Smithson Building On Eye-Opening Offseason
March 28, 2018
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
GRAND RAPIDS – While most high school golfers were spending this winter counting down the days until the snow melted, one Grand Rapids-area golfer was measuring his game against the top players around the world.
Bradley Smithson, a junior at Ada Forest Hills Eastern, was invited to take part in a prestigious event hosted by one of the most recognizable names in professional golf.
Smithson, 17, competed in the Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Feb. 23-25 at the TPC of Myrtle Beach.
He was one of only two players from Michigan; the other was Patrick Sullivan of Grosse Pointe.
The tournament included a talented field of junior golfers from the United States, as well as Spain and Morocco.
Smithson shot 83 and 75, but wound up missing the cut by four strokes.
“I missed the cut, but that was a great experience, and I took a lot away from that,” Smithson said. “Dustin set it up like a professional tournament and made it feel like we were on tour. We had tour yardage books, we had our own locker and we had nameplates on the range.
“In the first round I played with a kid who committed to Virginia and another one to USC, and they were two years younger than me. The competition was absolutely excellent.”
Smithson also made a name for himself last summer when he finished among the top 30 at the Michigan Open.
It was an event that saw him compete against his father Gary, a PGA Professional at Quail Ridge Golf Course.
“I loved it,” Smithson said. “Competing against my father and all that stuff was a lot of fun. The golf course was absolutely perfect, and it was weird to be only four groups off the lead group and playing with two guys who were trying to make it on the tour.
“Being in that type of big tournament, you need to hit shots that you needed to hit, and your game definitely had to be on point that week.”
Smithson hopes to parlay those experiences into another successful high school season.
As a sophomore, Smithson tied for third individually at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. He also helped the Hawks to a third-place finish as a team.
“I had expectations to try and win it, but I knew there was going to be some good competition and I definitely had to play well in order to win,” Smithson said. “It was going to take a good score to win, and it did. I was pretty happy with how I played, and I put myself in good position after the first round. We were in there as a team, too, and we all played well in the second round, which was just as good.”
Smithson ended his season with all-state honors, while averaging 37.5 strokes for nine holes and 75.4 strokes for 18.
He has higher aspirations for this season, both individually and for his team.
“Last year was a pretty good season, but I didn’t accomplish all the goals I would like, which is (all-state) Super Team, but that’s for sure going to be a goal this year,” Smithson said. “I want to make it back to state and hopefully be in contention individually and as a team. We’re looking pretty good again.”
Smithson will be the catalyst on a squad that returns five golfers under first-year coach Frank Jenks.
“I just love watching him play, and he’s a really good kid,” Jenks said. “Now that I’ve been around him, he’s not only a good kid, but he’s a hard worker. Now I know why he’s so good. He cares about the game, and he puts the time and effort in. That’s a coach’s dream.”
Smithson started playing golf as a toddler and gained a wealth of knowledge from being around his father.
“I’ve learned a tremendous amount from my dad,” Smithson said. “Growing up all my life, sitting in the golf cart next to him and just seeing how he plays golf. Not so much attacking with yardages, but where to hit it and golf management.”
Smithson is long off the tee and a consistent putter. However, his wedge game has become a point of emphasis.
“I’ve worked very hard in the offseason on my wedges and have seen it pay off the first couple weeks,” he said. “Playing in Myrtle Beach, my wedges were a very big part and I saw improvement with those. It’s getting to where it needs to be.”
Smithson already has made his college choice. He committed to Michigan State following his freshman year.
Smithson was impressed with the facilities and coaching staff at MSU, and now he won’t be burdened by the pressures of the recruiting process.
“I won’t have that monkey on my back of having to perform well and getting those coaches out there looking at me,” Smithson said. “I have that done, and now I can just go out there and play golf and not have to worry about scores.”
Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ada Forest Hills Eastern’s Bradley Smithson lines up a putt during the 2016 Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final at Bedford Valley. (Middle) Smith, front and third from left, stands with the rest of the individual leaders after last season’s Final at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Houghton Boys Extend Reign, Negaunee's Meyer Wins With 'Round of My Life'
By
Jack Hall
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2023
HARRIS – The Houghton High School boys golf team cruised to a repeat of its 2022 MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 championship Wednesday, while a newcomer “came out of nowhere” to win the individual medalist honor.
The Gremlins took the top spot in the 12-team tournament by six strokes over runner-up Sault Ste. Marie, with Marquette, Calumet, and Negaunee in a three-way tie for third place. The Gremlins had a score of 323, the Blue Devils were second with 329, with the next three in that logjam at 331.
It was a remarkable accomplishment for the Gremlins, who had to deal with heavy snow on the ground deep into May this spring.
“It feels great,” Houghton senior Cam Markham said. “Amazing. Two years in a row that we've done this. It's a huge accomplishment. Just practicing when you can, even it's in the gym, hitting balls into nets. Getting better when you can. There's simulators at some local places around town, so we'll go to those, too, when there's snow on the ground.”
Individually, Negaunee sophomore Holden Meyer shot 75 on the challenging Sweetgrass Golf Course in northern Menominee County to take an unlikely medalist spot.
“I feel like I'm out of this world right now, I'm not gonna lie,” he said. “The course is in good shape, everything is really nice. I didn't think this was going to happen on any course. I played basically the round of my life.”
So, how did Meyer do it?
“I kept the ball on the fairway all day,” Meyer said. “The sand traps are really hard here, so I tried to stay out of that. I only hit one of them all day, so that was a really big help.”
He held on by one stroke when Marquette senior Brock Taylor missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff round.
“Early on in the day, I was playing OK, but then I had a couple of hiccups,” Taylor said. “I was able to bring it back together at the end. But, I missed it by just that much.
“I've kind of struggled, so I'm happy with the way I played today. Our team has been rock-solid all year long. But for me, man, couple of missed putts, couple of dumb decisions, and that was the difference."
Houghton junior Marino Pisani and freshman teammate Jack Sayen finished tied for fourth place after shooting rounds of 80.
In fact, there were a total of seven golfers who finished at 80, also including Kaleb Chiplewski (Marquette), Danny Loukus (Calumet), Odin Medrick (Sault Ste. Marie), Cooper Pigeon (Iron Mountain) and Nicklas Duran (Kingsford).
Markham was in contention until the bottom dropped out late in the round. He settled for a 19th-place finish after shooting an 82.
“I couldn't pull through at the end, just really struggled on those last four holes.” said Markham, who's main sport is hockey – he was named Mr. Hockey as the state's top high school player in March.
Beyond that seven-way tie for fourth place at 80, there was another eight-way tie for eleventh place at 81. That's 15 golfers with virtually the same score.
Junior Shane Wallin led Escanaba, finishing with an 81.
“It wasn't bad,” Wallin said. “A couple of three-putts, but it went well. On No. 18, I hit a 4-iron and missed an eagle putt but got a birdie. So that was good.
“We didn't do horrible. I wish we would've won a couple of the other tournaments that we went to. They were really close with Marquette. But we had a good season.”
Westwood sophomore Tanner Annala was able to avoid that 15-golfer logjam at 80 and 81 by finishing his round with a 79, good for third place overall.
There were some moral victories, too. Take Gladstone senior Austin Bagwell, who played baseball for the last three seasons and chose golf this time. While he finished 55th out of the 61 golfers on the course Wednesday, he said it went well.
“I think we all had fun,” Bagwell said. “I parred my first-ever hole at Sweetgrass, so that was pretty cool. Everything went downhill from there.”
One of the smallest schools in Division 1, Baraga, ended up in eighth place with a 349 as a team score. The co-op with L'Anse High School puts the Vikings over the 264-student cutoff that divides Division 1 and Division 2.
“I can play with a lot of these kids,” said Baraga junior Cage Osterman, who was among those tied for 11th with an 81. “A lot of them are really good, too. I felt good, I just missed a couple of shots. My driving was good. I only missed two fairways today. I just couldn't putt. The short game was not there today.”
PHOTOS (Top) Houghton’s Marino Pisani lines up a putt during his round Wednesday at Sweetgrass. (Middle) Negaunee’s Holden Meyer. (Below) Marquette’s Brock Taylor follows a drive. (Photos by Jack Hall.)