Brandon’s boys golf team is already showing signs of improvement.
At the Flint Metro League preseason tournament Aug. 16, the Blackhawks finished fifth out of seven teams, with a team score of 351.
Holly and Lapeer West tied for first at 330, but Holly won the meet based on a tiebreaker, as their fifth place golfer had a better score than Lapeer West’s fifth place golfer.
Last year, the Blackhawks finished seventh at both the preseason and postseason tournaments. This time around, they were only four strokes behind fourth-place Linden, which finished at 347.
Brandon coach John Ubbing said he was pleased with the team’s improvement from this time last year.
‘I’m happy with us finishing fifth,? he said. ‘The kids knew seventh place was unacceptable this time around.?
Tom Voyer was the Blackhawks? leading golfer at the tournament, finishing 10th overall with a round of 84. Ryan Bilkos was right behind with 85, while Matt Miller shot 90 and Will Hubbard 92.
‘I’m real pleased with Tom’s score and Ryan’s score,? Ubbing said. ‘We need to get all these kids under 90. If we get these scores in the mid-80’s, we’ll be competitive.?
The Blackhawks will be away from active competition for awhile, but they will still be busy. After an Aug. 23 scrimmage against Goodrich, Brandon’s next meet is Thursday, Sept. 9, when the Blackhawks take on Holly in their Flint Metro League opener.
During their hiatus, Ubbing said he will have the Blackhawks play some intrasquad matches and work on refining their skills.
‘We’re going to do a lot of short game situations and practices,? he said. ‘We’ll allow them to make more creative shots and think more.