Butch Harmon
Sports Scene
Heading into this year’s Division 2 state tournament, the expectations were a bit lower for the DeWitt boys golf team. Winners of state titles the past two seasons, the Panthers were without three of their starters from last year’s title-winning team.
One player the Panthers did have back from last year was senior Tyler Polulak, and the talented senior made sure this year’s tournament would be one DeWitt golf will not soon forget.
Polulak was solid from beginning to end as he helped lead DeWitt to a second-place finish. Cranbrook-Kingswood dominated the field with a two-day score of 588, but the Panthers were better than the remaining teams in the field, as they totaled a 615 score, while Big Rapids was third with 621, and Haslett fourth with 622.
“I’m pretty proud of them,” coach Dave Koenigsknecht said. “We shot a 304 on Saturday and that was seven strokes better than Friday and gave us second place. Cranbrook shot even par, so it was going to be a long shot to catch them. I was real happy and pleased with how things turned out. We lost three starters from last year’s team, so to finish second this year is a real accomplishment.”
Polulak led the way for the Panthers, as he fired a 68 on Friday and came back with a 71 on Saturday. He tied for medalist honors with Hamilton freshman Nick Carlson, as they both totaled 139. Polulak then went to a playoff with Carlson. Both golfers birdied the first hole, but then Carlson edged Polulak by a stroke on the second playoff hole.
“Tyler has been good all year for us,” Koenigsknecht said. “It would’ve been a feather in his cap if he could’ve won medalist. He had a real great round on Friday.”
Senior Mitchell Overway closed out his career with an 81 on the first day of the tournament, and then came back with a 73 on Saturday to finish with a 154. Senior Peter Von Spreecken fired rounds of 80 and 79 to finish with a 159, while freshman Owen Beyer carded rounds of 82 and 81 to finish with a 154.
“I was real proud of Mitchell Overway,” Koenigsknecht said. “He is a senior who struggled a little on Friday but then came back with a 73 on Saturday. We were happy to finish second.”