By Greg Gielczyk
LocalSportsJournal.com

MANISTEE–There was good reason to believe this past golf season could be quite special at Manistee.

With a returning individual state qualifier and a batch of other experienced golfers, it was just natural to think it could be a good season.

Jacob Scharp might have been the recognized leader when the Chippewas began preseason work, but there were several other veterans joining him, as well as outstanding freshman Max Scharp.

The ingredients seemed to be there for the Chippewas.

“Yes, we knew that we had players coming back looking to the future a little bit,” longtime Manistee coach Mike Swanson said. “With Jacob going to state last year and mentioning that he wanted to go back with the (entire) team, was a good reflection of the guys’ goals. And it was a hidden goal. We started out just by trying to win an invitational or two to show them we were good and concentrated on winning the (West Michigan Conference).”

Swanson expressed his gratitude to the school administration for permitting the Chippewas to compete in the Traverse City Invitational, where they went against Division 1 schools, as well as competing against top teams over the course of the season.

The Chippewas actually lost to Fremont and Whitehall during the regular season, but gained a superior lead going into the conference championship.

A second-place finish at the Division 3 regional tournament sent the Chippewas on to the state finals, where they earned a seventh-place finish.

Swanson said it wasn’t any one player who stepped up to make the difference.

“My whole team surprised me,” Swanson said. “Max Scharp coming in as a freshman, I knew he was good because I saw him hit the ball. He wasn’t your typical freshman. He was coming in ready to play, like Ryan Tiefenthal, Blake Davis and Will Shriver, who were already golfers before they got to me. So, then it was more just developing some of their skills.”

Braydon Sorensen also is a top notch skier and put that athleticism to good use on the golf course, where he showed a markedly improved swing.

Jordan Bladzik and Ben Schlaff missed their freshman seasons because of covid, and neither one of them had played a lot of golf. Neither saw a lot of action as sophomores, but Bladzik worked in his garage all last winter and both put in the work to keep getting better.

“That was the turning point right there, those two coming along,” said Swanson.

It was the last time Manistee’s athletic teams will be known as the Chippewas, and the golf team tried to carry the name proud at every stop.

“There are people I play golf with, and people from the city that go way back with the name Chippewa,” the coach said. “We tried to support that attitude and then went out on the course and did our best. When I can to the school in the last 90’s (1997) there was a rich history of football, basketball, track teams that were really good, and the golf program was good when I took it over. So, it was just keeping up a tradition, and we’ve been able to do that.”

Although the name will be the Mariners when the golf team hits the links next spring, there’s still one constant that means even more, according to Swanson.

“I think that it’s not the name of the mascot, but the City of Manistee that we’re representing,” Swanson said. “Because we’re a community that’s a long way away from some of the other larger communities.

“So, it reflects on the culture of the community. Having players back and just continuing what we’ve been doing will support the Manistee name.”