The last time the Suttons Bay golf team was in the news, a police escort was ushering the players back to town after the Norsemen won the Division IV state championship for the third time in seven years.

That was nearly 18 months ago in October 2006. Since then, not only have several key players from the state title team graduated, but the prep golf season was moved from the fall to the spring in Michigan.

The long layoff – lengthened even more this spring by the lingering cold and snow – is finally over, and the Norsemen, Glen Lake and St. Mary golf teams have been champing at the bit to finally hit the courses.

“The boys won’t get much of a chance to practice going into the season this year, so it’ll be like baptism under fire,” said Lucy Schaub, the golf coordinator of the co-op St. Mary/Leland team.

Suttons Bay
Even though Suttons Bay is the defending state champion, coach Todd Hursey said the focus will be on the Northwest Conference race and seeing steady improvement from the golfers.

“Every year, with our tradition, we’re going to be put in the favorite’s category in the Northwest,” said Hursey. “I feel good about our attitude. Being indoors all the time gets old real quick, yet the boys have done a nice job of developing a business-like attitude toward the season.”

Hursey will be watching his players closely to see which ones step up and make regular contributions this year. Five of the team’s top six players on the state championship team graduated. A key member of the title team, junior Charlie Olson, will lead the Norseman team, Hursey said. Olson finished ninth in the 2006 state finals, and his 18-hole scores of 81-79 were one of the reasons the Norse won the title.

Three seniors – Max Evans, Sam Foster and Craig Jacinski – and sophomore Chase Palmer are expected to join Olson in playing key roles for the Norsemen.

Glen Lake

Two components of this year’s season will be new to veteran Glen Lake coach Fred O’Brien. One is that he will be coaching his son, freshman Matt O’Brien, for the first time. The other change involves coaching in the spring for the first time.

“I’ve got mixed emotions (on the switch to spring),” Fred O’Brien said. “Being selfish, I get my falls back, but it’s really tough now with hardly any courses being opened and not much of a chance for the kids to practice. I think the boys will be doing just fine in a few weeks, and the season-ending tournaments will probably be played in much-better weather than they were when golf was played in the fall.”

Providing leadership and experience for the Lakers will be senior Austin Novak, in his fourth year on the team, and third-year player Steve King, a junior. Matt O’Brien and fellow freshman Matt Abramson are expected to make an immediate contribution to the team.

“Both have played in the (Traverse City) Junior Golf (Association) youth divisions and performed well,” coach O’Brien said. “I look for both to steadily get better as they begin to understand high school golf competition.”

Four of the Lakers played several practice rounds in Alabama during spring break.

O’Brien predicted a “wide open” Northwest race this year.

St. Mary

In 2006, the first-ever year for the co-op St. Mary golf team, the Eagles were a respectable third in the Districts and seventh in the Regionals.

With five players from St. Mary and five more Leland, Lucy Schaub expects some spirited competition this year. And some of that competition will center around three cousins – St. Mary sophomores Bradford Schaub, Michael Pendergast and Tyler Shaffran.

“We should have a healthy family rivalry going on for the top spot,” Schaub said. “And even though we’re young, we’re still fairly experienced. Three of our players have competed before through Junior Golf and Leland Country Club programs and events.”

Other St. Mary students on the team include juniors Adam Peplinski and Christiaan Krombeen. The five players from Leland are seniors Phil Matro, Mason Raguse and Tim Waters, and freshmen Aaron Jolliffe and Jacob Sterkenburg.

In addition to playing golf, Shaffran, Pendergast and Peplinski will also be on the Eagles’ baseball team, so Lucy Schaub said having a 10-member team will help provide depth for St. Mary.

Guiding the Eagles this spring will be head coach Jim Varley and assistant coach Tim Schaub.

Unlike Glen Lake and Suttons Bay, St. Mary is not in the Northwest Conference so its schedule isn’t packed with invitationals and jamborees. The Eagles do have 10 matches scheduled, and Schaub is looking to add others before the post-season begins.