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.)
Mid Pen Senior Wins Family Matchup, North Central Takes Back Team Title
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2024
ESCANABA – Rock Mid Peninsula’s Bradly VanDamme doesn’t get much better competition than what his eighth-grade brother Christian brings to the golf course.
Last year, Bradly’s only win against Christian came at the Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final. This year, Bradly finished ahead of his brother in every event leading up to the championship tournament, but a second consecutive U.P. title still wasn’t a sure thing as Bradly wound down his senior year.
“We were waking up this morning, and we didn’t really know who was going to get it,” Bradly said. “We’ve been tight all year.”
Bradly came out on top with a 73, and Christian finished runner-up with a 76 on Thursday at Escanaba Country Club.
“It’s sweet,” Bradly said of claiming two straight U.P. Finals titles. “It’s what I dreamed of. Just grinding all summer long, especially all spring and the winter going with my buddies and hitting the simulator. It’s just what you strive for.”
He said he got off the tee well all day.
“I just put myself in some good positions,” he said. “If you can get off the tee well, this course is relatively short.”
His mom, and coach, Earlene VanDamme, said he’s done well in every tournament this season.
“He’s a strong player and he put a lot of development into it this past year, and it’s paid off again,” she said.
His practice and hard work got him where he is, she said. So did a little motivation from his brother.
“I think that is a good driving force,” she said.
Bradly VanDamme said his brother’s game is strong overall.
“He’s got a very bright future,” he said.
Powers North Central won the Division 3 team title with a score of 338, and Lake Linden-Hubbell was second at 349. The title was the Jets' second in three seasons.
“This is kind of sweet,” North Central coach Scott Farnsworth said, while choking up. “Good group of kids. I have 12 kids out, all very enthusiastic, these guys work hard for me all the time.”
He knew they had a good chance of winning going into the event. The Jets lost four times to Division 2 schools in their conference but were close to them each time.
“This whole group, you hear of gym rats, these guys are golf rats,” he said. “We get done with the meet, they’re going to play another 18. They are really nice to have, they get out there, do whatever I ask. They just get out and play. That’s what you’ve got to do.”
North Central was led by Alex Popkorn, who carded an 82 and finished in a tie for fourth individually. Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Bradley Axford was third with a 78 and Cedarville/DeTour’s Drew Moser also tied for fourth with an 82.
PHOTOS (Top) Powers North Central holds up its latest championship trophy Thursday at Escanaba Country Club. (Middle) Mid Peninsula’s Christian VanDamme sends an approach shot on No. 13. (Photos by Jason Juno.)