Glen Lake junior Michael Houtteman competed to the best of his abilities at the MHSAA Div. 4 Golf State Championships at Grand Valley state’s Meadow golf Course to finish second overall, only a shot off from winning a state championship.
“It was super fun playing in another state tournament,” Houtteman said. “The greens were super quick and there were 30-35 mile an hour wins (Friday). It was hard to control your golf ball.”
There weren’t many low scores on Friday due to the weather.
“I just kept my head up and kept pushing through and competing, I knew eventually, I wouldn’t be too far back,” he said. “I kept persevering and getting a few ups and downs. So it kind of allowed me to stay in the mix for day two.”
The state championship came down to two players on Saturday, Houtteman and Will Pennanen, which provided a thrilling finish.
Houtteman was -3 under on the 17th hole and two strokes back from the lead. After having a bogey, he knew he had to eagle on the final hole to claim the title or force a playoff.
After a tough break, Houtteman managed to go in for par and hoped that Pennanen would keep the door open.
“He’s a great player and he managed to make four and claim the title,” Houtteman said.
Houtteman had an impressive performance, missing only one fairway on Saturday and hitting 17 of 18 greens to shoot a 72 (-2) for the tournament.
Houtteman isn’t discouraged by the second place finish. Houtteman will continue competing at elite prep golf tournaments individually throughout the summer in Michigan and around the Midwest. “I put the work in this year. I’ve been preparing for this moment just trying to get 1% better every day, all year and I’m gonna continue to do that, hopefully bring home another or bring home a state championship next year,” Houtteman said.
Houtteman’s second place finish will add to his seventh and fifth place finishes as a freshman and sophomore.
Glen Lake finished 12th overall as a team as Jacob Switzer and Gabe Hazelton shot a 91, Ben Romzek with a 93 and Joel Martin with a 102.
Leland placed 18th on Saturday with a team score of 793. Liam Waskiewicz led the Comets on Saturday with a 94 followed by Colby Connor with a 95, Hayden Cansteenhouse with a 101, Howie Kropp with a 103, and Max Waldrup with a 105.
