After having great senior leadership each of the past two years - from Paige Anderson in 2023 and Rowan Bluhm in 2024 - the Reeths-Puffer Rockets will now depend on a trio of top juniors to set the path for this season's team.
Those juniors are picking up the torch, R-P coach Matt Pallett said, from the leaders past. Each of the three have been around the program since they were in eighth grade, and now their time has come to lead.
The Rockets already have one player who's played in the finals in Sophia McCollum, one of those three juniors. McCollum, a two-time all-conference player and defending GMAA medalist, beat out Bluhm for the final individual qualifying spot last season and finished 17th at the finals.
"She works at Stonegate and plays all the time," Pallett said. "She is a competitor and hates to lose. She works very hard on her game and has played in many challenging events this summer. Her mental game has continued to improve as well, which makes her an even better player."
McCollum is the obvious No. 1 player for R-P, but team success will also depend on classmates Olivia Ambler and Ella Voorhies, who both had solid sophomore years and are hoping to make big strides. Ambler's best 18-hole round in 2024 was 89, while Voorhies' was 94. Slicing a few strokes apiece off those numbers would go a long way toward helping the Rockets achieve big dreams.
The No. 4 scoring spot is up for grabs. Three seniors - Ava Gibbs, Keeley Cole and Jaylynn Acre - are in the mix for that position, as is sophomore Madigan Pitcher. Cole, who joined the team midseason in 2024, enters this fall with the best nine-hole score of the three, a 48, but it's likely all of them will contribute to varsity scoring throughout the year.
R-P will be able to test itself against top competition right from the start, opening at Friday's Jenison Invitational. The O-K Green Conference also provides great measuring sticks; Caledonia was last year's Division 1 state runner-up, and 2024 league runner-up Byron Center returns the entire lineup from last season.
The GMAA tournament, which takes place at Chase Hammond Golf Course this year, is always a highlight, especially since the Rockets have won each of the past two meets. R-P will also play in the East-West Showdown at Muskegon Country Club, which brings together top teams from both sides of the state. The Rockets get to host this year's regional tournament, a potential boost to their chances to reach the finals.
"Making it to the state finals as a team is the ultimate goal," Pallett said. "I am really hoping that some of the girls coming from the JV can step up and give us some good scores. If that happens then we will be in the mix to reach our goals."
