By BUTCH HARMON
With the bulk of its team back from a squad that won the Division 3 state title last year, expectations were high for the Lansing Catholic boys golf team heading into this season. As the season heads to the home stretch, the Cougars are well on their way to fulfilling those expectations.
“So far, the season has been going very well,” coach Charlie Furney said. “We have quite a bit of returning players who have experience from last year’s state championship team. We did lose one player, and he (Jacob Johnson) is at Oakland University now. We miss him because he was our number one player last year, but we are actually a deeper team this year.”
Johnson was one of the premier players in the state last year and was named the player of the year in the Lansing area.
Although Johnson moved on, the Cougars have plenty of talent back. Senior Brent Marshall and junior Niko Voutsaras lead the way this year. They were both averaging 77.2 for 18 holes at midseason, and they give the Cougars a strong one-two punch. Marshall finished second in the state as an individual last year, was the medalist at the Perry Invitational this year, and was second at the Ranger Invitational at Grand Valley State University. Voutsaras was third at the CAAC Open this season.
Overall, the Cougars have six golfers averaging under 83 for 18. Sophomore Owen Rush averages 79.4, junior Adam Elias 80.2, senior Avery Nelson 81.6, and junior Patrick Gillespie 82.2.
“They are all taking their turns leading us in scoring in tournaments this year,” Furney said. “They have finished in quite a few top 10s and have won a lot of ribbons. Three of them were in the top ten at the CAAC Open, and five out of six were in the top 20 at the Perry invite.”
The core group of players also has experience at the state meet. “Four of our players have state finals experience, and that will help out down the road,” Furney said. “We also have two seniors, three juniors, and one sophomore, so we have a nice mixture of classes.”
Lansing Catholic’s experience and depth has paid off this season with a number of strong efforts. The Cougars won three of the five tournaments they entered and finished third in the other two tournaments. They opened the season by winning the Dick’s Sporting Goods Classic at Green Briar in Perry. They then won the CAAC Open and the Forest Hills Central Ranger Open against mostly Division 1 and 2 schools.
Playng against some of the strongest golf schools in the state is by design, as the Cougars prepare for another deep tournament run.
“With six players back from last year’s team, we have the experience where we think we can compete for another state championship,” Furney said. “We are taking it one match at a time and we compete as best we can. We have been competing against good teams in Division 1 and 2 to get us ready for the Division 3 meet. The goal is to ultimately try to repeat. We certainly enjoyed the success we had last year and would like to have that success again this year.”