The Biggest High School Golf Turnaround Will Be a Movie
The Charlevoix Rayders pulled off an incredible 17-stroke lead after narrowly avoiding tragedy last year
At the beginning of June, the Charlevoix boys golf team made quite possibly the greatest single turnaround in Michigan high school athletic history.
On June 6, the Charlevoix Rayders, (the only school in the entire U.S with that name), sealed the Division Four MHSAA golf state championship by a whopping 17 strokes over Muskegon Western Michigan Christian.
The 17-stroke victory is not what made this championship story so interesting. The story of this team begins one year prior on M-115.
Rayders head coach Doug Drenth was driving the team van in Benzie County towards the end of April, just as the season was beginning to ramp up. Drenth was about to collide with was a stolen SUV whose driver was attempting to evade police after assaulting the car’s owner.
Drenth swerved the van heroically, shielding the players from colliding with the oncoming SUV head on.
Word of the team's wreck travelled quickly, and support from all around the state followed. A GoFundMe created to raise money for medical relief reached $285,000.
“It just shows the goodness in our society still.” Drenth said at the time. “It shows how people step up and what people really care about. In a time where there’s a lot of divisiveness, this is pretty neat to see what people have done for the guys and myself. I feel very fortunate.”
A year later, Drenth and the Rayders are state champions. Both Drenth and assistant coach Bruce Beaudoin, as well as four other teammates on the Rayders were all involved in the accident.
Led by Spring Arbor commit Bryce Boss who shot a combined total of 149, narrowly losing the individual championship in a playoff hole against Giovanni Paluch from Alcona. Also finishing in the top ten for Charlevoix was Joe Gaffney, who shot a 160 over the two days.
Drenth told the Petoskey News that the team soared in the last ten holes of the tournament, going from being tied to building their 17-stroke lead.
The movie that will be made about this team is bound to be incredible.
