Houghton Boys Extend Reign, Negaunee's Meyer Wins With 'Round of My Life'
By
Jack Hall
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2023
HARRIS – The Houghton High School boys golf team cruised to a repeat of its 2022 MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 championship Wednesday, while a newcomer “came out of nowhere” to win the individual medalist honor.
The Gremlins took the top spot in the 12-team tournament by six strokes over runner-up Sault Ste. Marie, with Marquette, Calumet, and Negaunee in a three-way tie for third place. The Gremlins had a score of 323, the Blue Devils were second with 329, with the next three in that logjam at 331.
It was a remarkable accomplishment for the Gremlins, who had to deal with heavy snow on the ground deep into May this spring.
“It feels great,” Houghton senior Cam Markham said. “Amazing. Two years in a row that we've done this. It's a huge accomplishment. Just practicing when you can, even it's in the gym, hitting balls into nets. Getting better when you can. There's simulators at some local places around town, so we'll go to those, too, when there's snow on the ground.”
Individually, Negaunee sophomore Holden Meyer shot 75 on the challenging Sweetgrass Golf Course in northern Menominee County to take an unlikely medalist spot.
“I feel like I'm out of this world right now, I'm not gonna lie,” he said. “The course is in good shape, everything is really nice. I didn't think this was going to happen on any course. I played basically the round of my life.”
So, how did Meyer do it?
“I kept the ball on the fairway all day,” Meyer said. “The sand traps are really hard here, so I tried to stay out of that. I only hit one of them all day, so that was a really big help.”
He held on by one stroke when Marquette senior Brock Taylor missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole that would have forced a playoff round.
“Early on in the day, I was playing OK, but then I had a couple of hiccups,” Taylor said. “I was able to bring it back together at the end. But, I missed it by just that much.
“I've kind of struggled, so I'm happy with the way I played today. Our team has been rock-solid all year long. But for me, man, couple of missed putts, couple of dumb decisions, and that was the difference."
Houghton junior Marino Pisani and freshman teammate Jack Sayen finished tied for fourth place after shooting rounds of 80.
In fact, there were a total of seven golfers who finished at 80, also including Kaleb Chiplewski (Marquette), Danny Loukus (Calumet), Odin Medrick (Sault Ste. Marie), Cooper Pigeon (Iron Mountain) and Nicklas Duran (Kingsford).
Markham was in contention until the bottom dropped out late in the round. He settled for a 19th-place finish after shooting an 82.
“I couldn't pull through at the end, just really struggled on those last four holes.” said Markham, who's main sport is hockey – he was named Mr. Hockey as the state's top high school player in March.
Beyond that seven-way tie for fourth place at 80, there was another eight-way tie for eleventh place at 81. That's 15 golfers with virtually the same score.
Junior Shane Wallin led Escanaba, finishing with an 81.
“It wasn't bad,” Wallin said. “A couple of three-putts, but it went well. On No. 18, I hit a 4-iron and missed an eagle putt but got a birdie. So that was good.
“We didn't do horrible. I wish we would've won a couple of the other tournaments that we went to. They were really close with Marquette. But we had a good season.”
Westwood sophomore Tanner Annala was able to avoid that 15-golfer logjam at 80 and 81 by finishing his round with a 79, good for third place overall.
There were some moral victories, too. Take Gladstone senior Austin Bagwell, who played baseball for the last three seasons and chose golf this time. While he finished 55th out of the 61 golfers on the course Wednesday, he said it went well.
“I think we all had fun,” Bagwell said. “I parred my first-ever hole at Sweetgrass, so that was pretty cool. Everything went downhill from there.”
One of the smallest schools in Division 1, Baraga, ended up in eighth place with a 349 as a team score. The co-op with L'Anse High School puts the Vikings over the 264-student cutoff that divides Division 1 and Division 2.
“I can play with a lot of these kids,” said Baraga junior Cage Osterman, who was among those tied for 11th with an 81. “A lot of them are really good, too. I felt good, I just missed a couple of shots. My driving was good. I only missed two fairways today. I just couldn't putt. The short game was not there today.”
PHOTOS (Top) Houghton’s Marino Pisani lines up a putt during his round Wednesday at Sweetgrass. (Middle) Negaunee’s Holden Meyer. (Below) Marquette’s Brock Taylor follows a drive. (Photos by Jack Hall.)
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.)