Seniors Carry Hancock to Finals Win
May 30, 2014
By Burt Angeli
Special to Second Half
IRON RIVER — Hancock’s “senior moment” keyed another MHSAA U.P. boys golf championship Thursday at George Young Recreational Complex.
The Bulldogs, with four seniors playing big roles, retained the U.P. Division 2 crown with a dominating performance. Hancock tallied a 327 to down Norway and L’Anse, both at 346.
The difference was one stroke between Hancock and Norway in last year’s U.P. tournament. L’Anse, which had one golfer take ill Wednesday, missed out on the second-place trophy after the tiebreaker.
“The kids played great today,” Hancock coach Joe Gervais said. “It was definitely, overall, a team effort.
“All of the scores were pretty tight and close together, which is a testament to how hard these guys push each other in practice.”
Bulldogs filled four of the top scoring spots — junior Matt Sanregret (37 front nine) and Kyle Hauswirth (38 back nine) at 81, Tanner Kearly and William Lucier at 82. Senior Tony Fisher, fifth member of the Bulldogs, was also in the mix at 84.
“Those four seniors are all good friends, and it’s made for a lot of good friendly competition amongst the team trying to get better,” Gervais said.
Hancock boys have produced four U.P. titles and a runner-up in the last five years.
"I think we've been fortunate as a program to have a lot of kids that like to compete with each other and make good golf scores, get better at their games, and one through five we've had some pretty solid teams," Kearly said recently.
The short season due to the weather didn’t deter the Bulldogs’ determination.
“The winter was tough on us and, in fairness, it was tough on all of the teams in the U.P.,” Gervais said. “Very few schools got to get out on the course very much before we had to start rolling into the season.”
Tristan Leaf of L’Anse retained medalist honors, leading the way with a six-over par 78. Norway’s Justin Anderson was next at 80.
Ray Miron of L’Anse shared third with Sanregret. Max Maloney of West Iron County was among the group at 82.
Leaf overcame a double bogey on No. 8 and triple bogey on No. 17.
“I just told myself if I stay away from that I should be OK,” Leaf said of his front nine difficulties. “I was playing pretty good and my putting was good. I just needed my iron shots to get down.
“My drives were OK, but they should have been better.”
The senior, medalist last year and third two years ago, carded matching 39s for his round. He registered back-to-back birdies before the “triple” on No. 17.
The senior will take his game to Ferris State, where the future pharmacist hopes to make the team as a walk-on.
“I’ll try and see what I can do,” Leaf said of attempting to crack the Ferris roster.
Norway’s Anderson also survived an early triple bogey to garner runner-up medalist.
“Then I started making some pars with a birdie here and there,” Anderson said. “That got my confidence back.
“I made a lot of putts, and I was chipping pretty good.”
The junior had two rounds of 40. Knights Austin Hansen, 84, and Bryce Kelly, 85, also turned in solid scores.
“I thought we played pretty well,” Norway Coach Ben Leiker said. “The conditions were great, and the weather was finally beautiful.
“Hancock is a veteran club. They’re a great team. We would have had to play our best match of the year to be able to beat them. We’re very happy with what happened.”
Both Leaf and Anderson applauded the George Young course layout.
“Beautiful course conditions,” Leaf said. “The greens were slower than normal, but I like them.”
Noted Anderson, “They were pretty good if you keep it in the fairway and stay out of the woods.”
PHOTO: (Top) Norway's Austin Hansen watches a shot during Thursday's MHSAA U.P. Division 2 Final. (Middle) L'Anse's Tristan Leaf watches a shot on the way to finishing atop the individual standings. (Photos by Burt Angeli.)
D2 Champs Follow 1st-Place Friday with Celebration Saturday
By
Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com
June 12, 2021
BATTLE CREEK — Brockton English had dreamed for more than a year about winning the individual Lower Peninsula Division 2 golf championship, but he was far from confident going into this weekend’s tournament at Bedford Valley Golf Club.
“I played in a big invitational in Indiana earlier in the week, and I played really bad. Just really bad,” said the Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior. “I knew the (Bedford Valley) course was going to be easier than what I played in Indiana, but, still, I was a little nervous.”
A fast start Friday, with five birdies in the first 10 holes, cured the nerves, and he carded identical rounds of five-under 67 to win the individual title by five strokes over Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s Lorenzo Pinili, who shot 68 on Saturday to finish at 139.
Pinili’s Brother Rice team won the team title, however, recording identical rounds of 290 to finish 18 strokes ahead of Flint Powers Catholic.
Warriors coaches Leon Braisted and David Sass, who co-coached the Bloomfield Hills Marian girls to the Division 3 title in the fall, became the first coaches to win Finals with boys and girls golf teams in the same school year.
“It’s a very good feeling,” Braisted said. “We’re tickled pink, and we’re going to let it soak in. It’s been a very productive school year.”
Brother Rice got off to a rough start on Saturday as the pressure of being the leader at the halfway point took its toll early.
“Part of that was nerves,” said senior Colin O’Rourke, who finished with a 74-70—144 score. “Around hole 4 or 5 our five guy settled in, and we started playing.”
The Warriors led by eight strokes over Flint Powers going into Saturday and added 10 strokes to that lead.
“That was pretty special,” O’Rourke said. “We caught a groove and never looked back.”
Pinili shot a 68 on Saturday after teammate Matt Baer had done so the day before.
“I was patient the whole day,” Pinili said. “I was giving myself chances by sticking it to 10 feet or less (from the cup). A couple (putts) didn’t fall, but I stayed patient and most of them did. I got lucky on some shots and I got some breaks and put a good round together.”
While Pinili was staying patient, English had some nervous moments down the stretch.
“On 16 I was trying to go for the green in two to get another birdie and two-putt, but I pulled my 2-iron way left of the green, next to a tree, and I had to take an unplayable lie,” he said. “That really put me on edge. I took a bogey there, and I knew Lorenzo was really close.
“On 17, I was really nervous because I had to sink a 4-footer to save par," he added, "and then I was able to roll in a birdie on 18, and that’s when I knew I had my momentum back.”
That last putt, English said, was bliss.
“It’s a weird feeling. You can’t think about it too much because you don’t want to make a mistake,” he said. “But the last putt is a great feeling. There’s no pressure any more. You make it, or you two-putt. It doesn’t matter.”
For O’Rourke, his last putt was bittersweet.
“It was a sad and happy moment at the same time,” he said. “It was my last high school tournament, but I’m fortunate to take (golf) to the next level and play in college.”
While O’Rourke will play at the University of Dayton next year, the Warriors will have both Pinili and Baer, who was a junior this year, back in 2022.
But this year’s Brother Rice team was talented, deep — and unselfish.
“We have nine guys who averaged 78 or better for 18 holes,” Braisted said. “We were blessed with talent, and we were in a lot of pressure situations. We’re in a strong league, and that experience rubbed off for us today.”
English, who will play golf on scholarship at Drexel University, credited his personal swing coach for keeping him ready through the winter, and his coaches at Pontiac Notre Dame Prep for preparing him mentally during the season.
“Mike Erskine, Kevin Ogg and John Briceland were always pushing me,” he said. “Every practice, they pushed me, giving me the hardest shots to hit against my teammates, and we had some putting contests to put some pressure on me. They didn’t let me stay satisfied. They kept me hungry for more.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice celebrates its Division 2 team championship Saturday at Bedford Valley. (Middle) Flint Powers Catholic’s Robert Burns chips during his second round. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)