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.)