As she teed off on her final hole at the Division 3 state finals at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley on Saturday, Oct. 15, Plainwell senior Maddie Tran couldn’t help but get a little emotional.
The fact that the other two girls in her threesome were also seniors didn’t help in that regard.
“The three of them were talking about the end of their high school golf careers,” Plainwell coach Brian Anson said. “It was emotional, bringing tears to the players, coaches and spectators. There were lots of hugs as these girls made their final putts for their high school careers.”
At least Tran was able to go out on a high note.
Shooting an 82 on the first day of the two-day event before coming back with an 81 for a total of 163, Tran finished tied for fourth with Forest Hills Eastern’s Megan Skoog.
Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Danielle Staskowski and Spring Lake’s Anna Kramer tied for first place at 153, with Staskowski taking medalist honors on the first hole of a playoff. Grand Rapids South Christian’s Natalie Samdal was third at 160.
The fourth-place showing represented a five-place improvement for Tran compared to last year’s state finals.
“Maddie played great golf Friday and Saturday,” Anson said. “It was fun to watch. She not only played well, but she made some smart decisions with some recovery shots and how she factored the wind both days. She clearly deserved her move from ninth last year to fourth this year.”
While the weekend ended well for Tran, it didn’t have a particularly good start.
Tran started play on Friday with two bogeys and a double bogey on her first three holes.
“Maddie got off to a sluggish start,” Anson said. “Sometimes it’s hard to get started and Maddie wasn’t hitting crisp shots on the first three holes.”
Fortunately, she managed to recover, parring the next three holes before playing the final 12 holes six over for her 82 total.
And that score could have been even better.
“She was hitting her driver as well as she had all year,” Anson said. “She was putting herself in great position to hit short irons for her approach shots. She was on target with those approach shots and gave herself several opportunities for birdies and she was making great putting strokes, but the putts didn’t fall. It made for some very easy pars but she was looking for more birdies.”
Saturday yielded similar results, with a relatively slow start giving way to a solid finish.
For full story, pick up a copy of the October 20 issue of The Allegan County News or The Union Enterprise or subscribe to the e-edition.