The Seaholm girls golf team capped off an impressive season with a third place finish in the Division 2 state meet.
While the team finished third, sophomore Essence Biggs recorded a second place finish as an individual, one stroke away from the win. Kim Dihn (Midland Dow), who was there with no teammates, finished as the top individual.
Even though Biggs hoped to finish first, she was still content with second.
“I fought hard to get second, so I was still proud,” said Biggs.
Seaholm entered this meet as regional champions. A familiar position for the Maples, as they have won the regional meet for eight straight years. This year they won while shooting a record 325 as a team.
“We’ve been a little spoiled these past couple years,” coach Leon Braisted said.
Luckily for Braisted, the girls have not taken this streak for granted. The team did not assume they would make it to States, repeating as state champions. They worked hard the entire year in pursuit of this goal.
“My kids worked especially hard to try to duplicate, to try to repeat,” says Braisted.
Unfortunately for the Maples, the Muskegon Mona Shores team stood in their way. After day one Seaholm was five shots behind Mona Shores, who was ranked number one in Division 2 heading into the state meet, and four shots behind second place Battle Creek Lakeview.
The Maples shot a 685 for the two day meet, behind Lakeview’s 681, and Mona Shores 666.
Braisted was very happy with his team’s performance. All the girls shot what he expected.
“I’m satisfied, tickled pink,” said Braisted, “Any time you can finish in the top 3, that’s not bad at all.”
He was especially happy with their performances considering the weather conditions in East Lansing: Heavy winds and cold temperatures.
The third hole proved especially difficult. With out of bounds and hazards galore in addition to the weather, it was difficult to hit the par five.
“It [Hole 3] had out of bounds to the left and hazards to right. The weather didn’t help either,” said Norris.
The weather conditions, combined with the long course at Forest Akers East golf course, influenced the strategy of the team. Picking the right club in such windy conditions was a tricky task.
“The only way you could score was by your short game, getting chips close and making putts,” Biggs said.
Competing as an individual, while also competing for a team, may have affected Biggs’ strategy as well. Playing on a team can take away from the aggressiveness of the putts an individual uses.
“It changes the complexity of what you are trying to do as opposed to being there individually,” Braisted said.
Having a team there was certainly a benefit. A major component of the teams’ success was the cohesiveness of the girls. When one player was having a bad day, the rest of the team made sure to lift up her spirits.
“We were able to lift each other up,” said Biggs.“I’m proud of my team.”
