Mid Peninsula's Boys Sweep UPD3 Titles, Including 1st Team Championship
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2023
HYDE – The Rock Mid Peninsula boys won their first Upper Peninsula Finals boys golf championship Thursday, earning it in Division 3 at Highland Golf Club near Escanaba.
The Wolverines finished with a score of 324, 13 strokes fewer than runner-up Ontonagon.
“It’s the first time in school history for us, so we’re pretty excited about it,” Mid Pen coach Earlene VanDamme said. “The kids put a lot of work into this year.”
They did it with three golfers among the individual top five, led by medalist Bradly VanDamme, who shot a 77, and tournament runner-up Michael Englund, who carded a 78. Christian VanDamme was close behind with an 81, which was good for a fifth-place tie.
The three golfers have shot consistently around 80 all year.
“Our top three boys were pretty equivalent. They were within one or two strokes of each other,” Coach VanDamme said. “I kept messing with the order. It didn’t matter where I put them, it always ended up that they were just all always kind of consistent.”
Bradly VanDamme said he has been shooting consistently in the 80s. He shot an 80 here during a practice round.
“So a 77 today was huge,” he said. “I never expected to play as good as I did today.”
Fixing a key part of his game helped.
“I got off the tee well; usually that’s my struggle,” VanDamme said. “But every tee, I just thought, if I can keep this one in play and keep it in the fairway, then this course is pretty easy if you can keep it in the fairway.”
He said he was happiest about the team title.
“It’s great. All the guys are really excited. That was our goal coming into this – we didn’t care how we all individually placed, we just wanted to win as a team,” he said.
That’s the way team leaders think.
“Bradly is a strong leader for the team,” Coach VanDamme said. “He continuously is just prepping the team, saying, ‘Come on guys, this is about the team score. We all need to do this.’”
His brother Christian VanDamme was just four strokes behind him.
“It helps that (Bradly’s) brother is on the team because he is very competitive with him,” said Coach VanDamme, who also is Bradly and Christian’s mother. “And they put a lot of extra practice in trying to better themselves, so they do practice a lot.”
Ontonagon was team runner-up for the second year in a row.
The Gladiators were led by Abi Pestka, who finished in third place and shot an 80, and Jerry Majurin, who tied Christian VanDamme with an 81.
“That’s the best the boys have done as a group,” Ontonagon coach Jim Jessup said. “Everybody was fairly close in terms of their scores.”
PHOTOS (Top) Rock Mid Peninsula celebrates its first UP Finals championship in boys golf Thursday. (Middle) Big Bay de Noc’s Nick Desjarden watches a tee shot at Highland Golf Club. (Below) Watersmeet’s Edmond Williams putts during his round. (Photos by Jason Juno.)
Lumen Christi Flips 2024 Result to Finish on Top, Crockett Makes Shepherd History
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2025
ALLENDALE – This year’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Boys Golf Final figured to be similar to last year’s with two experienced teams battling for top honors.
And the emerging rivalry between Jackson Lumen Christi and Traverse City St. Francis was on display once again Saturday – but this time the final outcome was flipped from a year ago.
Lumen Christi outdueled St. Francis with two stellar rounds at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University and clinched its first Finals championship since 2017.
The Titans shot a two-day total of 626 (310-316), while the runner-up Gladiators finished 13 strokes back with a 639 (315-324). Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian was third. Shepherd senior Christopher Crockett won the medalist honor.
St. Francis had won last year’s Final by 18 strokes over Lumen Christi.
“Going in, the mindset was that we came close last year and we knew (St. Francis) had everybody back from last year, and so we knew it was going to be another tight one with them,” Lumen Christi coach Dave Swartout said. “So that was the focus all year long. Everything was practice, and every tournament we played led up to these two days.
“I was very proud of what they did and the decisions that they made. Mentally they played very well, and that was a huge difference. We talk so much about course management, and you have to know where to hit it. This is a very nice victory for them.”
The Titans, who returned four of their top five golfers from last year’s Final, was paced by sophomore Brandon Kulka’s 152 (75-77), which was good for a tie for third individually.
Senior Charlie Saunders placed 10th with a 155 (77-78). He was followed by sophomore Gabe Cooper (159) and seniors Adam Fuller (163) and Anthony Kulka (168).
“Last year we knew we were good enough to win it, but we just got outplayed the second day so it was nice to come back and win,” Saunders said. “This year we knew we were going to be good all year, and we were hungry to win. We knew if we kept playing well and had two good days that it would be hard to beat us.
“(Today), we just wanted to go out and play another good round, treat it like another round because five strokes is nothing. We were good across the board, and any one of us could go out and post a good number.”
The Titans held a slim five-stroke lead entering the final round before pulling away.
“Having a good rivalry like we’ve had with St. Francis the past two years is so much fun, and it’s someone to push you,” Anthony Kulka said. “It feels so good to win, especially with my brother being on the team and my dad as a coach. I’ve just been thinking about today since last year and a lot of work in the summer, fall and winter led us to this point.”
Shepherd’s Crockett, who finished with a 145 total, fired a 1-under-par 70 on Friday to grab the lead and added a 75 to become the school’s first individual Finals champion in boys golf.
He bested Midland Bullock Creek’s Colton Lower by three strokes.
“It was very nerve-racking because you know what’s on the line, but this was obviously the goal since I started golf and it almost feels surreal, like it hasn't clicked yet that I won,” Crockett said. “I just wanted to give myself a decent first day so I could go on out the second day and have a chance of winning it.
“My goal coming into the weekend was to have fun because it was my last tournament. I won't have the chance to play high school golf again, so I just wanted to enjoy it.”
St. Francis was led by David Ansley, who finished with a 153 (74-79) and tied for sixth individually. He was followed by Casey Jackson (75-85-160).
Gladiators coach Jim Hornyak said a poor start to the round thwarted any thoughts of a repeat.
“They got off to a rough start and they got down,” he said. “But I was proud of them because midway through the round they started to make a little push. We got it back within striking distance, but just couldn't pull it off.
“I’m proud of these boys. It is not easy to defend, and they put a lot of pressure on themselves and that was part of the problem.”
(Click for more photos from High School Sports Scene.)