The Dexter golf team spent all year teeing it up with the likes of Pioneer, Skyline and Saline. That competition paid off in the end as the young, but very talented Dreadnaughts, placed second at the Division 2 Regionals at the Golf Club of Coldwater on Oct. 6.
The Dreadnaughts, currently ranked 8th in the state in Division 2 by stroke average, will compete in the Division 2 State Finals this weekend at Forest Akers West in East Lansing.
“This is a young varsity team, in terms of high school golf experience, but they are very determined and focused when it comes to golf,” said Dexter Coach Greg Palkowski. “I knew Regionals would be a tough test for us with some pretty good teams competing, but I also felt very strongly that we could make the State Finals if we played the type of solid golf we have been playing all season long.”
Palkowski said the entire team came ready to play.
“We played extremely well at Regionals with Avery (Manning) leading the team in scoring and taking home the medalist honors,” he said. “Their work ethic, determination to succeed and team spirit is just amazing.”
Dexter, which had two freshman and a sophomore on its winning scorecard, fired a team score of 364 to finish second overall. DeWitt finished first with a 359, just five shots ahead of the Dreadnaughts. Mason and Haslett tied for third place with a 368 – Mason won the tiebreaker to qualify. The top three teams head to the state finals.
Freshman Avery Manning shot a tournament-best 74 to lead the Dreadnaughts. She was seven shots better than the next highest finisher. Junior Marissa Genske carded a 94 and senior Olivia Napolitan fired a 97. Millie Truesdell, another talented freshman, shot a 99 and sophomore Eleni Michos carded a 104. Genske is the only returning player back from last year’s team. Napolitan is the only senior in Dexter’s talented lineup.
Dexter finished tied for second at the SEC league tournament late last month with a 356. Pioneer finished first with a 335 while Skyline was fourth with a 359. Skyline finished second at the D-1 Regionals to qualify for states while Pioneer, the league champs, finished fourth overall.
