On Friday, April 21st, the boys’ golf team visited Hill’s Heart of Lakes golf course for the Grass Lake Invitational. They competed against 15 different teams and ended up finishing 13th overall. Their scores were affected by the not-ideal weather conditions, with it being cold and rainy, but they still played to their best ability.

Leading the Yellowjackets was Carter Arbuckle, finishing overall in 30th place. Arbuckle started off rough with a quadruple bogey on his first hole. On his sixth hole, he started a run of five straight pars. He also scored pars on his 13th, 17th, and 18th holes, scoring a team-low of 90.

Second for the team was Gavin Riske, ending up in 49th place overall in his first high school meet. Riske’s scores stayed pretty consistent throughout the whole meet. Starting with getting a double bogey on his first hole and a bogey on his next. On his seventh hole, he scored his first par, and on his second to last hole, he had his second par before finishing the meet by getting a bogey. Riske finished the meet with a score of 96.

Third for the Yellowjackets and 65th overall was freshman Connor Stevens. He started off strong by getting a bogey on his first hole. He would also score and go on to record bogeys on six more holes.  He finished the day off with a double bogey and a final score of 106.

The team’s fourth scorer was Lleyton Bauman, finishing overall in 75th place. He had double bogeys on his first five holes. When he got to his ninth hole, he recorded his first bogey. On his 14th, 15th, and 16th holes, he stayed consistent having a double bogey on all of them. Lleyton finished strong by shooting a bogey on his final hole. He ended with a final score of 117.

Lead scorer, Carter Arbuckle was pleased with the results, saying, “I think overall it went pretty good considering the weather and course conditions. I was feeling pretty confident with my game once I parred the last five holes in a row on the front nine. I think that cleaning up some putts would have definitely helped put me in contention. But most of all it was a fun day making new friends and continuing to get better.” Arbuckle also shares that his favorite part of the meet was when a guy he was golfing with chipped in for an eagle 60 yards out.

Freshmen, Connor Stevens and Gavin Riske have never competed in a competitive meet like this one. Riske settled into the game as the day went on, he shares “I think it went pretty well. It was a rough start with rain, and it was the first tournament I’d played in. I was definitely nervous more than anything. After the rain stopped it got way better and stuff started to fall.” Riske also liked being able to go for more than fun and how competitive it was. 

Stevens enjoyed meeting new people, he says, “It was fun. I had a good time golfing with people from other schools. I think that I need to work on my putting a little more.” His favorite part is when he finished the meet and got to eat a hotdog.

Their next meet is Friday the 28th at Ella Sharp Park Golf Course for the East Jackson Invitational. If you are able to make it, please come and cheer the boys on, if you are not able to make it, wish them good luck!

Gallery • 11 Photos

Julia Stevens

Lleyton Bauman