Mona Shores Packs a Powerful Swing
May 2, 2012
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The chances are good Muskegon Mona Shores will continue facing more senior-laden opponents this spring.
But just because the Sailors are made up of all juniors and freshmen, it doesn’t mean they don’t carry significant experience onto the course.
Juniors Reed Hrynewich, Andrew Van Aels, Joel Maire and Eric Kastelic all were among the team’s top five scorers at last season’s Division 1 Final at Oakland University. And although none placed among the individual top 10, the team finished fifth overall.
“We’re more poised,” Mona Shores coach Tom Wilson said. “We were fifth at the state finals last year, and I think there was a little bit of intimidation there. It was the first time the whole team had been there – Reed had been there as an individual – and I think they’ve picked up a lot from that.”
Mona Shores’ golf team gets Second Half’s team High 5 this week after winning, by a stroke, the always-competitive Traverse City Central Invitational this weekend at Spruce Run and The Wolverine.
The Sailors didn’t finish first in either round over the two-day event. But they finished second in both, shooting 309 on Friday at Spruce Run and 297 on Saturday at The Wolverine for a combined score of 606 strokes – one fewer than Division 1 top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central and two fewer than then-No. 5 Traverse City West.
Mona Shores is ranked No. 2 in Division 1. And as evidence of the respect given to the Traverse City tournament, three more teams from the weekend’s field have since been added to that state poll’s top 10.
Hrynewich shot a 69 to finish second at the Wolverine and a 75 to finish fifth at Spruce Run, and Van Aels finished eighth individually in both weekend rounds. Maire and Kastelic also both shot at least 82 in both rounds, and together the four have been making significant contributions since the start of high school.
“They were kind of leading the pack when they were freshmen,” said Wilson – who has led four teams to MHSAA championships, including two over the last 11 seasons.
But the juniors represent part of a line-up loaded with potential. Freshmen Glen Kastelic and Mitchell White fill the remaining starting spots. At Monday’s O-K Black Jamboree at Watermark Golf Course, also a win, both freshmen shot 36, with Hrynewich 37 and Van Aelt a 38.
Hrynewich is a significant presence at the top of the lineup. He’s been an all-stater his first two seasons – he tied for sixth in at the Division 1 Final as a freshman – and also was a hockey all-stater this winter.
A skillful swing runs in the family. His father Tim played two seasons in the NHL for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And Reed’s twin sister also is among the state’s golfing elite – a three-time top-five Finals placer as Mona Shores’ girls golf team has won the last three Division 2 championships.
The Kastelic brothers also are strong hockey players, and Wilson said there’s certainly a connection between the two sports and their reliance on strong hand-eye coordination.
He’s had strong hockey players lead some of his other top Mona Shores teams – and this one is beginning to show a championship look as well.
PHOTO: Mona Shores junior Reed Hrynewich lines up a putt during last season's Division 1 Final, where the Sailors finished fifth.
Charlevoix Golf Playing to Add Championship to Awe-Inspiring Comeback
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
June 3, 2026
The final chapter in Bryce Boss’ high school golf career will be written this weekend at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West.
Boss will be playing in his third Final after leading Charlevoix to a Regional title last week. Now a senior, he will tee off with hopes of winning an individual and team championship.
“Bryce has a great chance this spring,” said coach Doug Drenth. “He's such a great leader for us and is doing such a great job. He's such a great example for Charlevoix. It’s pretty cool to see how far he's come.”
With Boss in the lineup, Charlevoix finished fourth at the 2023 Final. The Rayders finished sixth in 2024 current teammates Joe Gaffney, now a senior, and Maxwell Drenth, a junior, joining Boss in the lineup.
Charlevoix didn’t qualify for last season’s championship rounds, finishing eighth at the Regional. Gaffney and Drenth were unable to golf that day and missed the majority of last season after the team was part of a horrific car crash that April 27. The team was on its way to spend the night at Crystal Mountain, returning from the first day of a two-day tournament at Arcadia Bluffs. Coach Drenth was driving the team van.
Boss and now-junior Landen Whistler were able to come back from the crash and play in the Regional, along with seniors Jackson Crouse and Emmett Bergmann and now-senior Keane Helstrom.
“It’s more about the guys who really missed out last year, their recovery and their comeback,” Boss noted about this weekend’s opportunity. “Especially for guys like Coach, and for Joe, and for Maxwell, who really missed out last year on everything because of the accident, and now we're making a comeback as a team.”
And what a comeback it has been.
Boss endured scrapes, a concussion and bruised ribs in the crash. He and Whistler were able to return to school a few days after, but others, especially Coach Drenth and Gaffney, were not as they suffered near-fatal injuries.
So far, the comeback on the golf course has included Northern Shores Conference and Regional championships for the Rayders with Boss, Gaffney, Whistler and Max Drenth scoring in both. Boss was crowned conference and Regional champion while leading the Rayders back to the Final.
The team shot the lowest round in school history at the conference meet.
“Sometimes when you talk about hard things, you can gain some therapy,” acknowledged Drenth, now in his ninth season at the helm of the Rayders. “But I would say that we're all looking forward to moving on in life. I'm grateful that we're here, and we're looking forward to just being back to ‘normalish.’ I feel like we are looking at hope and what we can achieve. So I'm looking forward to moving on.”
Part of the moving on for the Rayders included adding Helstrom and freshman Blake Boss to the regular lineup.
As his final chapter is revealed this weekend, Boss believes even better Charlevoix golf teams will materialize after he graduates. Max Drenth, who was hospitalized more than a week after the crash, and Whistler will be among those back next year to carry on the program’s success.
“Maxwell and Landon are going to do awesome,” Boss said. “Blake just realized this year that golf is really a sport that he wants to do, so hopefully that'll lead him to practicing more and getting better. And then we have two or three incoming freshmen. I don't know if they'll be great their freshman year … (but) they'll end up being some of the better players Charlevoix has ever had.”
More than a year after the crash, Drenth – who also coaches the girls and boys cross country teams – continues to battle the physical side of recovery. He was hospitalized during the immediate aftermath for two months, undergoing multiple surgeries and physical therapy. He also journeyed to Florida for specialized physical therapy, with funds provided by the Charlevoix community through a GoFundMe effort that was part of a tremendous amount of support the program received.
“The biggest part of his recovery is the fact that he's always so positive and happy and hopeful about everything,” Boss said. “There was a lot of fear from everybody for him, but he truly believed he would recover and be back to almost normal, again. I think that optimism is what led him to recover so well.”
Still facing occasional hospital stays, Drenth was able to return to coaching both sports, missing only one meet this year. Matt Peterson and Emily Edwards, his assistant cross country coaches, and Bruce Beaudoin, his assistant golf coach, have played even bigger roles during Drenth’s recovery.
“I'm grateful for Matt and Emily, my two coaches that were there every day,” Drenth said. “And Bruce has such amazing knowledge of golf, which is so important. But more important than that, he's just so good with me and the boys.”
His cross country team made a major splash this past fall, winning the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championship. Hunter Eaton, a junior, won the individual title. Junior Ryder Hopkins and senior Matthew Solomon joined Eaton on the all-state team. Max Drenth wrapped up the team scoring recording his best career time at the Final.
“I truly believe that the success that we have had, both in golf and cross country, is directly related to the help of others,” said Drenth, whose golf and cross coaching career goes back to 1989. “Nothing great is ever accomplished alone!”
As such, Charlevoix knows success this weekend will be the result of success throughout the lineup.
“It's going to be really up in the air because it's kind of been all year for us,” Bryce Boss predicted. “If our (number) three and our four play good, we tend to shoot amazingly well.”
Drenth believes it will come down to the team performing up to its potential.
“I just hope and pray that they play to their ability,” Drenth said. “I know, if we do that, like the cross country team — they just ran to their abilities — we can play golf with anybody.”
While Drenth is coaching the Final, he’ll also be filled with gratitude and hope for the future.
“For my wife, Tricia, and our two boys, Oliver and Maxwell, this has changed their lives and I wouldn't be here without my family who came to the hospital every day … my brothers and their wives and families … and then the teams that came all the time,” Drenth said. “Whether it be my cross kids that have graduated or golfers that are still here, or whether they were in the hospital with me, and then the greater Charlevoix community – I mean, it's just unbelievable how much good has come out of something so bad.”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Charlevoix’s Bryce Boss eyes a putt during last week’s Regional at Birchwood in Harbor Springs. (2) The Charlevoix golf team poses for a photo during a gathering July 17. (3) Drenth confers with one of his golfers during the Regional. (4) Drenth, back seat, rides in the Charlevoix Homecoming parade this past fall with wife Tricia in a vehicle driven by assistant cross country coach Matt Peterson. (Regional photos by Drew Kochanny/Petoskey News-Review. Family photos courtesy of Tricia Drenth.)