MUSKEGON — The GMAA tournament title has belonged to either Reeths-Puffer or Montague for seven straight seasons, and nothing changed Tuesday, as the two teams battled it out for the top spot at Chase Hammond Golf Course. The Wildcats shot their best 18-hole score of the season, a 360, but it wasn't quite enough to topple the favored Rockets, who posted a 354 to win the championship.
R-P, led by now three-time GMAA medalist Sophia McCollum, raced out to a big early lead and hung on to win the title, its third in four seasons. Whitehall posted a score of 385 and finished fourth, seven strokes behind third-place North Muskegon.
"We got off to a great start, but Montague is a championship team themselves," Rockets' coach Matt Pallett said. "Phil (Kerr) has a great program up there, and I'm sure he's proud of his girls, not maybe for the way they started, but the way they finished. They definitely came down the stretch, and I started looking at (the score) a little bit more like, 'Oh, here we go.'"
McCollum was a big reason the Rockets were able to hang on, closing strong on the back nine. After going five over par on the front nine, the senior star was much better on the back nine, making two birdies and going only one over par in that span. Her score of 78, which included no holes doing worse than a bogey, gave her the title by four shots over Avery Nehra of Mona Shores.
"On 16, I made a long putt for birdie," McCollum said, recounting what she felt was the most important stretch of her round. "That was helpful, especially since I'd bogeyed my last hole. At 17, I had a good putt for par. I played the back nine really consistently, which was really helpful."
Equally vital to the Rockets' championship was the performance of their two other top-10 finishers. Olivia Ambler shot an 86, which included two birdies, to tie for fifth place, and Ella Voorhies made a birdie en route to a 93, which tied her for 10th. Abby Davis rounded out the Rockets' scoring with a 97.
McCollum hasn't had quite the follow-up act she'd hoped for after taking home last year's Division 2 state title, though she still wins more often than not, as she did Tuesday. The focus now is bringing her peak form to the postseason so she can repeat as champion.
"She's quite a talent," Pallett said. "She doesn't really do anything wrong. She hits the ball off the tee well, has a great short game, putts the ball well. She's maybe not having as great a year as she would like, but that's part of golf."
The team's stated goal of reaching the state finals will require R-P's top three delivering good rounds at regionals, as well as one of the Rockets' younger players, including Davis, Kayleigh Brown and Tala Johnson, stepping up at the No. 4 scoring spot. The Rockets checked all those boxes Tuesday.
"Our goal is definitely to take the next step," Pallett said. "We've missed going to state by one stroke one year and by three strokes last year. For my three seniors, it's definitely a goal for them this year to make it to state."
Montague, meanwhile, found no fault in its 360. Kerr said he'd have taken that number coming in. The pie in the sky goal was for four Wildcats to break 90, but they settled for two top-10 medalists, including Addi Smith's personal best score of 84, which included a pair of birdies and put her in third place. Molly Mulder tied for fifth with an 86, also making two birdies.
"I would have took 360 and hoped one of their girls had an off day, and they didn't," Kerr said. "Their girls all came out and played top-level golf, so hats off to Puffer. We gave them a good run, and they're a deserving champion."
Kerr was impressed with Smith, who was in the top group with McCollum and Nehra and held her own with the two top players in the area.
"Addi played amazing," Kerr said. "For her to sit in the same group...and stand up next to those number ones and shoot her best score that she's ever shot, that's huge."
The 18-hole format, which Kerr expressed his approval of after the West Michigan Conference decided to go back to nine-hole jamborees this season, played to the Wildcats' advantage this time, as Kerr noted his team would not have taken second place after nine holes. It was the Wildcats' strong finish that propelled them to within reasonable distance of R-P. The mental stamina required to do that bodes well for Montague's postseason aspirations.
"We were down early, 10-15 strokes to Puffer," Kerr said. "We pretty much played even with them the rest of the way, and then actually at the end kind of snuck up a little bit."
Also for Montague, Marguerite O'Connell shot a 94 and Brynlee Kessler had a 96, each making a birdie along the way.
Whitehall, too, put two players into the individual top 10. Riley Shafer, who's led the Vikings all season, shot an 85, with one birdie, to take fourth place, and Avarie Bentz tied for 10th with a 93. She also made a birdie. Kadee TenBrock had a 101 and Kelsie McClure added a 106.
"We knew Reeths-Puffer was going to be pretty tough to beat," Whitehall coach Bill Borgman said. "We saw them at our invitational. Montague is always tough to beat. They've beaten us in conference all year long.
"We're kind of hovering around that 380 mark right now. That was our expectation, was that if we could shoot in the 370s, it would be pretty good."
The Vikings are hopeful of making a run at state qualification at the regional tournament, set for Old Channel Trail Golf Course Oct. 7. Shafer works at the course, so her familiarity with it could be a boost, but Borgman said the team doesn't want to put too much pressure on itself.
"We've got a lot of practice time coming up, and two more matches this week," Borgman said. "I think we're trending the right direction, and we'll put five players together for regionals coming up, and I think we'll be right in there. It will be fun."
