Boss Sets Pace as Charlevoix Golf Delivers Memorable 1st-Time Championship
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 6, 2026
EAST LANSING – Bryce Boss admits he wasn’t sure which he wanted more heading into Saturday’s second round of the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Boys Golf Final at Forest Akers West.
"Winning the state title,” Boss said after Charlevoix clinched its first team championship in the sport. “A hundred times out of a hundred. It’s way more fun to win as a team than as an individual.’
The Rayders – who will move to Division 3 next season – rolled with a two-day score of 645 strokes, besting second-place Muskegon Western Michigan Christian by 17.
The championship capped an emotional season for the Rayders, whose season was cut short last year by a vehicle crash that seriously injured several team members and coach Doug Drenth.
“I’m really grateful,” Drenth said, blinking back tears. “Four guys who scored today were in the accident, and how they played today meant a lot. These are fine young men, with fine parents. I’m proud of all of them.”
Drenth achieved a rare double Saturday. While continuing to recover from his injuries this past fall, he coached the Charlevoix boys cross country team to the Division 3 team title.
“I’ve had a lot of help,” Drenth said. “My (golf) assistant, Bruce Beaudion, deserved a lot of credit, too.”
Boss had a chance at that individual championship as well, when Alcona’s Giovanni Paluch three-putted on the final hole of regulation, forcing a playoff.
Both posted scores of 149 heading into the tiebreaker.
But after they tied on the first playoff hole, Paluch prevailed on the second
“I was hitting everything to the left,” Boss said. “Kinda hard to win that way.”
PHOTOS (Top) Charlevoix’s Bryce Boss punches out of a sand trap during his second round Saturday at Forest Akers West. (Middle) Alcona’s Giovanni Paluch putts Saturday; he won the individual championship in a playoff. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Newberry Follows Record-Setting Medalist to 1st Boys Golf Finals Team Title
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 27, 2026
HOUGHTON — Newberry usually doesn’t bother with the mobile app utilized for scoring at the Upper Peninsula Finals because there isn’t cell service on most of the courses they play during the regular season.
But the technology worked fine at Portage Lake Golf Course in Houghton on Wednesday, and when the Division 2 Finals came down to one stroke, being able to track the score in real time made for high drama.
Coach Kenn Depew said it was the most nervous he’s ever been on a golf course. The players, he said, knew one bad shot could ruin the day for the entire team.
It also made the ending even sweeter.
When Newberry freshman Austin Boulton got out of the bunker and made the putt on the final hole, Depew, and the team, could finally exhale.
And celebrate.
“When Austin made that putt, I went up and gave him a big hug and said, ‘You just won a state championship,’” Depew said.
Newberry edged Hancock 316-317, putting an end to the Bulldogs’ two-year reign. The championship also was Newberry’s first in boys golf, with its previous high MHSAA Finals finish second in UP Class C-D in 1992.
“We knew we were in for a tough battle,” Depew said. “We had to play real good because Hancock was the defending champs, I think they returned everyone and they were on their home course. We knew we were in for a battle; we had to shoot some really good numbers.”
Sophomore Jarrett Zellar certainly did that. He shot a 4-under-par 68, the first time anyone in the U.P. in Division 2 had shot in the 60s at the Finals. He ended five shots ahead of Boulton, who finished runner-up with a stellar round of his own.
“Basically my putting was a big factor,” Zellar said. “I never really putted that good before. Somehow everything was clicking.”
Depew stayed away from Zellar as it was pretty apparent early on the kind of day he was going to have.
“I’ve played quite a bit of golf with Jarrett and he was in a zone,” Depew said. “I went and dealt with the other four players because it became very apparent that every stroke was going to matter to us.”
Zellar will be an upperclassmen next year.
“Last year Jarrett was the best freshman I ever coached, and now this year he’s the best sophomore,” Depew said. He didn’t quite finish the word “sophomore,” continuing instead, “He’s the best player I ever coached.”
And Zellar does far more than putt.
“He’s really the total package,” Depew said. “He hits it good off the tee. He hits irons good, he chips good and today he really got hot with the putter as well. So that’s a great combination to have.”
For Zellar, it was also a great combination to win the U.P. Division 2 title individually and with his team.
“It felt pretty good,” he said. “It was the defending team that we beat; we beat them on their home course.”
Everyone stepped up to do that, Depew said, including their No. 4 golfer, Oliver Sevarns, who also hit a big putt late.
Nine golfers finished the day shooting under 80. Ironwood’s Caleb Sprague shot a 76 in a tie for third place with Kirby Storm, who led the way for runner-up Hancock and was the only senior among the top five.
Baraga’s Alden Leiter and Painesdale Jeffers’ Tage Rajala rounded out the top five with 77s.
PHOTOS (Top) Newberry's Jarrett Zellar follows a drive during Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Final at Portage Lake. (Middle) Jeffers' Carson Lesperance tracks one of his shots. (Photos by Jason Juno.)