The Reeths-Puffer girls golf team is coming off a fun and exciting season.
The 2023 Rockets were led by All-Stater Paige Anderson, who won conference, city and regional championships before finishing in third place individually at the Division 1 state finals.
Anderson’s play inspired the Rockets to some impressive team accomplishments last fall. They tied with Mona Shores for the overall O-K Green conference championship after beating the Sailors by 15 shots in the conference championship tournament.
They also won the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association City Tournament championship, beating runner-up Whitehall by three shots, and ended up just two shots out of second place at regionals, which would have put them in the state finals as a team.
It was a season to remember, for sure, and Anderson provided the spark.
“She was definitely one of the best players in Michigan,” R-P head coach Matt Pallett said about Anderson. “She had no ego. She was more team-oriented than individual-oriented. She wanted the team to do well.
Rowan Bluhm
“We definitely improved as a team. It was a great run. Two shots would have gotten us into the state finals. It was a fun season, and hopefully we will continue to build on that.”
The 2024 season will be a whole new challenge for the Rockets, mostly because Anderson graduated last spring.
Only two players from last year’s top five are back, so R-P will be developing some new varsity golfers to fill out the lineup while still trying to maintain its winning ways.
The good news is that the lineup will be anchored by two returners who also had very good seasons in 2023.
One is senior Rowan Bluhm, a fourth-year varsity golfer who has steadily improved despite losing much of her sophomore season to injury.
The other is sophomore Sophia McCollom, who burst onto the scene last year as a standout freshman and teamed with Bluhm to give the Rockets two very solid teammates to back up Anderson.
Sophia McCollum
Their contributions were nearly equal last season. Bluhm finished with a 44 average per nine holes while McCollom had a 45 average. They were both All-Conference and finished among the top 10 individuals in 11 of the 14 O-K Green conference events.
Bluhm finished in fifth place at the GMAA City Tournament while McCollom was sixth. McCollum was fifth at the conference championship tournament while Bluhm finished sixth.
After a season of big improvement and confidence-building, the two of them could be among the area’s better golfers this fall.
“Sophia does not hit the ball super long off the tee,” said Pallett, whose team will open the season on Friday at a tournament in Allendale. “She’s kind of a smaller girl. But she has a really good short game and a lot of mental toughness. It was a little hard for her at first as a freshman, but she got much better as she went along.
“Rowan hits longer off the tee than Sophia and has a very solid short game. She is fourth-year varsity, but she was hurt for much of her sophomore year. We kind of rushed her back too early and she kind of struggled, but last year she had a very solid season.”
Another returning player is sophomore Olivia Ambler, who started last year on junior varsity, was called up to varsity, but lost playing time due to injury. She will likely be R-P’s No. 3 player to start the season.
Olivia Ambler
“She’s been playing this summer,” Pallett said about Ambler. “She has really dedicated herself and put time into it. I am looking forward to her taking some big steps this year.”
The rest of the R-P roster will be very inexperienced.
Pallett expects sophomore Ella Voorhies and senior Emma Dvorak to play significant roles on the team.
Even with question marks in the lineup, Pallett believes his program has developed a winning mentality and believes this year’s squad can keep that going.
“I feel we took a major step forward last year,” the coach said. “We are not looking to take a major step back. We got a good taste of competing and winning and we want more of that.”
The Rockets will be competing in a revamped O-K Green conference this fall. Mona Shores and Muskegon are still in the league while Jenison, Caledonia and Byron Center are new.
Coach Pallett thinks Caledonia may be the conference favorite and says Jenison and Mona Shores will also be strong.
“It will be a tough conference, but we are looking forward to the challenge,” he said.