West Iron County Takes Back Title Trophy
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 29, 2015
ISHPEMING — Riley Thompson was just 5 years old when the West Iron County boys were last crowned Upper Peninsula Division 2 golf champions.
Thompson, now a junior at West Iron, earned medalist honors Friday and helped the Wykons gain their first U.P. title in 12 years with 331 strokes.
“We’re very pleased,” said West Iron coach Mark Martini. “We took the team picture the same way as we did 12 years ago, with the trophy on my grandson’s head. As coaches we more or less talk about the team aspect of it. It’s kind of neat when both things happen. It’s kind of a two-way street. The medalist helps the team and the team helps the medalist.”
Iron Mountain was runner-up at 336, followed by Norway with 338 strokes, Hancock 348 and Ishpeming Westwood 361.
Thompson fired a 74 at Wawonowin Country Club on this cloudy and warm day, to finish four strokes better than Norway’s Austin Hansen.
Thompson shot 45 through the midway point and followed that with a 38 over his second nine.
“I just played well today,” said Thomson, who became West Iron’s first individual champion since 2005. “My goal was to keep the ball in play, and I was able to do that. I got pretty good distance on my tee shots, which set me up for the approach. I had good irons on the approach shots and gave myself a chance on the greens, then I made my putts. A four-stroke victory is not what I expected. I thought it was closer than that. I just wanted to par the last hole and I got a birdie putt, which was a big relief.
“This is the first U.P. title for our school in quite a while, which makes this all that much sweeter. One is icing on the cake for the other.”
Manistique sophomore Louie Berry and Iron Mountain’s Austin Blomquist shared third at 79, with Hancock’s Dylan Paavola fifth at 80.
“Louie has also been working real hard all year,” said Taylor. “We’re a young team. We’re looking for bigger things next year.”
Raymond Miron of L’Anse placed sixth at 82. Iron Mountain’s Matt Opolka and West Iron’s Kyle Maki and Max Maloney tied for seventh with 83 strokes. Westwood’s Connor and Cameron Mason, Manistique’s Zack Powers and Norway’s Justin Anderson finished in a four-way tie for 10th at 86.
PHOTOS: (Top) L’Anse’s Raymond Miron fires an approach shot during his round at Wawonwin Country Club. (Middle) Riley Thomson of West Iron County puts in some work on the putting green following his round Friday during the Division 2 Final. Thomson was medalist with a 74, including a 1-under 35 on the front nine. (Photos by Keith Shelton.)
Mid Pen's VanDamme Finishes Finals Climb, Lake Linden-Hubbell Clinches 1st Team Title
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 28, 2026
WATERSMEET — Rock Mid Peninsula's Christian VanDamme is only a sophomore, yet he came into Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final with two past runner-up finishes at this golf tournament.
He made the top five as a seventh grader before shooting an impressive 76 as an eighth grader to finish second behind his brother Bradly. Last year, he had a seven-hole lead going into the back nine, but couldn’t hold off Powers North Central’s Nathan Pipkorn.
“I’ve definitely been putting too much pressure on myself the last couple years,” VanDamme said. “So I just kind of played free today.”
It translated into a first-place finish this time, while carding a 75.
“It’s nice,” he said. “It’s a lot nicer than losing, I’ll tell you that.”
His coach, and mom, Earlene VanDamme was proud of the growth he showed.
“I think Christian’s come a long way in his mental game,” she said. “That was what his big focus was. We knew he had the skill. He just really needed to work on that mental game. So all season, we’ve watched him pull through on that, where if he has a bad shot, he can overcome it on the next one. And so to see him take it today really cemented that.”
That’s what hurt him last year – a bad hole that he couldn’t let go.
Now he has a U.P. title he doesn’t have to let go.
“He works really hard at his game,” Earlene said. “He loves the game. If he could live at the golf course, he would. I like to see kids have hard work pay off, and that’s what he has.”
He didn’t putt all that well at the Lac Vieux Desert Golf Course, but most everything else went fine.
“It’s nice playing this short of a course; you don’t have to hit much of a tee ball, I hit a lot of hybrids and three woods,” he said.
Big Bay de Noc’s Parker Pederson carded a 78 to finish second. Three players tied for third.
“Tyler is pretty level-headed on the course. Brady, a technical player, grinds it out. Lukas plays smooth and easy-going, and he hits putts.”
That’s how Lake Linden-Hubbell coach Brett Poissant describes the Lakes’ Axford triplets, who all golf differently, but equally well. The juniors all shot an 80 to tie for third individually and lead the Lakes to their first U.P. team title after finishing in second place the last two years.
“That’s just been our success, the last few years with them, they’re the driving force,” Poissant said. “They’re so consistent, and there’s definitely that sibling rivalry. They like to battle each other, and I think that’s part of the motivator for the team is they want to best each other and ultimately ended in a tie.”
Lake Linden-Hubbell’s other two golfers also finished among the top 10, Brayden Beaudette in a tie for sixth with an 81 and Bodie Fortin in 10th with an 84.
It’s no surprise then that they won comfortably, 321-354 over runner-up Big Bay de Noc. Ontonagon took third with Wakefield-Marenisco fourth and Bessemer fifth.
“It’s been the goal since those kids were freshmen, to win a U.P. title,” Poissant said. “They’ve really, really put it in their sights, and it all came together today. They shot really well.”
“It’s very cool. This is our first team title in school history,” Lukas Axford said. “We put a lot of work in this spring. We got a real tight-knit group of guys, and it’s amazing to see our hard work pay off.”
PHOTOS (Top) Rock Mid Peninsula's Christian VanDamme rips through an iron shot during Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Middle) Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Brady Axford follows a tee shot. (Photos by Jason Juno.)