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LUDINGTON — The lead group of golfers flew through their round and
finished three holes ahead of the rest the pack Tuesday at Lakeside
Links. The landscape of the West Michigan D League, however, isn’t
shaping up the same way.
“I think it’s going to be close,”
said Manistee Catholic Central senior Zack Bialik, whose even-par 35
earned him the match medal. “There’s three teams that can possibly win
the conference.”
Led by Sam Wagner’s 38, Pentwater shot a 175 Tuesday to win the latest
league jamboree while Manistee Catholic Central was second with 180,
Brethren third with 194, and Onekama fourth with 205. Host Mason County
Eastern didn’t have enough golfers to post a team score.
“Nobody is going to run away with it this year,” said MCC coach Pete
Solwold, whose team won the league opener on April 16 via tie-breaker to
edge Brethren. “I thought Pentwater would probably be the toughest team
this year, but we’re getting there.
“They have a win, we have a win, and I’m still not going to count out
Brethren.”
Though the Sabers fell five strokes short of a team victory, Bialik was
again the top performer to earn his third straight medal to start the
year.
“I thought it was a pretty good round for me today, with the weather the
way it was,” he said of the sunny, but windy conditions. “I started off
with a nice par-3, and kind of just got on a roll.”
Bialik birdied the par-4 No. 6 on Lakeside’s East Course, doubled the
par-3 7th, and carded a 4 on the par-5 ninth.
“With 36 holes underway, I think it’s a good start,” he said of his
season so far, “especially for where I want to be at the end of the
year.”
Bialik was followed by teammates Gabe Toczynski (44),
Nick Bialik (50), and Gabe Sidor (51) to round out the team score, while
Joe Nelson (52) and Renee Seymour (76) didn’t factor into the total. MCC
was without their No. 3 golfer Jaime Sierra-Nielsen, who had a
conflicting
school function to attend.
“I think the wind bothered a lot of people today, but I’m not too
displeased with our play,” Solwold said. “We were only five strokes off
without one of our players.
“Hat’s off to Zack Bialik for an incredible par 35, which was just a
fantastic score, and a fantastic start to the season for him,” he added.
“Gabe should be shooting a little bit better, and Nick Bialik is a 45
waiting to happen.
“Joe’s improving, and we’ll get Jaime back in there and we should be
pretty tough to beat pretty soon.” |
Brethren's Bryson Waller chips
to the ninth green during Wednesday's meet. (Dylan Savela, News
Advocate)
Brethren, which co-ops with Bear Lake, took a step back
from the first jamboree with a third-place finish Tuesday, but coach Tom
Anderson expected Pentwater to have a bounce-back round.
“They had a couple kids who had a tough time the first time,” he said.
“MCC and Pentwater have very good teams. If we don’t shoot down in the
180s, we won’t have a chance.
“I think the kids had a tough time with the wind out there,” he added.
“As a group, we just have to improve. We need our more experienced
golfers to bring their averages down a little bit, and that’s what we
have to do to be competitive.”
Bryson Waller led the Bobcats with a 43 while Joe Riggs (48), Taylor
Makowski (51), and Colton Podbilski (52) rounded out the team score. Sam
Mullet (56) and Alex Dutton (58) did not factor into the total.
Onekama was paced by Derek Hobart with a 44 Tuesday, as the Portagers
continued their stroke-shedding trend as a team.
“It’s an improvement again,” Onekama coach Tom McCraner said. “We’re
slowly and surely coming along. We’ll get tougher as the year goes on.”
Hobart was followed by Brandon Bohannon (48), Alexis Tribfelner (56),
Jarrett Bradford (57) to round out the team score, while Parker
Sternberger (62) and Jack Coryell (65) did not factor into the total.
“The players are glad to be out, and the younger ones are getting
experience under their belt,” McCraner said. “They’ll just get stronger
as time goes on.”
Posted by Dylan Savela, News Advocate on-line
ONEKAMA GOLF
Bohannon, Brandon (12)
Hobart, Derek (12)
Sternberger, Parker (12)
Tribfelner, Alexis (10)
Bradford, Jarrett (9) |
Coryell, Jack (9)
Fink, Trever (9)
Hagen, Braden (9)
Hull, Matt (9)
Wisniski, Caleb (9)
Coach: Tom McCraner
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