The Lake Orion varsity boys golf team returns five players from last year’s varsity team, as a district competition has been added to this year’s schedule.
‘They added a district level this year,? said coach Monty Gallaher. ‘So not every team goes to the regional.?
Gallaher said the top six teams at the district will advance to the regional, and the top three teams from the regional competition will go on to the state finals, which are on Oct. 14 this year.
‘In our region we have a lot of tough teams,? Gallaher said. ‘We have the Traverse City teams, and Grand Blanc, who is the defending state champion.?
Returning for the varsity Dragons this year are seniors David Kurtz, Craig Schmehl and Peter Tinetti.
Also back are junior Adam Haddad and sophomore Brett Bryan.
‘Last year we finished 3-3 in OAA I,? said Gallaher. ‘We had David Kurtz and Jeff Peters in the state finals.?
Kurtz competed in the state finals as a sophomore as well.
‘We’re looking for a lot of good things from him,? said Gallaher. ‘He was our captain last year, and his goal is to play in college.?
Over the summer, Kurtz competed in the Michigan Junior Amateurs tournament, making it to the third round.
‘He’s done a lot of work in the off season,? Gallaher said.
‘Craig Schmehl had a very nice round in practice,? he continued. ‘He’s improved over the summer.?
Gallaher said Tinetti is a great team player, ‘lifting the spirits and attitude of the team.?
‘The team chemistry is there this year,? he said. ‘They are good friends on and off the course.?
Gallaher said it is too early in the season to say who will be contributing, score-wise.
‘I think it will be hard to say, but I think we’ll have fun,? he said of the team. ‘When they have fun, then they play better.?
Gallaher said the team’s goal this year is to make it to the state finals.
‘In the off season, we had Adam Haddad and Brett Bryan playing in tournaments over the summer,? he said. ‘We had another sophomore, Ian Peterson, that played.?
Gallaher said he will focus on the team’s short game this year, as well as getting them to play in competition like they do in practice.
‘The game is really won and lost around the green,? he said of the team’s short game. ‘That’s what great players do, they put in the time on the putting green.
‘We’re also going to work on course management, and playing the course the proper way,? Gallaher said.
Gallaher said his team seems to practice very well, but then scores don’t always reflect that in competition.
‘We want to take those practice scores into the tournament situation,? he said. ‘We want to play the same way.?
In their league, Adams, Troy and Clarkston will be Orion’s top competition, Gallaher said.
‘We had 32 kids come out for the program this year, and we’ll be keeping 16 for the varsity and junior varsity teams,? he said.