Suttons Bay Makes History - Again
June 6, 2015
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
ALLENDALE – Nine years ago, the Suttons Bay boys golf team won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final at The Meadows of Grand Valley State University with four seniors and an underclassmen.
History repeated itself Saturday afternoon.
Suttons Bay claimed its first Division 4 championship in nine years by clipping runners-up North Muskegon and Grosse Point Woods University Liggett by two strokes.
Suttons Bay finished at 675, while North Muskegon and University Liggett closed at 677.
“It was very similar from nine years ago in many ways, and this is an incredible feeling,” Suttons Bay coach Todd Hursey said. “I’m just so happy for these seniors, and this was a week where I felt like we were coming in as the underdogs. But I knew we had a shot.
“For these guys to stay resilient on a tough course in these kind of conditions was just amazing.”
Suttons Bay shot 334 Friday and trailed North Muskegon by one shot entering the final round, but made up ground by shooting a 341 Saturday.
Suttons Bay’s title run was even more satisfying given it didn’t make it to the MHSAA Finals a year ago after placing fourth at Regionals.
“We didn’t have a lot of experience in the state finals and that was a concern, but a key to this team was they were able to stay relaxed in some real pressure situations,” Hursey said. “It’s a tough sport to keep composure, but watching them for the 36 holes I had a great feeling about the final result because of how they handed it.”
Senior Devin Capron finished runner-up by two strokes after shooting 148 (73-75).
Senior Lars Thornton carded a 165 (83-82), while Chris Jasinski shot 181 (91-90) and Mason Rohback had a 185 (87-98). Freshmen Thomas Hursey shot 188 (94-94).
“I’m amazed, and I’m so excited,” Capron said. “We’ve been dreaming of this since we were freshmen, and this was our goal. I think there was less pressure being underdogs coming in, and our team has worked super hard. We hadn’t reached our full potential this year, and it’s very special for the seniors.”
Capron qualified as an individual a year ago and placed fourth. He was much happier to have his join him this time around and wasn’t upset at all about finishing second individually behind Leland’s Joel Sneed.
“I wasn’t playing for myself today, and I didn’t care if I won individually,” he said. “I just wanted my team to do well, and we did and we pulled it off.
“I thought I played really well today and kept my head after shooting 41 on the front, but Joel is a great player. I’ve played with him all year, and he’s in our conference. I love to see him win.”
University Liggett was seeking to win its first MHSAA Final in 33 years, but had to settle for its best finish since its last title.
“They fought hard, but we’re disappointed with the result,” said University Liggett coach Dan Sullivan. “Our scores all year have been much better, but this is a very difficult track and we came up two strokes short. Give credit where credit is due to Suttons Bay. They did the dance.”
University Liggett was led by senior Stephen Campau’s 161 (81-80) total.
“It’s tough for me because I had four seniors out there, and this was our one shot to do it so that’s frustrating,” Sullivan said. “But it is a pretty successful season to finish second in the state. That’s pretty good stuff, but just bittersweet.”
North Muskegon was paced by junior Will Mierz, who finished in the top 10 for the second year in a row with a 159 (80-79) total.
Sneed, a senior, repeated as individual champion after firing an even-par 72 on Saturday. He shot 74 on Friday and finished at 146.
“I played really good golf,” Sneed said. “I was a little stagnant early on and made a couple of good putts, but it was just a good steady round. Nothing spectacular.”
Sneed was in a competitive battle with first-round leader Noah Schneider of Jackson Christian, and Capron.
He created breathing room on his 16th hole, the par-5 first hole.
“I played the par-5s horribly until No. 1,” said Sneed, who will play for the University of Nebraska in the fall. “I hit the best drive of my life probably and had 130 yards in. I hit a 52 degree (wedge) to 12 feet and made eagle. I kind of felt a little separation there, and I three-putted my last hole but it didn’t cost me.”
Sneed trailed Schroeder by two strokes after an opening round 74, but liked his position.
“I was right where I wanted to be,” he said. “I didn’t want to shoot 74, but I found that I’m a little more comfortable playing from behind, especially playing with the leader. The pressure is not on you, and you know exactly where you are. It was a nice setup going into the second day.”
Sneed recorded a pair of birdies to go with his eagle.
“It hasn’t really sunk in that I won, but it’s my swan song going out with a state championship,” he said. “It’s the best way to finish my career.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Suttons Bay came back Saturday to earn its first MHSAA championship since 2006. (Middle) Leland's Joel Sneed won his second straight individual title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
DCC Closes Perfect Spring with Repeat
June 11, 2016
By Paul Morgan
Special for Second Half
ALLENDALE – Even though Detroit Catholic Central led after Friday’s first round of the Lower Peninsula Division 1 golf tournament, coach Mike Anderson knew things weren’t just right.
‘’On the drive up and during breakfast on Friday morning the guys were very quiet,’’ Anderson said. ‘’Today, it was back to normal, having fun.’’
Ben Smith was the Shamrocks’ poster child for quiet-Friday, fun-Saturday. The junior shot a 6-over par 78 for the first round, but came back for a 2-under 70 on Saturday to help DCC repeat as MHSAA champion.
The Shamrocks shot 299-298 – 597 for the two-day tournament, held at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University. Grosse Pointe South was second with rounds of 302-303 – 605.
Battle Creek Lakeview’s Andrew Walker won a one-hole playoff over Plymouth’s Jack Boczar to take medalist honors. Each shot a 143. The championship was Walker's second straight.
Smith and junior James Piot (71-77 – 148) have been the leaders on Catholic Central’s team, according to Anderson.
‘’As it turned out James had a good first day and Ben had a good second day, so it worked out pretty well,’’ the coach said.
The turnaround for Smith was pretty simple.
‘’Today, I think I missed like two fairways and Friday I think I hit only two fairways,’’ Smith said. ‘’On the first day, it wasn’t really nerves, but I just wasn’t hitting it well and I couldn’t find the fairway, which leads to problems on this course.
‘’Overall, I played really well, but I left a few shots out there. I three-putted twice for par and missed a couple of short ones, but that’s going to happen.’’
Three holes on the back nine were crucial for Smith and his teammates. The junior double-bogeyed the par-3 13th hole, but came back with a birdie on the par-5 14th and then drained a long putt on the par-4 15th for a par.
‘’After making the double bogey, I used that to motivate me to play better,’’ he said. ‘’Luckily, I had that short par five and it’s a birdie hole.
‘’I was thinking to hit a drive out there, put it on in two and either get an eagle or birdie, which is what I did.’’
Added Anderson: ‘’Ben’s played well all year and Friday was his worst round of the season.’’
Also in the top five for Catholic Central was senior Max Palmer (75-75 – 150), junior Sean Niles (75-76 – 151) and junior Sean Sooch (79-83 – 162). Anderson is all smiles when thinking about next year and having to replace just one player.
‘’They didn’t lose an event all year,’’ Anderson said. ‘’All the boys on our team are going to play college golf and they have bright futures.’’
That goes all the way to Catholic Central’s ninth golfer.
‘’My sixth-through-nine golfers could make anyone’s top five,’’ he said. ‘’They will probably play college golf and they can’t make their high school top-five.’’
The all-smiles thing can be said about Grosse Pointe South coach Doug Roby, who isn’t losing a player off his top five. The Blue Devils’ scores were junior Oliver Livingston (71-74 – 145), sophomore Evan Theros (73-75 – 148), junior John Schoof (80-75 – 155), freshman Coalter Smith (78-79 – 157) and sophomore Patrick Sullivan (82-82 – 164).
‘’The kids played well both days,’’ Roby said. ‘’Friday night, we reviewed where we potentially gave away some strokes and it was in the last four holes.
‘’One of the things with this team is our play in that stretch. We just came up short today.’’
Actually, it was most of Catholic Central’s players getting off to hot starts, which put Grosse Pointe South in a position of playing catch-up all day. As a team, the Shamrocks had a seven-stroke lead over the Blue Devils after six holes.
‘’We talked about continuing to do the same things we’ve done all year,’’ Anderson said about the Saturday pep talk. ‘’We have to play our game, which is hitting greens and fairways, making good decisions and taking the double bogey out of play.’’
In doing so, the Shamrocks won the school’s fourth MHSAA golf championship in the past 13 years.
After DCC and Grosse Pointe South, the rest of the team scoring was Grand Blanc 617, Warren DeLaSalle 618, Midland 620, Battle Creek Lakeview 622, Detroit U-D Jesuit 624, Plymouth 630, Bloomfield Hills 632, Ann Arbor Skyline 637, Grand Ledge 641, Northville 650, Rochester Adams 655, Birmingham Brother Rice 657 and Rockford 669.
PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Catholic Central clinched its second straight Lower Peninsula Division 1 title. (Middle) Battle Creek Lakeview's Andrew Walker (right) shakes hands with Plymouth's Jack Boczar after winning a one-hole playoff for the individual medalist honor. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)