With nine holes completed and nine remaining, the Holland Christian boys golf team trailed rival Unity Christian by 13 strokes at the OK Black Conference tournament.
But a rally of epic proportions propelled the Maroons to their first conference title since 2010 after chipping away at the overall stroke lead to end up with the low team score of the season.
The Maroons rallied and played the last nine holes in 3-under-par as a team to edge Unity by two strokes, and ultimately claim the OK Black Conference Championship by a single point.
It was a total team effort as the Maroons rallied with pars and birdies on the back nine to shoot a second place team score of 310 in the tournament itself.
Leading the Maroons on the day was Linus VandenBerg, who closed with a stunning eagle on his last hole for a round of 73, good for a 5 way tie for the lowest round of the day, finishing second on the tiebreaker.
Charlie VanVliet also closed his round with a birdie to shoot a round of 76, good for seventh place overall and a top 10 medal. Matthew VanRavenswaay played his last nine holes in 1-under to rally for a round of 80, and Leyton Gritter played his last nine holes in 1=over for a round of 81.
VanVliet and VandenBerg were named all-conference, with VanVliet placing fifth, averaging a 38.4 all season long and Linus claimed the No. 1 rank in conference, averaging a 36.9.
VanRavenswaay and Gritter were named all-conference honorable Mention, ranking 12th and 15th in the conference, respectively.
Contact sports editor Dan D’Addona at Dan.D’Addona@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter @DanDAddona or Facebook @HollandSentinelSports.
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland Christian golf rallies from 13 strokes down to claim conference title
Reporting by Dan D’Addona, Holland Sentinel / The Holland Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
