox made it back-to-back individual championships in Division 4.
And what ties it all together is that almost all of those players have roots in the TCJGA’s summer program, now in its 33rd year.
The association’s 18-hole elite tournament division – 11 tournaments in seven weeks at 11 courses – is one of its most popular offerings, giving high school golfers a chance to develop their skills and competitive edge.
“As far as getting kids ready for tournament golf, there’s nothing better,” Traverse City West boys coach Mike Schultz said. “We definitely encourage our players to participate. It’s such a no-brainer. It’s like a summer camp where you get to compete in a tournament (every four to five days). It’s a tremendous asset for the players and the coaches.”
West has, perhaps, the best representation in the TCJGA – and it’s paid off. The boys swept league, District and Regional titles last spring. The Regional triumph was the third in four years.
The girls, with five underclassmen in the lineup, followed suit, finishing the season with the school’s first MHSAA Finals golf title. Freshman Anika Dy led the Titans, placing just one shot behind the individual winner, Brighton’s Julia Dean. All the West girls are TCJGA veterans.
“I highly encourage all my girls to play in at least three of the tournaments,” Titans coach Kristen Nolan said. “What ends up happening, though, is that most will play in five or six, if not more, because, no pun intended, I want them to get into the swing of things before fall. I want them prepped and prepared for playing in tournaments.”
Traverse City Hall of Fame coach Bob Lober helped launch the junior program in 1984 for a couple reasons – to help teach kids the sport (lessons are offered, starting for those as young as 5) and to have it act as a feeder for the high school programs.
Lober’s 1996 team won a state Class A title. The Trojans had runner-up finishes in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 1999.
Schultz was one of the early products of the program. He took up golf as an eighth grader when his parents signed him up for lessons in the junior program. He went on to play four years of high school golf (1989-93) under Lober.
“I was destined to be an offensive lineman and this was the best way to make sure I had working knees when I turned 40,” Schultz said, laughing. “I thank my parents for getting me involved. The junior program is dear to my heart.”
Hursey has been a benefactor, too. Although he had some three-sport athletes on his golf team last season, which prevented them from playing consistently in the summer program, that was more the exception than the rule.
“With our first three state title teams we didn’t have a kid who didn’t play multiple years in TCJGA,” Hursey said. “You didn’t consider not doing it. Everybody did it.”
Hursey’s team is rebuilding this season. His son, Thomas, is the lone returner from the Suttons Bay lineup that won the 2015 title. West is minus three of its top five players off a seventh-place Finals team a year ago, but Schultz is encouraged by the early returns.
“Going off last year’s averages it wasn’t looking too promising,” he said. “But I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The guys have worked hard on their games. We’ve been consistently between 324 and 327. As we progress, and play more, it should get better.”
The Titans did do better Tuesday, posting a season-low 315 at the Cadillac Country Club.
Because of a lingering winter, West had just a couple days of practice at Mistwood Golf Course before its season-opener, a fourth-place finish in the East Lansing Invitational. West has since won the first two Big North Conference meets.
Keits Shoemaker and Austin Webb are the two returning players off last year’s squad. Shoemaker fired a 74 on Tuesday, Webb a 79.
“Keits has stepped up nicely,” Schultz said. “I’m hoping he gets more comfortable shooting in the mid-70s. Austin is going to be an integral part of this team. Three of his first four rounds have been under 80.”
Tyler Buchanan, Sam Schriber and Zach Perrin are coming on, too. Buchanan shot a 76 in the first tournament, Schriber was averaging 81 through the first three events while Zach Perrin, who did not play last year, chipped in an 81 Tuesday.
“I think these kids will continue to improve and grow,” Schultz said. “It should be a fun year.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Traverse City West senior captain Keits Shoemaker hits his opening tee shot at the Ogemaw Heights Invitational on Friday at The Nightmare. (Middle) West senior Tyler Buchanan tees off at the East Lansing Invitational on April 18 at Hawk Hollow. (Photos courtesy of Traverse City West golf program.)