Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
Going up against some of the top Division 2 golf teams in the state and battling the heat and high humidity of day two at the state finals, the Big Rapids boys golf team made the home folks proud, as they turned in a strong effort and placed third overall.
Cranbrook Kingswood dominated both days of the tournament at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Course and finished with a two-day total of 588. DeWitt finished second with 615 while the hometown Cardinals took third place with 621.
“The boys played hard,” Big Rapids co-coach Mark Posey said. “They went out there and worked hard and gave it their all and let the chips fall where there be.”
Senior Blaze Hogan led the way for the Cardinals, as he placed fourth overall with a 144 total.
“I thought we did real well,” co-coach Howard Strom said. “We hung tough. Blaze Hogan, our number one, shot a 77 yesterday but came back today with a 66. I felt we gave it our best effort and we left nothing out on the course.”
Senior Timothy Dawkins fired rounds of 73 and 79 to finish with a two-day total of 152. Junior Peter Daniels finished with a 161 total after rounds of 77 and 84, while sophomore Joe Hinds totaled 164 as he carded rounds of 85 and 79.
“Coach Posey and I were very pleased with the effort,” Strom said. “That is a lot of hard work. This course is 6,660 yards, and that is four miles. They are carrying a bag and going up and down hills in the heat and humidity with a lot of pressure on them.”
The strong effort at the state finals wrapped up a solid season for Big Rapids.
“For us it was a very good season,” Strom said. “We won conference and we won the regional. We did well in the tournaments we were in, and we developed some good players and depth. It was a good year.”
While the Cardinals will graduate some key golfers off this year’s squad, they will have several veterans returning for next season.
“We have a couple of kids coming back next year,” Strom said. “We have a junior and a sophomore that were here today. This year was a good year. Anytime you go to state it’s a good year. Actually we’ve been doing pretty good. We either have a individual or the whole team go to state every year.”