Dube, Painesdale-Jeffers Rule in UPD2
May 30, 2018
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
NORWAY – Payton Dube has had an extremely busy spring sports season at Hancock High School.
On Wednesday, the sophomore capped off one of her two sports by winning medalist honors at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Golf Final.
Dube posted an 84 (44-40) to coast to the title by 19 shots at Oak Crest Golf Course.
"It was all about making smart plays," Dube said as light rain began to fall shortly after she finished. "I was able to get on (the greens) in regulation, and that helps the scores well. If you get in the fairway, that always helps."
She had two birdies, one on each side, while starting on No. 11.
"When I hit a good drive, it gives me confidence the next (shot) will be good," she said.
Dube, who was in contention throughout the handful of spring meets that were salvaged after a lengthy winter's grip forced her indoors for numerous practice sessions, said, "I didn't know what to expect (in the Finals)" because she was competing against different schools.
The only member of the girls golf team at Hancock, Dube also spends the spring playing softball for the Bulldogs. Golf is her No. 1 choice and would get the nod if there were ever a conflict between the two sports.
"We have a small (Class C) school, and spring has so many other sports. You definitely have to prioritize," she said of her busy schedule that also includes a heavy academic load. She was late for only one softball game this season.
Topping the team scoreboard, the Painesdale-Jeffers girls won their third U.P. crown, adding to titles taken in 2006 and 2007.
Coach Tyler Bailey's team includes his younger sister Alexis and Gracie Asaila, who shared second place individuals with Norway's Danae Anderson at 103.
"It is awesome. It feels great to actually be her coach," Tyler Bailey said.
The Jets didn't realize they had beaten the only two other full teams until it was announced, Bailey noting he kept that news quiet.
When that news struck them, he said, "Their faces all lit up.”
The 481 was his team’s best score of this abbreviated spring. "I knew they had the potential to pull it out,” Bailey added. “Our expectations were they wanted to win.”
Dube’s father is a teacher at Hancock High School and sets up a golf simulator in his classroom for his daughter's practice when snow typically covers the Copper Country.
"You don't have to be outside to practice," she said with a grin.
Hancock coach Paul Sintkowski, who is also the golf pro at Portage Lake Golf Course in Houghton, said Dube is active on the junior golf circuit in Wisconsin during the summer. "She has played her whole life. She has 7-8 years in the junior golf program (at Portage Lake that has about 150 participants)," he said.
"The kids have put in their time up here. A lot of them play hockey, so their coordination stays sharp."
Sintkowski hopes the interest in the girls junior program begins to carry into the high school ranks. He said about 20 girls played golf at five Copper Country schools this spring. But Houghton, a perennial power, had 11 of the 20. He said starting a co-op program among other schools might provide a way to get more female participation.
"A lot of people don't take it too seriously," Dube said of trying to get other girls to play golf. "A lot of people don't find it challenging if they don't play (golf).
"You still have to practice that skill. In golf, you are playing the course, not the other player."
Sintkowski said Dube also will play in the Upper Peninsula Ladies Golf Association tournament at Norway in July.
"She hits the ball well, she is athletic but she needs a bit of focus. She had a good score today, but it could have been four-five strokes better," he said. "She is learning, but she has to get a little more polish. She has all the tools to play golf after high school."
PHOTOS: Sophomore Payton Dube of Hancock uses her rangefinder to get the yardage to the pin on the 13th hole at Norway’s Oak Crest Golf Course on Wednesday at the Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Golf Finals. With her is coach Paul Sintkowski. The system worked perfectly as her approach shot struck the flag. (Middle) Donae Anderson of Norway blasts out of a bunker by the 15th green. She tied for second, shooting 103. (Photos by Dennis Grall.)
Spring Lake Rallies, Claims 1st Finals Win
October 18, 2014
By Tom Kendra
Special to Second Half
EAST LANSING – You could say that Spring Lake golf coach George Bitner was due.
Bitner, who started coaching boys golf at Spring Lake in 1968 and founded the school’s girls golf program in 1980, reached the pinnacle Saturday when his girls team rallied for the school’s first-ever golf MHSAA championship at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final at Forest Akers East.
“This is a different bunch,” explained Bitner, who calls himself 77 years young. “They are range rats that just want to get better. You can’t ask for much more than that.”
The Lakers delivered the old golf coach his first MHSAA title in dramatic fashion, erasing a six-stroke deficit to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood after Friday’s opening round near the campus of Michigan State University.
Spring Lake sophomore Anna Kramer finished second overall with scores of 78 and 75, keying the Lakers’ Saturday charge as all five players improved their score from Friday for a surprisingly wide 18-stroke victory.
Spring Lake finished with a two-day total of 659, Cranbrook-Kingswood was second at 677, followed by defending champion Detroit Country Day (703), Grosse Ile (704) and Warren Regina (718).
“We were behind after the first day, but not by much, so our goal was for all of us to play a little better and that’s exactly what happened,” said Kramer, who drove the ball well all day to improve on her fourth-place Finals finish last fall as a freshman.
While it was a tough day for Cranbrook, which placed second for the third consecutive year, senior Cordelia Chan capped her stellar career for the Cranes by repeating as Division 3 medalist.
Chan fired her second consecutive 75 in the cold, windy conditions to hold off Kramer by three shots. Emily Barker of Lake Odessa Lakewood placed third at 160.
“I wasn’t actually swinging very well, but the course was open enough where it kind of played to my mistakes,” Chan explained. “I worked on my game last night with my dad so that kind of helped – with my tee shots, especially.”
Freshman Kate Cao was second for Cranbrook at 172 and senior Molly Wiener third at 174.
The same three teams finished 1-2-3 last fall as well, just in different order. Country Day and Cranbrook actually tied for first, but the Yellowjackets prevailed on the fifth-player tiebreaker. Spring Lake took third.
This year, Spring Lake was the team that made the biggest adjustments between Friday’s opening round and the close of play Saturday afternoon.
All five of the Lakers’ players improved their score by at least two strokes, with the biggest moves coming in the middle of the lineup. Junior Kayla Krueger shot 87-81-168 and senior Ginnie Olszewski shot 83-79-162. Junior Emma Conroy (90-86-176) and freshman Madelyn Nelson (90-88-178) rounded out the Spring Lake scoring.
Olszewski, the only senior in the Spring Lake top five, achieved her goal of breaking 80 on Saturday despite a quadruple bogey on her final hole. It was quite an improvement from her freshman year, when she shot rounds of 117 and 116.
“We went from basically nothing in my freshman year to state champs in my senior year, so that feels really, really, really good,” Olszewski said. “It’s so cool that it wasn’t just one of us. Everyone stepped up, which is awesome for Coach Bitner.”
Bitner, who was inducted into the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1996, has built his coaching philosophy around the acronym “kismif” – keep it simple, make it fun.
He believes that emphasis helped his girls relax and go out and play their most impressive team round of the season Saturday.
“I honestly wasn’t worried with the six-stroke deficit one bit,” said Bitner, who started his coaching career 50 years ago as the boys track coach at Holton High School in 1964. “The girls were so focused. They just went out and did it.”
Bitner, who gave a golf lesson to his wife, Eunice, on their first date, has had the privilege of coaching both of his children, Alyson and Andy, at Spring Lake. And just because he has now won an elusive MHSAA Finals championship, he has no plans to stop coaching.
“I don’t know what I’d do if I retired,” said Bitner, who will head with his wife next week to his winter home in North Fort Myers, Fla., where he stays until returning in early March to coach the Spring Lake boys golf team. “And besides, I have four of my top five players back and I had to leave quite a few more good players off for state.”
Spoken like a coach who is just getting started.
PHOTO: Spring Lake golfers pose with their first-ever MHSAA championship trophy Saturday at Forest Akers East. (Photo courtesy of the Grand Haven Tribune.)