Second-Round Surge Lands Orchard Lake St. Mary's 1st Finals Victory

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

June 8, 2024

EAST LANSING — Tom Brecht had waited 28 years for this moment, but he could think about only one thing in the immediate aftermath of the Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at Forest Akers West.

“It’s cold,” Brecht said after getting a bucket of ice water dumped on him by his golfers. “I wish it was 90 about degrees out there; then it would be OK.”

It was the first time Brecht had experienced the traditional celebratory bath, which was fitting because it was also the first time he’d experienced a Finals title since taking over as the head coach of Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in 1996. 

An athletic program steeped in tradition across many sports, St. Mary’s will now get to hang a championship banner for boys golf after the Eaglets closed with a strong second day to win their first title.

Trailing by one shot after Friday’s first round, St. Mary’s shot four strokes better as a team on the second day for a final total of 603 (304-299), edging runner-up Grand Rapids Christian by one stroke. 

The Eagles had entered in fourth place after shooting a first round score of 307, but shot a 297 on the second day. Richland Gull Lake was third at 609. 

All of it obviously left Brecht overjoyed and beaming with warmth in spite of the cold water dripping down his back. 

“I thought it would come,” Brecht said of winning a state title. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be coaching – maybe one or two more years. I’m just very thankful and blessed.”

Grand Rapids Catholic Central's Will Preston follows a chip.Leading the way for St. Mary’s was senior Cooper Eaton, who shot a two-day score of 144 (71-73). Sophomore Blaise Król was next with a 147 (74-73), followed by junior Ethan Mukhtar (78-78-156), sophomore Mikey Karwaski (81-75-156) and senior Ben Carroll (82-82-164). 

St. Mary’s hadn’t won a tournament going into the weekend, but close calls over the regular season turned into a breakthrough at the most important event of all.

“It’s surreal,” Eaton said. “It’s a dream come true. All the guys put it together, and it was our day. We really took care of business.”

Also taking care of business was Grand Rapids Catholic Central senior Will Preston, who like St. Mary’s broke through for the first time in what was his final high school tournament.

Preston was the individual runner-up at the last two Division 3 Finals and a part of Catholic Central’s 2023 team title.

Moving to Division 2 this year, Catholic Central didn’t qualify as a team, but Preston did individually and made good on another opportunity. 

“Obviously being runner-up two years in a row sucks,” Preston said. “But you take that experience and do your best to move and keep it coming.” 

After a 2-under round of 70 on the first day, Preston shot a 1-under round of 71 to finish at 141, one shot ahead of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice junior Leandro Pinili and three shots ahead of Eaton.

The last hole for Preston was the par-4 No. 3 hole, and he knew he was two shots ahead teeing off.

He said it didn’t change his strategy of hitting an iron off of the tee, but he sprayed that shot into the rough and had to chip out. 

Preston eventually laid three facing a chip shot near the green, but got up and down from there to secure a bogey and the title.

“I didn’t have my best stuff today, actually,” said Preston, who will play in college for Penn State. “But I was able to keep with it and had a couple of key up-and-downs later in the round. Just kept with it when I was struggling.”

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PHOTOS (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary's Cooper Eaton celebrates after a drive Saturday at Forest Akers West. (Middle) Grand Rapids Catholic Central's Will Preston follows a chip. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)

Gull Lake Ready for Challenge of Adding to 2022 Finals Runner-up Finish

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

April 20, 2023

RICHLAND — Hank Livingston is a prime example of how fickle a golf course can be and why it is important not to give up.

Southwest CorridorThe Gull Lake sophomore started last year’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Golf Championship carding an 11 on the first hole of the second round.

“He’s my No. 2 and makes an 11,” coach T.R. Walters said, shaking his head. 

But Livingston shook it off and ended with a 79 for the round.

“He literally birdied the next two holes,” Walters said. “Flint Powers coach said to me, did you see what happened to your No. 2?

“I said, yeah, I was in the tall stuff with him.”

The Powers coach specified on the green.

“I was like, what?” Walters said. “He literally whiffed a putt that was two or three inches.”

Walters said he could not believe it. “(Livingston) said, ‘Coach, I just whiffed a putt for 10,” Walters said. “He goes, ‘I reached over to tap it in and I just bounced my club over it.’”

Neither Walters nor Livingston panicked.

“The way he said it to me, I was like, ‘This kid is absolutely fine.’ Then he birdied his last two holes,” Walters recalled. “You throw an 11 in as a freshman, and you don’t just quit. That’s a pretty good sign.”

It was a great sign.

The Blue Devils finished runner-up to Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice at the Final with Livingston tied for 18th individually with a 157 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State.

From left: Gull Lake boys golf coach T.R. Walters, Will Beardsley and Beau Carr. Things may be a bit tougher this year with the graduation of Bryce Wheeler, who won the medalist honor that weekend and was named Michigan’s Mr. Golf last spring.

However, the team is off to another successful start this season, winning the Greater Kalamazoo Tournament and the Coldwater Invitational.

Will Beardsley, who was part of a Division 2 championship in the fall with Gull Lake’s boys soccer team, said with Wheeler gone, everyone needs raise their games this year.

“Consistency is a big thing for us this year,” he said. “As long as everyone can play consistently and we all play as a team and have each other’s backs. If someone isn’t playing well one day, another guy can step up.

“Last year was a lot of a one-man show. This year, we’re definitely more balanced. Everyone’s contributing more this year rather than just one guy going 4-under.”

As the lone senior on the team, Beardsley, nicknamed “Will the Thrill” by his coach, said he feels like the “old man.”

“I see my role as having the experience,” he said. “If there are questions about rulings, I’ve had a couple more years experience, so I can usually answer those.

“I can tell them what a match day will look like and what we’re going to do on the range, what we’re going to do on the putting green, the ins and outs of what we do off the course.”

Beardsley got hooked on golf at age 5 from his grandfather, Bud Baldwin, who coached golf at Portage Northern High School.

Another Blue Devil with a bit of golf history is sophomore Chase Kosin, who is the great grandson of Letha and Darl Scott who started Gull Lakeview Golf Course in Richland in 1962.

Gull Lake does most of its practicing at the course, but Bedford Valley’s North Course is the team’s home course.

Beardsley works on his short game during a practice this spring. “Chase cracks me up,” Walters said. “I see so much of his grandpa in him. If there’s a piece of trash on the golf course, it goes in his golf bag.

“He’s an outstanding kid. He just gets better and better. His uncle (Casey Scott) played one PGA Tour, the Buick Open.”

Livingston also has a bit of golfing history. His uncle, Tom Harding, who played golf at Michigan State University, is in the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame.

Another returning golfer is junior Ben Szabo.

“Our No. 3 last year, he had an outstanding fall and played a bunch of junior tournaments,” Walters said. “He started playing significantly better golf. He’s also one of those kids who absolutely loves being on the golf course all the time.”

Walters is getting some help from an unexpected source. Junior Beau Carr, who was Plainwell’s No. 1 golfer last season, moved into the district.

“He’s amazing,” Beardsley said of Carr. “He’s fun to be around, a great player, hopefully will fill that missing spot that we lost this year.”

Carr also has some state tournament experience. As a freshman in 2021, he was on the Plainwell team that advanced to the LPD2 Final and finished 18th.

“Me and four seniors,” he said. “Once they graduated, the next year was a lot tougher.”

He added it was the first time that “Plainwell made it to state in 17 years. It was a big accomplishment for us.”

Walters, who teaches social studies in the middle school, is a Gull Lake grad whose main sport was baseball.

He did not take up golf until he suffered a knee injury playing basketball at Kellogg Community College.

“One of the first times playing golf was actually at Ballybunion Golf Course (in County Kerry,) Ireland,” he said. “I was over there playing basketball in a tournament and played Ballybunion and thought it was kind of fun.”

Once Walters found out he had the eye-hand coordination for golf, he was hooked.

He has worked the last 24 years at Bedford Valley Golf Course in Battle Creek and plays every day he can.

“I got to the point where I could qualify to play the Michigan Open and a few events like that … before kids,” he added.

Carr summed up the feelings of many golfers when he said, “It’s a challenge. You’re never going to figure it out.

“There’s one day you’re going to play great and the next day you feel like you haven’t hit a golf ball in two weeks. That sucks, but it’s all a part of the ride.”

Pam ShebestPam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Gull Lake’s Ben Szabo tees off during last season’s LPD2 Final at The Meadows at Grand Valley State. (Middle) From left: Gull Lake boys golf coach T.R. Walters, Will Beardsley and Beau Carr. (Below) Beardsley works on his short game during a practice this spring. (Top photo by High School Sports Scene. All other photos by Pam Shebest.)