PETOSKEY — As a standout hockey player at Petoskey High School, Madden Pateman isn’t bothered as much as others by the cold.
But, even Pateman has felt the cold has overstayed its welcome into the spring season.
“I adjust to the cold pretty well, but it’s still a little chilly hitting balls,” Pateman said.
He’s not alone in company on the golf course or Petoskey boys golf team that feels that way. It’s been a constant battle of cold and windy days for high school golfers this season.
“It’s always hard to play though the cold, but you’ve just got to push through it,” Petoskey senior Simon Licata said.
And, that cold and wind again showed its face when the Northmen hosted its annual invitational at Petoskey-Bay View Country Club on Monday, May 11 a date that, when scheduled, likely felt safe from a one-hour frost delay to start.
That didn’t turn out to be the case.
Once the delay ended and play heated up, rounds came together, though much of the front nine was spent just warming hands.
“I didn’t have a great front nine, but the back I was just two over,” Pateman said. “I was figuring out my driver and then putting got better, everything just consistently got better.”
Pateman ended the round a little higher than hoped, carding an 81, while Licata led the group with an 80, showing the same kind of progress as Pateman on the back nine.
“I made a birdie on 10 and that gave me a little momentum,” Licata said. “Then I just kind of used the wind to kind of carry me through the back.”
Licata’s back nine came with a pair of birdies and then six pars. A third birdie was nearly added on 18 with a putt that danced around the rim of the cup and spun out.
Petoskey’s day ended with a 333 team score for fifth. It’s a round higher than they’ve been at times this season, though still respectable.
“I think we’re right where we want to be honestly,” Licata said. “The team is starting to get together. At the start of the season everyone was split apart. We had DECA or club stuff that they couldn’t be at tournaments for, but we’re getting back together and figuring it out.”
Luke Licata, Cole Willison and Will Marshall all recorded an 86 for the Northmen, then Ethan Smock shot 94. Petoskey also had freshman David Monshor shoot an 84 and Max Osborne card an 89 on a secondary team.
Traverse City West and Central earned the top two spots, carding 312 and 313, respectively, followed by Gaylord’s 318 and Freeland’s 323.
Gaylord’s Kane Vanoosten finished second overall with a round of 75.
It’s the same round Pateman carded a couple weeks back in Cadillac, another round that came on a chilly day.
All the cold weather on the course has Pateman thinking that once golf weather does return, teams from the North will be more than ready.
“Nicer temps, we’ll definitely be ready,” he said. “We’ve been adjusting to the wind all year and haven’t been able to play real distances, so that’ll really help.”
A year ago, Petoskey missed out on the state finals when they hosted at the Moor in Harbor Springs, though Pateman believes they’ve got a team capable of putting a round together to make the trip this season.
“For sure,” he said. “We’re shooting a lot lower this year than we did last year, so we’ve got some confidence that we can make it to states hopefully.”
Two weeks remain ahead of regionals, which will take place at The Emerald at Maple Creek, hosted by St. Johns. Before that, a trip to A-Ga-Ming will come in a Traverse City Central hosted BNC match on Thursday, followed by the Alpena Invite on Friday, May 15.
NORTHERN SHORES
Harbor Springs, Charlevoix impress in Grayling
GRAYLING — Harbor Springs took the top of the leaderboard for a Northern Shores Conference victory in Grayling on Monday, May 11, recording a 320 as a team for the victory.
Charlevoix followed not far behind with a 326, each running away from six other conference foes in competition on the day.
Elk Rapids sophomore Blake Springstead finished with a 68 to earn the medalist, while Charlevoix’s Bryce Boss was second with a 72.
Harbor’s round was led by freshman William Shepler with a 76, good for third overall, then Chase Lafaive and Vincent Alonzi each shot 81. Noah Marquardt shot 82; Colin Blanck, 85; and Lukas App, 88.
For Charlevoix, Boss was followed by Keane Helstrom’s 83; Joe Gaffney, 85; Blake Boss, 86; Charles Kelly, 94; and Doug Morgridge, 96.
Boyne City’s Carson Sandtveit and Wake Wildman each shot 92.
Reach Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com and follow him on X @DrewKochanny and Instagram @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Madden Pateman, Simon Licata help Petoskey golf build toward regional week
Reporting by Drew Kochanny, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
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