Reeths-Puffer golf repeats as GMAA champion, with Whitehall and Montague close behind

WHITEHALL — Once again, only a stroke separated Reeths-Puffer's top players, Sophia McCollum and Rowan Bluhm, but at Monday's GMAA meet, that was a great thing for the Rockets.

The duo earned the top two spots on the leaderboard at White Lake Golf Club, shooting an 83 and an 84 respectively, to propel the Rockets to a repeat in the county event. The team shot a 361, which was enough to hold off season-best scores from both Whitehall (369) and Montague (371), the second and third-place finishers respectively.

A week prior, McCollum beat Bluhm in a one-hole playoff at regionals to determine the final individual qualifying spot for state. McCollum was atop the leaderboard Monday - the difference was her birdie on the par-3 seventh hole - but Bluhm was able to end her high school career on a high note by helping her team defend the GMAA crown.

"It definitely turns my frown upside down," Bluhm said with a grin.

With Paige Anderson, who starred at R-P the last few years and now golfs at Ferris State, at White Lake Golf Course to see her former teammates repeat as champions, the Rockets showed off how deep the program remains.

The finish was one last show of gutsy play from Bluhm; coach Matt Pallett said the senior aggravated a wrist injury she's dealt with on and off this season while warming up and played the round through the injury.

"She's a class act," Pallett said of Bluhm. "She's an unbelievable young lady...It was a gutsy effort. We're really proud of her."

The GMAA was originally scheduled to take place in September, but had to be postponed due to heavy rainfall the night before the tournament. After some discussion among the coaches, Monday was settled on as a reschedule date, which for those teams with state qualifiers worked out great, as those players got a competitive round in before heading to the finals.

"When this got rained out and they were looking for dates, we threw it out there," Montague coach Phil Kerr said, noting that in past years Montague sought out invitationals between the regional and state meets. "(We thought) it would be a great thing for everybody to go get a competitive round in."

McCollum and Bluhm's closeness on the scoreboard has been a big factor in the Rockets' success. Pallett ran the numbers prior to Monday's round and said the difference between them in scoring average is less than two-tenths of a stroke per round. McCollum, a sophomore, will golf at state this weekend at Forest Akers East, the site of her career-best 74 earlier this season. Another performance like that this weekend would have McCollum high on the leaderboard when it's all said and done.

Her emergence has been one of the stories of the season for R-P, but McCollum is quietly confident and said she's known all year what she could do.

"I haven't taken myself by surprise," McCollum said of her 2024 season. "I know what I can shoot, and I know what I'm capable of shooting...I'm hoping I can shoot around the high 70s or low 80s both days (at state)."

The leaderboard was dotted, in fact, with area players. Counting a tie for the #10 spot, eight area golfers earned top-10 finishes. R-P's Olivia Ambler was one of them, posting a 93 to tie for eighth place. Ella Voorhies was the Rockets' fourth scorer, with a 101.

For Whitehall, freshman Riley Shafer continued her late-season surge with an 86, finishing third overall. She had only two holes that were worse than a bogey, and none worse than two over par. Grace McDowell carded a 90, Kelsie McClure had a 95 and Felicity Dingman shot a 98, giving the Vikings four scorers in double digits.

"We had a few too many strokes to come in first, but I think the girls battled it out and played well," Whitehall coach Bill Borgman said. "The long game was the better part of our game today. The short game is always going to win events, so we still need to work on those types of things, but overall they did really well."

Montague had three top-10 finishers of its own, and the last of them - Brynlee Kessler, who tied for 10th with a 94 - joined Addi Smith's personal best 96 as the chief reasons the Wildcats had a season-best score.

"They're the real reason we were even in contention at all," Kerr said. "(This round) definitely got the juices flowing and gives us a good positive mindset going into state."

The Wildcats' top two players, Braylyn Bultema and Cadence Fox, were their usual strong selves. Bultema shot an 88 and Fox had a 93. Between the two of them, the 'Cats have had four consecutive rounds where their top player made it under 90.

"It's nice knowing that either one of them could shoot our best score at any time," Kerr said. "Cadence was on a heater. She had three under-90 (rounds) in a row and now Braylyn has had two under-90 (rounds) in a row. They're both playing really good golf going into state, which is all you can ask for."

Both Whitehall and Montague have goals of placing in the top 10 at the state meet. At least according to the state coaches' rankings, Montague would seem to have the better chance at it -the 'Cats ended the season ranked #6 - but anything can, and often does, happen at the finals. For R-P, McCollum will go to state alone, but has proven capable of taking on the best, especially at the Forest Akers course.

"She'll have a chance to do really well," Pallett said of McCollum. "She'll be right there. She's one of the better players in the state."