LAST YEAR: The Rockets finished in fifth place in the O-K Green conference, and came in third against the local competition at the Greater Muskegon Athletic Association tournament. They ended the season by finishing 16th out of 21 teams at regionals.
BUILDING AROUND A STANDOUT: Senior Kristian Brown will anchor the Rockets’ lineup this spring after having a very good junior season. The three-time All-Conference player had the third best average in the O-K Green last season – 40 per nine holes – and finished fourth in the GMAA tournament and second at R-P’s own Rocket Invitational. He finished in the top 10 individually at seven different events last spring.
“He is one of the better players returning in West Michigan this year,” R-P head coach Matt Pallett said about Brown. “Kristian works hard on his game.”
Kristian Brown
OTHER EXPERIENCED PLAYERS: Seniors Carter Hekkema and Beckett Mathes are two other players returning with some varsity experience, and both have the potential to step up and be big contributors.
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Junior Liam Thomas and sophomore Beckitt Johnson played mostly junior varsity golf last year, but could be key players in the varsity plan this spring. Easton Roberts, one of several juniors coming out for the team for the first time, shows some potential, along with promising freshmen Ian Vokal, Cameron Dreger and Landon Dyer.
GROWING PROGRAM: The Rockets had 21 players come out for the team this year, which is a high-mark during Pallett’s four years as varsity coach. The program continues to grow with the existence of a junior varsity team, the addition of a middle school club team this year, and an established relationship with First Tee, an organization that promotes the development of golfers from a very young age.
INEXPERIENCED LINEUP: The strong participation numbers are a good sign for the future, but this season the Rockets will still be dealing with some inexperience, with Brown the only player with a great deal of varsity playing time.
Beckett Mathes
“Some of the other guys have had chances to play in varsity events but will now be in the varsity lineup on a daily basis,” Pallett said. “We will have very good senior leadership. The older players will help to develop the younger players."
FIRST COMPETITION: The Rockets will open the season by competing in the Forest Hills Northern Invitational on Monday, then will compete in the first O-K Green conference jamboree on Tuesday.
COACH COMMENT: “Throughout the year we are always looking for improvement. We play some tough early season tournaments to see where we are at. We will then set high, but realistic individual and team goals and work hard to achieve them.”