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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.)
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Veteran Comets Prepping for Title Run
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2018
KALAMAZOO – Golf, barbeque and honoring Martin Luther King Jr. are on the agenda for Kalamazoo Christian’s boys golf team during spring break.
The six varsity players, coach Brian Seifert and their families are headed to Memphis next week.
“We plan to take in a couple of golf courses down there and also have the opportunity to play the TPC Southwind that hosts the FEDEX St. Jude Classic, so we’re excited about that,” Seifert said.
“We’re going to be at the Martin Luther King Jr. 50th anniversary of his assassination on the actual day, April 4, so it’s a little bit of an inspiration trip along with the golf to get us focused for a big run on the year.
“We’ll be down there to play some golf and eat some barbeque.”
Three of the Comets, who as a team finished third at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final last year, had a bit of a delay in starting this season.
They were part of the K-Christian basketball team that lost in the Class D Quarterfinals last Tuesday.
While the rest of the golfers were already practicing, seniors Colin Sikkenga and John Cramer plus junior Ben Cramer did not pick up the clubs until Wednesday.
“The speeds are a lot different,” John Cramer said of the two sports. “After a little bit, you start to get used to golf again. The first week and a half or so, it’s a little tough to make that transition.”
Next sport, new home
Once they make that transition, the team will start the journey to what it hopes is another shot at an MHSAA title.
“It’s tough to win,” Sikkenga said. “It’s just two days of 18 holes. You’ve just got to get really hot those two days.
“That’s what it comes down to. Anyone can really win it. It just depends on how well you play those two days.”
Last season’s three other varsity golfers also are back: senior Derek Block and juniors Elijah Devries and Josh Bouma.
Although they lost their former home course when Thornapple Creek Golf Club closed last year, they moved to a closer one: Kalamazoo Country Club.
“That is pretty awesome,” said Sikkenga, a finalist for the coaches association’s Mr. Golf Award last year. “I’m excited. Hackett (Catholic Prep) would do their invite there, and I’ve done that since freshman year.”
The country club has not been home to a high school team in 40 years, according to Seifert.
“After 40 years, they said maybe this is the year to do it, and our ‘ask’ was at the right time,” he said. “It’s a matter of timing.”
Two of the golfers, Ben Cramer and Bouma, both caddy there in the summer and know the course layout very well.
“That will help,” Cramer said. “But most of us on the team have played the course quite a few times.”
Valuable experiences
Sikkenga and the Cramer brothers all started swinging the clubs at a very young age, but in different ways.
Sikkenga’s parents do not play golf, while dad Rick Cramer had a membership at Thornapple and started his sons in the sport.
“I had the Little Tike’s blue plastic club and I just started hitting balls,” Sikkenga said. “I loved to hit the ball really far. I think that’s why I liked it so much.”
Hitting the long ball is just one asset that put the scratch golfer on varsity all four years.
“The thing about Colin that is good for everybody else in his leadership is that he is so patient playing golf,” Seifert said of his senior captain. “That’s a real important asset to have in golf because it just takes so long to get around, and you get groups that get stacked up on top of each other.
“Nothing rattles him. That’s a real bonus when you’re playing golf.”
Sikkenga will attend Oakland University on a golf scholarship with an eye on a pro career.
“My goal since I’ve been little has been to play professionally,” he said. “It’s definitely a goal that is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.”
Oakland golf coach Nick Pumford talked about Sikkenga on the college’s web site.
"Colin brings a lot of national exposure and experience to our program,” he said. “Not only has Colin tested his game against the best players in the country, he's had success doing so.
“I'm looking forward to Colin carrying over that success and experience into our program next season.”
Besides playing their opponents, the Cramers also compete against each other.
“Oh yeah, there’s always a competition with my brother,” John Cramer said. “We always compare scores after the round. I usually win.”
But when a threesome includes their dad, “We’re pretty competitive because we’re all pretty much around the same kind of scoring level,” Ben Cramer said.
“It’s all fun, but our dad usually wins. He’s better than both of us.”
Let the fun begin
While the brothers share camaraderie on the course, one thing they do not share is their clubs.
“His are too short for me,” the 6-foot-5 Ben Cramer said. “(John) is 5-7.”
Seifert calls John Cramer the Magic Man.
“He can get up and down from spaces that most people can’t,” the coach said. “He likes to scramble when he plays golf. It’s not uncommon for him to run together five, six long putts in a row for par or birdie just to keep the round going.
“Golf’s a matter of streaks sometimes. You get on a roll, and he can find those sometimes and put quality rounds together.”
It is also a mental game, Ben Cramer said.
“You have to be focused all the time when you’re around the ball. You have to focus on how far you’re hitting, what the wind’s doing.”
Cramer describes himself as the jokester of the team.
“I joke around a lot,” he said. “I lighten the mood. I’m never really sad.”
Seifert agreed.
“Ben carries us well with his humor,” he said. “The whole team is a load of fun to be with. For him, he’s so quiet and unassuming that you would never know if he’s having a good round or a bad round. It’s kind of like calling him patient.
“He doesn’t get down on himself. I think that’s where I noticed him being the most improved last year. He got better with each shot. Even if he did hit a bad shot, the next one was right on the money.”
None of the three boys have had hole-in-one, but their coach, who is a pastor at Milwood Community Church, has had two.
“My mom taught me to play golf when I was 5, and I haven’t stopped since,” said Seifert, who grew up outside of Seattle.
“For a number of years I managed a golf resort, so I played a lot of golf that way.”
In addition to his two aces, “I also had a double eagle, an albatross,” he said. “I’ll take that.
“Golf’s meant to be having fun, and it’s hard to score when you’re not having fun. If you’re not enjoying it, there’s no point doing it.”
Pam 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) Kalamazoo Christian’s Ben Cramer lines up a putt. (Middle top) Clockwise from top left: Kalamazoo Christian coach Brian Seifert, senior Colin Sikkenga, senior John Cramer and junior Ben Cramer. (Middle) Seifert, left, and Sikkenga survey the scene during play last season. (Below) John Cramer putts last spring. (Action photos by Daniel J. Cooke [top two] and Cheryl TenBrink, head shots by Pam Shebest.)