A pair of Oceana County golfers punched their ticket to the state finals this week. Shelby sophomore Titan Carter will be representing the Tigers in D3, while Pentwater senior Nathan Macher will don the Falcons’ purple and gold in D4.
Carter had an outstanding individual performance, shooting a 78 which landed him in fourth among all athletes. With the top three individuals already moving on as members of the top three qualifying teams, Carter snagged the first individual qualifying slot.
Excellence was apparent from Carter’s first swing of the club as the sophomore recorded four pars on his first five holes, including back-to-back-to-back pars before moving to the front nine.
Carter started the front with a bogey, but quickly regained composure to punch in his best stretch of the day with five consecutive pars on holes 2-6. A shaky trio of bogeys ended the front nine, but Carter quickly erased two of them with back-to-back birdies on 10 and 11. Even though Carter finished with a bogey and a double bogey on the last two holes, he had done enough to qualify, posting a +6 mark on the day.
Carter will move on to the MHSAA D3 state finals at The Meadows Golf Course at Grand Valley State University in Allendale Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7. This is the first time Shelby has qualified a golfer for the state finals since Ty Hukill did so in 2018.
Shelby’s team placed tied for seventh with Manistee, shooting a total score of 365. Behind Carter were Rafael Davis Jr. (+14), Nathan Miller (+20) and Ray Hacker (+37).
Macher placed eighth overall at the D4 Regional 20 at Clearbrook Golf Club in Saugatuck Wednesday, May 28. Macher shot an 83 on the day, landing him in third out of three individual qualifiers.
It was a day filled with pars for Macher. A strong start to the day allowed Macher a lot of breathing room toward the finish line. Beginning on hole 15, Macher knocked in three pars and a bogey before making the turn to the front nine.
Macher made it three pars in a row with another on the first hole, but entered a rough three-hole stretch that included two bogies and a double bogey. Rebounding with back-to-back pars on five and six, Macher rounded out the front nine with two bogies and a par.
Finishing his day with the first half of the back nine, Macher started with a double bogey on 10, adding a bogey on 11 as well. Two pars split by a bogey put the day on ice with Macher sitting at +11, just three strokes ahead of the next possible individual qualifier.
As a team, Pentwater had a highly successful day that fell just short of a team qualification. The Falcons finished in fifth overall (357), missing a top three spot by 15 strokes.
Other scores for the Falcons included Edgar Vazquez (+16), Gavin Macher (+20), Bode Powell (+22) and Mikey Carlson (+30).
Macher will advance to the MHSAA D4 state finals which will take place at Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Course in Big Rapids Friday, June 6 and Saturday, June 7.
