Coldwater Golf finishes 8th at D2 Regionals
COLDWATER, MI. — The picturesque landscape of the Coldwater Golf Course welcomed nine teams and nearly 50 golfers on Thursday for competition in the MHSAA Division Two Regional competition. The Coldwater regional proved to be one of the toughest across the state, hosting four of the consensus top 10 teams in Division Two.
After a long and beautiful day of golfing was complete, it was the DeWitt Lady Panthers bringing home the regional championship, edging out the field with a total team score of 359 strokes. Joining DeWitt on the podium and earning a trip to the MHSAA State Finals were the Dexter Lady Dreadnaughts who took runner-up honors with a score of 364.
After 18 holes of golf among four different golfers, the teams of Mason and Haslett found themselves tied in the bronze medal position, which also happened to be the final spot that earned a trip to the state finals. Both Mason and Haslett carded scores of 368, forcing the teams to go to the MHSAA mandated tiebreaker.
The tiebreaker for teams in this situation happens to be the score of their fifth golfer, proving that depth may be one of the biggest keys to a team’s success when the postseason comes around. Going to the fifth golfer led to Mason earning the third place spot and the final invitation to the MHSAA State Finals. Mason’s fifth place golfer was Kortney Osborn, who finished in fifteenth place overall with a score of 95. The fifth golfer for Haslett was senior Jaidyn Kleiss who finished in forty-third place with a score of 127, meaning it was Mason getting the nod for third place.
Rounding out the team standings for the regional competition after the top three were Haslett in fourth place with a 368; Fenton in fifth place with a score of 396; Parma Western in sixth place with a score of 401; Jackson in seventh place with a 417; Coldwater in eighth place with a 435; and East Lansing in ninth place with a score of 449.
Coldwater was led on the day by junior Hailey Price who finished in a tie for twenty-third place with a solid score of 99.
Also adding to the Cardinal effort was junior Violet Cunkle in thirty-fifth place with a score of 108; junior Karis Tom in a tie for thirty-seventh place with a score of 113; sophomore Lilyanah Roscoe in thirty-ninth place with a score of 115; and sophomore Claire Hawver in forty-sixth place with a score of 138.
Individual regional championship honors went to Dexter freshman Avery Manning who shot a two over Par 74 to claim the regional title. Rounding out the top five in the individual standings were Sydney Dausman of Haslett in second place with an 81; Natalie Kulka of Jackson in third place with an 82; Courtney Novak of DeWitt in fourth place with an 85; and Katelyn Burkett of Fenton in fifth place with a score of 87.
Individual qualifiers for the MHSAA state finals include Dausman of Haslett, Kulka of Jackson, and Burkett of Fenton. These three individuals qualified for the state finals after carding the top three scores from a player not associated with a state championship qualifying team.
Additional excitement in the tournament happened on the 4th hole at Coldwater Golf Course as DeWitt’s Courtney Novak recorded an ace, hitting a hole-in-one on the par 3 hole.
The MHSAA State Finals will be held over a two day span next week, taking place on Oct. 14-15 at the Forest Akers Golf Course on the campus of Michigan State University.
With their eighth place team finish the season now has officially come to an end for the young Coldwater Lady Cardinals who underwent a huge rebuilding phase this season. The good news for the Cardinals is that every single golfer from this year's team will return next season one year older and one year wiser.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater Golf finishes 8th at D2 Regionals
