By BUTCH HARMON
With a number of veterans back from last year’s state title team, Lansing Catholic golf coach Charlie Furney knew that his team had what it took to win another state title. Led by six veterans from last year’s squad, the Cougars made it two in a row this spring and won the Division 3 state championship with a two-day score of 633 at The Meadows Golf Course on the campus of Grand Valley State University.
Lumen Christi Catholic took second place with a team score of 641.
Depth was the key for Lansing Catholic. Junior Patrick Gillespie led the Cougars with rounds of 77 and 75 for a total of 152.He finished fourth overall as an individual. Senior Brent Marshall, who will be joining the Grand Valley golf team next year, finished eighth overall with a 156, as he carded rounds of 75 and 81.
“Everyone on this team is competitive with one another,” Furney said. “They all get along and play together in the summer and through the winter in domes. A good number of them went down South during spring break to play, and I think it did them a lot of good. We had quite a bit of returning players who had experience from last year’s state championship team, and we were actually a deeper team this year.”
“The mindset going into the season with the players we had back was to repeat,” Furney said. “From the very beginning, that was our goal, and I think the key to this year compared to last year was they all lowered their stroke averages.”
Junior Niko Voutsaras shot rounds of 75 and 85 to finish with a 160, while sophomore Owen Rush carded rounds of 85 and 79 to finish with 164.
Powers Catholic finished in the top ten, as it totaled a 680 team score to finish in eighth place. Troy Tomczak led Powers with rounds of 82 and 83 to finish with a 165 total. Blaise Vanitveld also finished with a 165, as he carded rounds of 81 and 84.
St. Charles also placed in the top ten. Balance was the key for St. Charles, as it totaled a 343 on the first day and a 344 on the second day to finish with a 687. Dustin Pumford led the way for St. Charles, as he carded rounds of 78 and 80 to finish in a tie for ninth as an individual with a 158 total.
Rhet Schrauben of Portland placed third as an individual with rounds of 73 and 78 for a 151.
Scott Sparks of Lutheran High School North was the individual medalist, as he shot rounds of 67 and 76 for a 143 total.
DIVISION 1
Swart Creek won the Division 1 team state title in a red-hot tournament that went down to the final hole. It totaled 584 (293, 291) to edge Detroit Catholic Central by one stroke (293, 292) and third-place Rockford (294, 295).
Balance was key for Swartz Creek. Ben Zyber led the way with a 141 (72, 69), followed by Mike Kelley with a 142 (72, 70) and Jack Weller with a 146 (69, 77).
Zyber was one of five golfers who tied for medalist honors with a 141. Ben Roeder of Midland Dow, Jordan Bohannon of Birmingham Groves, Seth Terpstra of Grandville, and Joel Pietila of Rockford also shot 141, with Dow’s Roeder winning the state title on the third hole of the playoff.
DIVISION 2
Cranbrook-Kingswood captured the Division 3 state title with a 618 team total to edge out Forest Hills Eastern, which finished second with a 623.
DeWitt and East Lansing both finished in the top ten. DeWitt totaled 640 (322, 318) to take seventh place, while East Lansing totaled 646 (328, 318) to place eighth as a team. Mason finished in a tie for 11th with 649, while Mt Pleasant finished 13th with 685.
Individually, Austin Carter of Croswell-Lexington won medalist honors with two rounds of 72 for a 144 total. Joe Croom of East Lansing placed seventh with a 149 (76, 73), while Zach Rosendale of St Johns (76, 76), Tristan Brunst of Mason (73, 79), and Geoffry Croley of DeWitt (74, 78) all finished in a tie for ninth place with 152.
DIVISION 4
White Pigeon captured the Division 4 team title with a total of 654 (328, 326), while Charlevoix and Alcona tied for second with 663.
Sacred Heart Academy finished 10th as a team with a 691 total (353, 338). Fowler placed 12th overall with 693, while New Lothrop finished 13th with 730.
Joel Sneed of Leland won individual medalist honors with a 147 total (74, 73), while Sam Wagner of Pentwater placed second with a 151.
Austin Feldpausch of Fowler finished 10th as an individual with rounds of 79 and 81 for a 160 total.