Luke's Medalist Run Keys Marquette's Team Championship
By
Justin St. Ours
Special for Second Half
June 3, 2021
HARRIS — The individual winner of the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Boys Golf Final wasn’t 100-percent sure what his running score was until he stepped up to the tee on hole 18.
Marquette senior Joe Luke, seeing Menominee’s Brady Badker — a Great Northern Conference rival — watching on from the end of the 18th hole, caught up and realized he had victory in his grasp.
“Just before 18, I had no clue (about my score),” Luke said. “There was this phone app we were using to keep score, and I wasn’t on my phone (beforehand) because I figured I would just put it all in afterwards so I could keep focus on my game. Then, once I got to 18, one of my buddies in the group told me Brady (Badker) was plus-three. So, I was like, ‘Oh, boy.’ I didn’t really want to know that because I was plus-one at the time.
“I came in, and I saw him up on the hill watching me, which is normal. We always played together in the normal GNCs. Then, I ended up bogeying the last hole, and I knew I had to come out with a bogey. I was probably a little bit nervous, but I was also very excited. Maybe a little teary too because it’s my last meet for high school.”
It wasn’t an easy win for Luke on Thursday in Harris. Despite the top two golfers finishing ahead of third place by five strokes, Luke edged Badker by just one with a 2-over 74.
“I didn’t think I was going to come in and win this. I just wanted to shoot a good enough score for the team for us to win,” Luke added. “I felt pretty confident with the team aspect for winning the UPs. It was really nice helping the team out there. Just coming into it, I knew probably after the front nine that I was even, so I was like, ‘I actually have a really good shot at this. I just have to keep playing the way I am, and maybe shoot even on the back too. Maybe I got this thing in the bag.’ It was really exciting. I definitely wasn’t expecting it, and I really enjoyed the round and the course and the people I was playing with.”
The rest of Luke’s team followed his example, as Marquette also earned the team championship by a five-stroke margin (325) over Houghton (330). The title was Marquette's first since 2013 and followed a runner-up finish to Houghton in 2019. The 2020 season was canceled due to COVID-19.
“It was fun to watch all five boys play well,” Marquette assistant coach Rick Rhoades said. “They all played solid. This course was playing pretty tough. This is one of the tougher courses in the U.P. It was just great watching them come together as a team. They’ve been playing good all year, so it was nice to cap things off with a win.”
Despite some missed strokes, Houghton coach Corey Markham was happy with his team’s performance.
“I thought it was a real solid performance for our team,” he said. “When you’re five strokes behind the first place, you look back and see a few places where you wish you could have shaved a stroke here or there, but I thought we had a great day on a great course.”
Luke and Badker both finished the front nine at par with two bogeys and two birdies for Luke and one apiece for Badker.
“Some of the harder holes (went better for me) as well,” Luke said. “It’s weird. It’s always the hard holes that I seem to birdie in. … Number four connected pretty good. Off of the tee shot, it was nice right in the middle, and I was able to pull a nice 8-iron up into the wind. Four was probably the big one because it's one of the hardest out there. A hole like that definitely improves the day.”
It was four holes into the back nine, on the 13th, that Luke gained separation. He birdied the dog-legged, long par-4, and it gave him the cushion he needed as he turned up a bogey on the hazardous 14th. He added two more bogeys on holes 16 and 18 for the 2-over finish.
Badker didn’t have the benefit of a birdie cushion entering the 14th, and after back-to-back bogeys and another on the 17th, finished 3-over.
It was a four-way tie at third with Houghton’s Marino Pisani and Brady Schmierer, Ishpeming Westwood’s Tyler Annala and Kingsford’s Matt Solda with 80 strokes apiece.
Following Houghton in the team standings was Calumet with 334 strokes, Menominee with 341 and Kingsford with 347.
Luke finished his thoughts with his thanks.
“I just want to say thanks to my teammates for all the years coming up,” he said. “Also, my family, they’ve been a huge support, and definitely coach Ben (Smith) and Rick Rhoades for being out there. It was a big support for them this year to be with me, and I definitely needed Rick for a few rulings to figure out the best shots here and there. It’s nice to have someone to be able to connect with. Thank you to everybody. It was an amazing experience. I really enjoyed it. Thank you to Brady too. I love the competition we had this entire year.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Marquette’s Joe Luke follows through on an iron shot during his run to the Upper Peninsula Division 1 individual championship Thursday. (Middle) Menominee’s Brady Badker sends an approach toward the green during the UPD1 Final. (Photos by Justin St. Ours.)
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.)