12/22/2006

Sit-down meeting sparked Norse to title

Northern Michigan teams dominated Div. 4 finals

By MARK URBAN

murban@record-eagle.com

Special to the Record-Eagle/ Kevin Johnston
Nate Kelly led Suttons Bay to the Division 4 state champion- ship.

SUTTONS BAY — Some seasons have a single defining moment.

Suttons Bay's Division 4 golf state championship — the school's third title in the past six seasons — had two.

The first showed the Norsemen what they were capable of and the second was a reminder of the first.

Suttons Bay opened its state championship campaign with a strong round of 299 on the first day of the Traverse City Tee-Off Invitational in August. But the Norsemen failed to win the district or the regional tournament in October, prompting a little sit-down before the state final.

"We knew that the strongest teams in the state were in northern Michigan,” Suttons Bay coach Todd Hursey said. "We thought we had a team that could win a state final, yet we didn't win the district or the regional.

"We sat in my classroom for about 45 minutes and they listened to me — it wasn't much of a dialogue — about the fact that most of them were seniors and that this was their last moment.”

It worked.

Suttons Bay's senior-laden squad shot a 319 in the first round at Eastern Michigan University's Eagle Crest course on Oct. 20. That score was six shots better than the rest of the field. The Norse fired a 328 on the second day — good enough to give Suttons Bay the crown with a 647, four shots better than 2004 state champion Traverse City St. Francis.

In fact, the Gladiators runner-up finish was part of a strong northern Michigan contingent in Division 4. Harbor Springs was fourth with a 670 and only North Muskegon's third-place finish broke up an area trifecta at the state final.

"We knew that the best teams were in northern Michigan,” Hursey said. "It was nice to prove that. One, two and four — you can't prove much more than that.”

Suttons Bay won back-to-back titles in 2000 and 2001. The Norsemen elected to play up in Division 3 for two seasons, highlighted by a runner-up finish in 2002.

The Norse were also second in 2004 and third last season, giving Suttons Bay top four finishes at state finals in seven of the last eight seasons.

In addition to the outstanding team finishes, five area golfers were able to crack the top 10.

St. Francis teammates Tony Casciano and Andrew Walukonis tied for third at 158. Suttons Bay's Nate Kelly and Teddy Griffin of Harbor Springs tied for sixth overall with two-round totals of 159 while Suttons Bay's Charlie Olsen was ninth at 160.

In addition, Petoskey freshman Joey Garber tied for second at the Division 2 state final at the Forest Akers East course in East Lansing. Garber opened with a 76 before closing with a sizzling 66.