On Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 14 and 15, the Golden Grizzly men’s and women’s golf teams competed in the Motor City Match-Up, hosted by Central Michigan University (CMU) at the Birmingham Country Club.
Oakland, CMU, Detroit Mercy and Green Bay made up the field. CMU and Green Bay played on Monday, with the winner advancing to play the winner of Oakland and the University of Detroit Mercy (UDM). The competition was played in match style, where each hole could be won instead of counting the total strokes at the end. The player with the most holes won at the end wins the match and earns a point for their team.
First Round vs. Detroit Mercy Titans, Monday, Oct. 14
The morning began with OU junior Luke Kelly tying with UDM’s David Swab, earning both sides half a point. Even though Kelly beat Swab in strokes 69-70, the match was a tie as they won an equal number of holes.
Overall, the women played better against their competition than the men. Sophomore Robert Burns and freshman Brennan Sullivan tied their respective competition, while junior Ellis Kinnaird lost by four holes with three left to go.
Fortunately, the men’s team had Jack Zubkus to pick them up with their first win of the day. Zubkus defeated Titan Vinny Levesque by two holes with one to go.
Senior Bhavneet Sohal had the most impressive showing of the day for the men’s team, dominating his matchup by going up six holes with four to go. Bohal was respectful of the weather, acknowledging the difficulty of playing in the wet and windy conditions.
“I think that’s the beauty of the Midwest. You get used to it and kind of just shrug it off,” Sohal said. “I’m from Australia, so it’s definitely different, but by being a senior, I’ve got some experience under my belt.”
Bohal’s experience certainly helped him in the harsh conditions.
“I was really able to take advantage of my distance off the tee to dominate both matches very early on,“ Sohal said.
In total, the men accounted for 3.5 points.
The Grizzly women owned the Titans all morning, winning five of their six matchups.
Sophomore Olivia Hemmila, senior Nateda Her and graduate student Savannah Haque all had terrific days. All three of them won by five or more holes. Hemmila, in particular, focused on “not letting the club get too long at the top of [her] backswing” and how she uses a drill in her practice swings to help with this.
“We are coming to an end of our fall season, and so far, it’s been great; we’ve all grown from each competition,“ Her said. “For the spring season, I want my team and I to finish strong in each tournament phase and win as much as we can.”
Junior Grace Boczar and sophomore Lily Bargamian also took care of their matchups. Boczar finished up one hole while Bargamian handled Gabriella Tapp, winning by four holes with three left to play.
The women’s team outgained the men’s team by five points to 3.5. Their combined 8.5 points were enough to push them past UDM (3.5 points) to the championship round.
Championship vs. Central Michigan Chippewas, Tuesday, Oct. 15
Oakland got off to a great start in the championship match, with Sohal and Haque leading off for the men and women, respectively. Sohal took care of CMU’s Jeffrey Sager by four holes, while Haque had no problem dispatching Chippewa Lauren Davis with a ridiculous victory by nine holes.
Sohal’s main goal this season is to strengthen the team’s winning, championship culture.
“Coach Pumford always stresses to us that playing good doesn’t make you a leader or an example to follow, but your habits do,“ Sohal said. “As one of the two most senior guys on the team, it’s paramount that we consistently do the right things to set the standard.”
The momentum began to swing the Chippewas way as Orlando Coons earned a tie against Zubkus before Alexis McMurray defeated junior Paige Scott by two holes. OU held the advantage at 2.5 to 1.5 a third of the way through the meet.
Sullivan won an incredibly close match against Nicolas Kilgore; neither golfer led by more than one hole all game. By the time the final hole came around, the score was tied. Luckily, Sullivan managed to secure the win by finishing the hole with five strokes to Kilgore’s six.
Her picked up another win, this time ending five up on her competition. Her’s best hole was on 11, where she got an eagle.
“Honestly, all of us ladies went into the first day giving it all we got. We stayed tough, we grinded it out, and we executed well,“ Her said. “Golf is so mental, so we stayed strong.”
However, CMU wouldn’t accept defeat. The Chippewas won the next three holes, highlighted by CMU’s Rachel Niskanen’s eight-hole victory over Boczar. With only three matchups left, the score was tied at 4.5.
Bargamian and Kelly were due up, and they slammed the door on the Chippewas. Bargamian didn’t lose a hole until the 13th, dominating her match by six holes. Kelly did even better; he got to the last hole up 8.
Although OU lost the 12th and final match, the Golden Grizzlies won the championship 6.5-5.5 and earned the Motor City Match-Up Cup.
“I’m impressed with our team. We have had a good season so far,“ Sohal said. “It’s going to be our job to keep it going into the spring with some more solid performances leading into conferences.”
Next up for the men’s team is a trip to the Musketeers Invitational on Oct. 21 in Cincinnati, Ohio, while the women’s team will head to the Evansville Invite on Oct. 21 in Evansville, Indiana.