GOLF

The Forester golf program kicked off the spring portion of its season at Spring Arbor’s Garn Championship at the Champions of Keene Trace Golf Club earlier this week.

Highlighting the tourney was Mitchell Wilson’s hole-in-one on day two. His memorable shot came on the 16th hole. The Columbia City native was 183 yards out and used his five iron. He finished the tournament with a 166 (80-86) for 30th place.

David Beck led the Foresters with a 161 (78-83) to finish 16th out of 74 golfers. Carter Roseboom (83-86) and Colby Martin (83-86) shot identical scores each day to post a 169 for a share of 39th place. Chance Bressler rounded out Huntington’s play with a 176 (89-87) good for 62nd place.

“A big congratulations to Mitch for his first ever hole-in-one,” said Coach Rick Sholund. “To get it on a PGA tour course in tough conditions makes it that much more special.

“David continues to lead our squad and put himself in position for top ten finishes. He’s becoming more comfortable with that and expects himself to be there. If he limits his mistakes and works on missing in better spots it will happen.”

As a team, the Foresters carded a 667 by firing a 323 on Monday and a 344 on Tuesday to finish 8th out of 12 teams.

“I am encouraged by what the guys did in Kentucky,” said Sholund. “We have a lot to work on, but we have been focusing on the right things and coming together as team to address those areas. Both Coach Davis and I see a lot of progress from off season focus and early spring practice.

“We showed some mental toughness this week by playing in tough conditions and some questionable pin positions. Overall, they handled those things well. I am proud of the approach they took this week.”

On the women’s side, the Foresters played just three of their four scheduled rounds because of a frost delay on opening day.

Alexandria Maris paced Sholund’s crew with a 127 (85-42) for 10th place out of 61 golfers. Danielle Tinsley posted a 138 (90-48) for 37th place. Abby Sheehan fired a 146 (99-47) for 43rd place while Katie Springer landed five spots back with a 150 (100-50). Rounding out HU’s play was Lauren Slottke who carded a 156 (103-53).

“We drove it well and I saw progress on and around the greens,” said Sholund. “We still take too many penalty shots and see too many big numbers. It’s early in the spring season and they will be focused on that in practice.

“Alex had a good tournament.  She’s striking it well and making a lot of putts. She looks like a senior out there and is primed to have a strong finish.”

As a team, the Foresters turned in a 561 which included shooting a 374 through the first two rounds and then posting a 187 in the final round to finish 10th out of 12 teams.

Overall, Sholund liked what he saw. “We did a lot of good things on a tough golf course in adverse conditions. The players had a great mindset and attitude knowing they were going to face a windy golf course with fast greens with extremely difficult pin positions which also led to slow play.

“That says a lot about who we are as a team. They showed a lot of toughness in Kentucky.”

Next up for both teams is the Purgatory Intercollegiate this coming weekend.