Greenhills finishes fourth, freshman Henry Do third individually at D4 golf finals
Greenhills School freshman Henry Do keeps a close eye on his tee shot at the par-3 sixth hole at Eagle Crest Golf Club during Friday's first round of the MHSAA Division 4 Golf Finals. (Lon Horwedel | AnnArbor.com)
It was quite the debut on the state scene for Henry Do this weekend.
Do, a Greenhills School freshman, shot a 2-over par 74 in Saturday's second round of the Division 4 boys golf state tournament at Eagle Crest Golf Club in Ypsilanti and tied for third overall in the individual race. His Gryphons team shot a two-day total of 662 and finished fourth.
After Do tapped in for birdie on the 10th hole, he was 2-under par on his day, 3-over for the tournament and believed to be in the individual lead.
"Just making pars, finish out good," he said of his strategy after the birdie on No. 10. "I was trying (for medalist). People told me I had the lead at one point. I guess I blew it."
Do finished in a three-way tie for third at 151 after his rounds of 77 and 74. Sophomore Zach Preuss of Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest won the individual title after carding a 71 Saturday following a 77 Friday. Kalamazoo Hackett senior Jon Christ, one of Do's playing partners Saturday, finished in second place, one stroke back.
Hackett won the team title with a 623, two shots better than runner-up Muskegon Western Michigan Christian.
More Coverage on MLive.com: Division 4 Results | Statewide Stories
Do birdied the first hole, hitting his approach shot to 2 feet and then reeled off eight straight pars. After the birdie on No. 10, Do seemed in control and playing effortlessly. But it was the next five holes that cost him the top honor.
A perfect drive on the 370-yard, dogleg right 11th hole left Do in position to attack the pin. But his approach on the uphill hole was short of the green and he finished with his first bogey of the day.
Three-putts on the 12th and 13th hole hurt even more as did his approach shot on the 15th hole which sailed well over the green. Give him back those three shots and Do might have been the overall winner.
"Overall I played much better than (Friday). I couldn't make any putts (during that stretch of holes)," Do said.
Greenhills coach Bill Ammerman said he was pleased with the way Do, who shot a 68 at a regional tournament last week, responded after Friday's round of 77.
"I knew he'd bounce back," Ammerman said. "He missed some putts, he said. But that's Henry.
"It's tough when you're not happy with 74. He's a great kid. He'll be back. He's just a freshman. I knew he'd play well today."
Ammerman said he was also pleased with the team's fourth-place finish even though the team shot 20 strokes worse Saturday after being in third place after the first round.
"Coming in today, we were in third and we wanted to hang onto that," Ammerman said. "But the guys tried hard. Great season overall. I know they're disappointed. Some guys didn't play as well today as they'd like but fourth place overall isn't bad at all. Our goal was to make it here. I was proud our team came in fourth.
"District champs, regional champs, fourth in the state. Those are pretty good numbers."
Junior Curtis Heisel shot 84 Saturday and was Greenhills' second-leading golfer with a 164. Sophomore Travis Hindle, who shot a 76 and was in fourth place overall Friday, double-bogeyed two of the first five holes and struggled all day to a 92 to finish at 168. Mike Hillegonds rounded out the scoring with a 88-91-179.
"We didn't play that great today but getting fourth place isn't too bad when not playing great," Do said.
And a freshman tying for third in the state isn't too bad, either.
Contact Dave Holzman at daveholz@comcast.net.