Was that a golf cart two fairways over, or was it a polar bear?
No offense to global warming, but the high school golfers at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek on Saturday would have preferred if the thermostat had been cranked up a few more degrees.
That, and a whole lot less precipitation.
The second round of the Division 1 girls golf finals was interrupted on a couple of occasions by inclement weather.
Inclement as defined by pouring rain, hail and plunging temperatures. Throw a lightning bolt or two in the mix, also.
While Ariel Chang is a sophomore at Eisenhower and not a member of the U.S. Postal Service, she certainly held to the credo: “Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
In Chang’s case, appointed round meant the second round of play.
After shooting a 71 on Friday, she carded a 77 on Saturday for a 148, good for an outstanding third place.
Anika Dy of Traverse City West shot a 140 (68-72) to win the individual championship. Mikaela Schulz of Bloomfield Hills was second at 146 (75-71). Following Chang were Nicole Whatley of Northville 149 (77-72) and Sufna Gill of Northville 185 (76-79).
Northville was the team champion with a 630. Plymouth came in second at 661 and Traverse City West was third with 664. Bloomfield Hills shot a 670 and Brighton a 675.
Coach Jerry Greisbeck’s Eisenhower Eagles came in 10th with a 724 and Dakota was 17th at 796.
Joining Chang at the state meet were teammates Allison Gottshall (187), Alexis Sharplin (187), Lindsay Valentine (202) and Hannah Dunn (222).
For Dakota, Bryn Duncan shot a 191. Following were teammates Cathryn Kotenko (197), Heather Jennings (203), Helen Buk (215) and Julia Huminski (286).
“The first day, I felt great with a 71. On the second day, I was doing well until the last four holes. Just prior to those final four holes, they pulled us in for an hour and a half to wait because of the weather,” said Chang. “We waited together as a team. I wanted to go back out and finish, but it was so cold. We had to hype ourselves up to go back out there.”
There has been plenty of deserved hype for Chang, who has taken the local golf scene not by inclement weather, but by storm.
She was named to the Division 1 all-state team as a ninth grader. That season, she was the county champion, the MAC White Division, and she finished sixth at the state finals.
This year, Chang repeated as the county champion. Eisenhower was moved up to the MAC Red Division, and she promptly became the league MVP. The all-state teams have not been announced yet.
Undoubtedly, there will be plenty more accomplishments in the future.
It was her father, Hou Chang, who introduced her to the game of golf when she was seven. Then, they mostly hit in an open field behind their house. Her dad bought her a junior set that consisted of four clubs; a putter, a chipper, a seven iron and a driver.
About a year later, she played her first round on an actual course, Bruce Hills on Taft Road in Bruce Township.
“I would say I liked being on the course more than just hitting golf balls,” she said, smiling.
Coach Griesbeck first saw her hitting on the driving range at Cherry Creek when she was in fifth grade.
That has become a very familiar sight.
“I try to practice every day, because I did not like losing. I try to strive to win all of the time,” said Ariel Chang.
Even though golf is by nature an individual sport, high school golf is also a team sport.
Griesbeck calls Chang his team’s “biggest cheerleader.”
“Golf is a really, really tough sport and most people struggle with it. I also still struggle with it. I know what it is to feel down about a bad hole. You have to remember, it’s just a bad hole or a bad day. That’s what I tell myself and my teammates,” said Chang.
She doesn’t have many bad holes. Very few bad days, either. Ariel Chang is a very, very talented young lady.
Like the U.S. Postal Service, she delivers when it counts the most.
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