CALVIN SPORTS REPORT FOR AUG. 25, 2005
MEN'S AND WOMEN'S GOLF TEAMS LOOK FOR IMPROVEMENT
(Fourth in a series of Calvin Fall Sports Outlooks)
2005 MEN'S GOLF OUTLOOK
Under the direction of first-year head coach Brian Bolt, Calvin will look to
improve upon its fifth place league finish from a year ago.
To do so, the Knights will need strong contributions from a group of returning
letterwinners and the emergence of a young freshman golfer or two.
The Knights do return two seniors, three juniors and a pair of sophomores.
Calvin's senior class consists of Ryan Fischer (North Haledon, NJ/Eastern
Christian HS) and Nick Bolt (New Berlin, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran HS). Fischer has
seen spot duty in Calvin's lineup throughout his career while Bolt broke into
the lineup midway through the 2004 season, posting a score of 79 at the fourth
MIAA outing of the year.
The junior class includes Jeff TenBrink (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo Christian HS),
Tim VanVugt (Brookfield, WI/Brookfield East HS) and Jake Wolffis
(Muskegon/Western Michigan Christian HS). TenBrinkhas emerged as Calvin's top
golfer over the past year and should fill the number one slot in Calvin's
lineup. TenBrink finished 15th in the final MIAA standings last fall and
recorded four sub-80 rounds including co-medalist honors at the second MIAA
outing of the year with a round of 70. TenBrink continued his hot play in the
spring, collecting medalist honors at the Furniture City Classic and at the
Aquinas College Invitational with rounds of 73 at both invitationals. VanVugt
and Wolffis are savvy veterans who were in-and-out of Calvin's top group last
fall and then saw plenty of action during the spring season.
The sophomore class includes Eric Walber (Minonk, IL) and Derek Boogaart
(Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS).
The freshmen class is a good one. Some of the names to look for are Brad
Tyndale (Vicksburg, MI/Vicksburg HS), Drew Virkus (Kalamazoo/Kalamazoo
Christian HS), Andrew Truschel (South Hamilton, MA/Hamilton Wenham HS), Eric
Geerlings (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) and Brennen Kerr
(Frankenmuth, MI). Tyndale and Geerlings both competed in the MHSAA Division II
State Tournament last fall while Virkus competed in the MHSAA Division III
State Tournament.
Calvin opens its season September 2 and 3 when it competes at the Olivet
College Comet Classic at the Bedford Valley Country Club. The first MIAA outing
of the year is scheduled to be held on September 8, at the Medalist Golf Club
with Albion College serving as host. Calvin will host the sixth MIAA outing of
the year at the Watermark Country Club on September 26. The final two league
outings of the year will be hosted by Adrian on October 1 (Lenawee Country
Club) and Hope on October 4 (Wuskowhan Golf Club). The Knights will also
compete at the Red Poling Classic September 15 at the Dearborn TPC.
2005 WOMEN'S GOLF OUTLOOK
Calvin returns three letterwinners from a 2004 squad that took fifth in a
highly-competitive MIAA women's golf race. The returning letterwinners are
seniors Margaret Tassaro (Carnegie, PA) and Annie Huizenga (Hudsonville/Unity
Christian HS) and junior Abby Stemler (Elk River, MN/Elk River HS).
Tassaro and Huizenga should form a strong one-two punch at the top of
Calvin's lineup as they became the first two individuals in Calvin
women's golf history to average under 90 strokes per round through an MIAA
season. Huizenga finished with a Calvin single-season scoring average of 89.4
and is primed for a breakout senior year of golf. A two-sport athlete, Huizenga
also competes on the Calvin women's tennis team. Tassaro might have surpassed
Huizenga for top scoring honors last fall if not for a round of 99 on the final
day of the MIAA Championships. Prior to that, Tassaro had fired three rounds
below 90 including an opening round of 86 on the first day of the MIAA
Championships.
Stemler also showed strong improvement last fall, finishing with an MIAA
season average of 102.4 that was more than nine strokes better than her 2003
season average.
Finding a reliable fourth golfer will be the biggest challenge for the Knights
in 2005. One of the leading candidates is incoming freshman Katelyn Farrell
(Lakeview/Lakeview HS) who was part of a Lakeview High School team that
competed in the MHSAA Division III State Finals this past spring.
Head coach Jerry Bergsma also expects potential contributions from a handful
of other freshmen as well as a small group of sophomores and juniors who are
going out for golf for the first time.
The MIAA season will again consist of three MIAA outings and a season-ending
36-hole league tournament.
The season begins September 5 and 6 with the two-day Laker Fall Classic hosted
by Grand Valley State University. Calvin will host MIAA Tournament #1 on
September 14 at the Thornapple Pointe Golf Club. Other MIAA tournaments will be
held at Albion on September 20 and Adrian September 24. The MIAA tournament
will be at the Bedford Valley Country Club and is scheduled for October 7 and
8. The 36-hole tournament decides the league champion while the three MIAA
season outings determine the player rankings for the season.
Calvin will also compete at the two-day Olivet Invitational September 16 and
17 and will host the Calvin/Hope Invitational at the Thornapple Pointe Golf
Club October 3. In addition, Calvin will compete at the Aquinas College
Invitational September 28 at the Scott Lake Golf Club.
Jeff Febus
Sports Information Director
Calvin College
(616) 526-6169 Office
(616) 526-8551 Fax
Received on Thu Aug 25 11:31:31 2005
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