Charlevoix golf places fifth in Division 4, Vollmer cards hole-in-one

EAST LANSING — Every team sets expectations for where they want to be throughout the season and hope to be at the end of the year.

The Charlevoix boys’ golf team entered the 2022 spring season with some high expectations with plenty of talent back and then proceeded to live up to them throughout their campaign on the course.

When they headed to the Division 4 state championships at Forest Akers West (MSU) in East Lansing over the weekend, they did just that once again.

The Rayders put together a season-best round on the second day of competition to jump up to a fifth place overall finish in the state and a final line of 342-327–669.

“I’m just proud of the guys,” Charlevoix coach Doug Drenth said. “We shot our best round of the year and it’s a tribute to the guys. It was a really fun day and they’re amazing young men. To live up to expectations is difficult and it was just a really fun year.”

Lansing Christian earned the overall win at the Division 4 state finals with a 318-304–622, while Clarkston Everest Collegiate placed second with a 321-325–646. Also ahead of Charlevoix were Maple City Glen Lake, 332-323–655 and Kalamazoo Hackett, 330-335–665.

The overall individual state champion within Division 4 was Jeffery Andrus of Royal Oak Shrine Catholic, as he cared a 72-72–144. Blake O’Connor of Glen Lake then placed second with a 75-75–150.

Charlevoix also had two place inside the top 15, as Sam Pletcher and Hudson Vollmer tied for 13th overall.

Vollmer also had a more than memorable moment come his way at the state finals, as he sank a hole-in-one on No. 10 of the final round, using a pitching wedge in a down wind from 161 yards out.

“I was really excited,” said Vollmer. “The day wasn’t going well for me at that point, but that really turned it around.”

Things flipped enough for Vollmer to card an 82-76–158 overall, with the 76 coming as the fourth best round of the day on day two, while Pletcher shot 80-78–158.

Also for Charlevoix, Jack Gaffney carded a 93-84–177, Henry Herzog shot 90-89–179 and Joshua Schultz carded a 90 on Friday, before Emmett Bergmann stepped in on Saturday to shoot 93, making for a combined 90-93–183.

Also included within the Division 4 finals was Harbor Springs senior Stewart Oserlund, who finished with a round of 95-93–188, which placed him 69th out of 108 in attendance at the state finals, while making his coach proud.

“Stew was a great senior captain and team MVP,” said Harbor Springs coach Pete Kelbel. “He represented the Rams with class and will be missed.”

For Charlevoix, the season comes with only Gaffney moving on, while Vollmer, Herzog and Schultz are all sophomores and Pletcher only a junior. Drenth was appreciative of everything Gaffney gave to the program as the senior leader, as well as everyone else who helped get his team to the finals.

“Our success this year can be attributed to the many people that impacted these young men positively the last few years,” said Drenth. “This includes the Charlevoix Jr. Golf program and assistant coaches Beaudoin, Good, and Sucaet. The generosity of the courses we played on also have an enormous impact on our success, this includes the Charlevoix city municipal, the Belvedere Golf Club and the Charlevoix Country Club. There’s so many people. When you do well in any sport, you have to have that support.”

DIVISION 3

Boyne City at D3 Finals

FRANKENMUTH — Within the Division 3 golf state championships, the Boyne City boys’ golf team finished with a 12th place overall team finish among the 18 teams in attendance.

Playing The Fortress in Frankenmuth, Boyne City carded a two-day round of 346-346–692, while Ann Arbor Greenhills carded a 306–306–612 for the Division 3 state championship.

The next placing teams were Grand Rapids Catholic Central with a 321-311–632, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 316-319–635 and Traverse City St. Francis, 316-327–643.

The individual state champion came as Greehills’ Cale Piedmonte-Lang, as he shot 72-71–143, a stroke ahead of Will Preston of Grand Rapids Catholic Central with a 74-70–144.

Leading for Boyne City on the day was senior Kolton Stadt with a 76-85–161, while senior Nic Santina carded an 89-85–174. Ryan Reynolds also shot 96-85–181, Andrew Stadt, 85-99–184 and Jack Neer shot 98-91–189.

Only Santina and Kolton Stadt will graduate for the Ramblers next season.

Contact Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Charlevoix golf places fifth in Division 4, Vollmer cards hole-in-one