For most of the season, the Reeths-Puffer boys golf team had been steadily improving and inching its way up, with no big breakthrough performances.
That all changed over the last two days, when the Rockets started finding their game in a big way.
It started on Tuesday when R-P finished in first place in the fifth O-K Green Conference Jamboree of the season after finishing third or fourth in the four previous events.
Then things really got exciting on Wednesday when the Rockets competed in the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City tournament at Oakridge Golf Course and had a ton of success.
R-P's Dylan Panozzo, the 2024 GMAA boys city golf champion
The big star of the day was R-P senior Dylan Panozzo, who shot a score of 80 and won the individual championship at the tournament, beating out 59 other golfers from seven other local schools.
Panozzo’s championship round was highlighted by birdies on holes 1 and 12, and an eagle on hole 13 when he chipped in a shot from 80 yards out.
He finished one stroke ahead of Mona Shores’ Eddie Kuznar, who took second place.
“I am very proud and happy for Dylan Panozzo,” said R-P coach Matt Pallett. “He is a senior that has worked extremely hard. He puts the time in during the season and in the offseason. He works closely with his swing coach, Ted Tallefson. For the rest of his life he will be the 2024 city champ!”
R-P's city medalists (from left) Aiden Waggoner, Kristian Brown, Dylan Panozzo
The Rockets also had two other golfers finish in the individual top 10 – sophomore Kristian Brown, who shot an 85 and tied for fourth place, and junior Aiden Waggoner, who shot an 86 and tied for sixth place.
Panozzo, Brown and Waggoner all earned medals for their great day.
Rounding out the scorers for R-P were junior Ayden Hartzell and senior Jake Lee, who both shot a 99.
The three top 10 performances allowed the Rockets to finish second overall in the final city tournament team standings.
R-P finished with a team score of 350, which was 10 shots behind champion Mona Shores. Fruitport was third with a 351, followed by North Muskegon (358), Western Michigan Christian (360), Whitehall (374), Oakridge (376) and Montague (384).
R-P's Kristian Brown, who tied for first place at Tuesday's conference meet.
“Overall, I am very happy to have three guys in the top 10,” Coach Pallett said. ”It was a rough day for my other two guys, otherwise we could have made things a lot more interesting. I do like the way my team is trending.
“Congratulations to Coach Volkman and Mona Shores. He runs a great program.”
The Rockets got the best of Mona Shores on Tuesday at the fifth O-K Green Jamboree at Lincoln Golf Course, which was a major step forward for the team, which had finished fourth in three of the events and third in one.
The Rockets shot their best team score of the season at 160, which was four shots ahead of second-place Zeeland West. Mona Shores and Holland tied for third place at 170, followed by Zeeland East (173), Grand Rapids Union (183) and Wyoming (212).
R-P's Aiden Waggoner, who tied Brown for first at the conference meet.
Brown and Waggoner tied for first place individually at the event with scores of 38. Panozzo finished in third place with a 39.
Ayden Hartzell and Ryleigh Beebe each both shot a 45 for Reeths-Puffer while Jake Lee shot a 51.
“I am happy for the guys,” Pallett said after his team won the conference event. “I feel as a team that so far this season we have underachieved. We showed our potential tonight. Hopefully the team is hungry for more victories.
“The guys are really progressing with their mental game. Golf is not easy. Almost every guy had a moment tonight that could have derailed their round. They battled through it and helped the team to victory.” 