The conditions were rainy, cold and windy at the Mt. Pleasant girls golf regional ? not exactly the ideal situation for teams hoping to make it to the state finals. Clarkston was able to overcome the conditions to take third place and qualify for the state finals.
The Wolves had a team score of 376, which was 12 ahead of Lake Orion who finished in fourth and did not qualify for the state finals. Grand Blanc shot a 360 and won the regional and Traverse City Central took second place with a 374.
The weather was not Clarkston’s only obstacle in the regional. The Wolves were one of five teams ranked in the top 10 in the state that took part in the Mt. Pleasant regional. Wolves? Head Coach Larry Sherill said his third and fourth girls are what made the difference.
‘It was a very tough regional,? Sherill said. ‘We are fortunate to have a good three and four players. Some of the other teams? three and four struggle and it really hurt them. Teams need a good three and four to do well at the big meets.?
None of Clarkson’s golfers finished in the top 10, but they all had respectable scores. Minjoo Lee led the Wolves with an 88, Jackie Schramm shot a 91, Lu Kuhta scored 94 and Sarah Galbreath finished with a 105.
‘All the teams scores were pretty high,? Sherill said. ‘My team is tough. They did the things they need to do to grind it out. Every shot mattered with those conditions. We finished just two shots short of second place.?
Sherill said the team will work on their short game before they head to the state finals on June 2 at Michigan State. He also said he talked with the team about the expectations they should have at the state finals.
‘We talked on the way home from Mt. Pleasant,? Sherill said. ‘We want to at least finish in the top five. There will be a lot of tough teams, but we think we are a top five team.?
Clarkston tied for second place at the OAA meet on May 16. The Wolves and Rochester both shot a 371. Birmingham Seaholm won the event with a team score of 345.
Lee shot a 86 to finish fifth overall and Schram scored a 70, which was good for seventh place. Gal breath (97) and Kuhta (98) also had respectable scores.
‘It was a whole team effort at the league meet,? Sherill said. ‘Nobody has been really low for us all year. Our tendency is to have a solid team effort from top to bottom.?