Reeths-Puffer senior golfer Paige Anderson has been on fire in recent weeks, and now she has a regional championship to add to her list of accomplishments.
Anderson won the individual title at the Division 2 regional tournament on Sunday at Lincoln Golf Club. She finished with a score of 74, four strokes ahead of Coopersville’s Lauren Davis.
Anderson, who has now finished in first place in six consecutive events, including the GMAA City Tournament and the O-K Green Conference Tournament, qualified for the state finals for the third straight year.
She will compete in the MHSAA Division 2 finals at Forest Akers East Golf Course at Michigan State University on Friday and Saturday.
R-P senior Paige Anderson, who won a regional title and is headed to the state finals.
“I am very happy for Paige,” said R-P Coach Matt Pallett. “She has had an unbelievable season. Regional day is not an easy day for players. There is a lot of pressure at regionals. If you have one bad day and your team does not make it, then your season is done. Paige shot an impressive round to qualify for the state finals for the third year in a row.”
Unfortunately, Anderson will be competing solo at the state finals, because Reeths-Puffer fell just short of qualifying as a team.
The Rockets tied Coopersville for fourth place in the team standings with a score of 370. They were one shot behind third-place Lowell, and only the top three teams move on to the finals.
Sophia McCollum shot a 90 for Reeths-Puffer, Rowan Bluhm shot a 91 and Abby Haak and Avery Luna both shot 115.
The R-P girls golf team after winning the title at the city tournament.
The tournament marked the end of an amazing turnaround season for the Rockets, who won the city championship and the O-K Green conference tournament and captured a share of the overall conference championship.
Only Anderson and Haak are seniors, so the rest of the players are eligible to return next season and form a solid nucleus for the Rockets.
“The team had an incredible year,” Pallett said. “To think how far we have come since last year is hard to put in words. We are extremely proud of this group of young ladies.
“Although it is tough to watch; it was good to see the disappointment in the team when we missed going to state by two strokes. That tells me that it means something to them and the returning girls will want to work to put themselves in the position to qualify for state in future years.”
