Ferndale Golfers Fall to Royal Oak in First Match

HUNTINGTON WOODS – Despite a forecast that called for storms, thevarsity golf team was able to get in its non-league match against Royal Oak High School at Rackham Golf Course on Wednesday, but the Eagles lost 267-190 to open their season.

Ferndale is starting four first-year golfers and this was the group’s first competitive match. The blustery weather certainly didn’t make it any easier on them.

“They’re competing against themselves,” Ferndale coach David Garlow said. “We can’t compare ourselves to those kind of players (on Royal Oak). Some of their players have four or five years of experience; some of our guys have four or five weeks of experience.”

It rained for much of the day and the teams teed off with some ominous clouds in the sky. Neither coach was confident the weather would hold, but they were grateful it did. “I really appreciated the fact that we played,” Royal Oak coach Vincent Caruso said.

Rackham is one of two courses on which Ferndale plays its home meets and teams usually play the front nine. The amount of rain over the last week forced the teams to play the back nine. 

“It would have been just ridiculous to play the front nine with all the water," Garlow said. "The first hole was almost all under water.”

Many holes on the back nine still had standing water and golfers had to deal with high winds to start out the match. To make up for the poor conditions, the teams played from the forward set of tees. Normally, all high school competitions are played from the back tees.

Juniors Noah Keener, Ferndale’s only returning golfer, and Jacob Helig each scored 65 and junior Reggie Turner had a round of 67.  

This is Keener’s third year on the team, but the junior struggled at times with his consistency. At one point, he hit the ball into sand traps on three of four holes. He needed at least two shots to get out of each bunker and it was clear he was a little frustrated with his performance.

“I think for Noah, he kind of falls into a position where the rest of the kids look to him to see how it’s done,” Garlow said. “The procedure, if you will, of a golf match. Once the kids catch on to that, he’ll just be free to play his game the way he can. I think he felt a little pressure out there today, he normally would have a better score.”

Keener's best hole was the 13th. Even though wind pushed his tee shot right of the hole, he recovered with a nice chip and then two-putted for a bogie.

It was his partner Turner’s first match. The junior had never touched a club before the season and showed a lot of potential. He was able to hit a couple of drives straight off the tee at least 150 yards. If he hadn’t hit shots out-of-bounds on the 14th and 15th holes, he might have finished with Ferndale’s top score.

Ferndale is scheduled to be back in action Thursday against Lathrup Evergreen Hills Golf Course in Southfield for its first league meet of the season. 

“We’re looking for these kids to post a score today and the next time they go out, improve on that score,” Garlow said. “As a beginning golfer you’re just trying to make subtle improvements every time you go out.”

Notes

Ferndale juniors Eric Burnham shot a 70 and Kourdon Maxwell had a 72 on Wednesday.

Before Wednesday, the Eagles hadn’t played the back nine in practice. They tried  Tuesday, but a tornado watch prevented them from playing the last five holes.