Summer Swing Fuels Traverse City Hopefuls
April 28, 2016
By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half
TRAVERSE CITY – When Todd Hursey talks about all the MHSAA Finals golf champions that have come out of the Traverse City area in recent years, he cites one common denominator.
The Traverse City Junior Golf Association, started more than three decades ago by one of the area's most respected high school coaches to promote the game and provide local school programs with more skilled golfers.
“For the most part, it’s been accomplished with a steady (flow) of TCJGA kids,” the Suttons Bay coach and TCJGA executive director said of the area's recent success.
Consider this: Four area schools have captured eight of the last 16 MHSAA Division 4 boys championships.
A year ago, Suttons Bay earned its fourth team title while Leland’s Joel Sneed successfully defended his individual crown, edging Suttons Bay’s Devin Capron by two shots.
The girls matched that double last fall as Traverse City West claimed the Division 1 team title while Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox made it back-to-back individual championships in Division 4.
And what ties it all together is that almost all of those players have roots in the TCJGA’s summer program, now in its 33rd year.
The association’s 18-hole elite tournament division – 11 tournaments in seven weeks at 11 courses – is one of its most popular offerings, giving high school golfers a chance to develop their skills and competitive edge.
“As far as getting kids ready for tournament golf, there’s nothing better,” Traverse City West boys coach Mike Schultz said. “We definitely encourage our players to participate. It’s such a no-brainer. It’s like a summer camp where you get to compete in a tournament (every four to five days). It’s a tremendous asset for the players and the coaches.”
West has, perhaps, the best representation in the TCJGA – and it’s paid off. The boys swept league, District and Regional titles last spring. The Regional triumph was the third in four years.
The girls, with five underclassmen in the lineup, followed suit, finishing the season with the school’s first MHSAA Finals golf title. Freshman Anika Dy led the Titans, placing just one shot behind the individual winner, Brighton’s Julia Dean. All the West girls are TCJGA veterans.
“I highly encourage all my girls to play in at least three of the tournaments,” Titans coach Kristen Nolan said. “What ends up happening, though, is that most will play in five or six, if not more, because, no pun intended, I want them to get into the swing of things before fall. I want them prepped and prepared for playing in tournaments.”
Traverse City Hall of Fame coach Bob Lober helped launch the junior program in 1984 for a couple reasons – to help teach kids the sport (lessons are offered, starting for those as young as 5) and to have it act as a feeder for the high school programs.
Lober’s 1996 team won a state Class A title. The Trojans had runner-up finishes in 1991, 1994, 1997 and 1999.
Schultz was one of the early products of the program. He took up golf as an eighth grader when his parents signed him up for lessons in the junior program. He went on to play four years of high school golf (1989-93) under Lober.
“I was destined to be an offensive lineman and this was the best way to make sure I had working knees when I turned 40,” Schultz said, laughing. “I thank my parents for getting me involved. The junior program is dear to my heart.”
Hursey has been a benefactor, too. Although he had some three-sport athletes on his golf team last season, which prevented them from playing consistently in the summer program, that was more the exception than the rule.
“With our first three state title teams we didn’t have a kid who didn’t play multiple years in TCJGA,” Hursey said. “You didn’t consider not doing it. Everybody did it.”
Hursey’s team is rebuilding this season. His son, Thomas, is the lone returner from the Suttons Bay lineup that won the 2015 title. West is minus three of its top five players off a seventh-place Finals team a year ago, but Schultz is encouraged by the early returns.
“Going off last year’s averages it wasn’t looking too promising,” he said. “But I’ve been pleasantly surprised. The guys have worked hard on their games. We’ve been consistently between 324 and 327. As we progress, and play more, it should get better.”
The Titans did do better Tuesday, posting a season-low 315 at the Cadillac Country Club.
Because of a lingering winter, West had just a couple days of practice at Mistwood Golf Course before its season-opener, a fourth-place finish in the East Lansing Invitational. West has since won the first two Big North Conference meets.
Keits Shoemaker and Austin Webb are the two returning players off last year’s squad. Shoemaker fired a 74 on Tuesday, Webb a 79.
“Keits has stepped up nicely,” Schultz said. “I’m hoping he gets more comfortable shooting in the mid-70s. Austin is going to be an integral part of this team. Three of his first four rounds have been under 80.”
Tyler Buchanan, Sam Schriber and Zach Perrin are coming on, too. Buchanan shot a 76 in the first tournament, Schriber was averaging 81 through the first three events while Zach Perrin, who did not play last year, chipped in an 81 Tuesday.
“I think these kids will continue to improve and grow,” Schultz said. “It should be a fun year.”
Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Traverse City West senior captain Keits Shoemaker hits his opening tee shot at the Ogemaw Heights Invitational on Friday at The Nightmare. (Middle) West senior Tyler Buchanan tees off at the East Lansing Invitational on April 18 at Hawk Hollow. (Photos courtesy of Traverse City West golf program.)
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.)