Union City wraps up first Big 8 golf title in school history
CONCORD – The Big 8 conference as we know it was formed back in 1973 after what was then called the Little “C” conference disbanded, with many of its founding members agreeing to stick together and build a new conference.
Since its inception, the Big 8 has seen several teams come and go, including long time members Athens, Jonesville, and Homer, while also seeing new teams join such as Bronson, Maple Valley, and beginning next year, Stockbridge. In the Big 8’s 50 years of existence many conference titles have been awarded on the boy’s side of the conference, with Concord leading the way with 82, followed by Quincy with 70, Jonesville with 60, and Union City with 54.
Of Union City’s 54 conference titles not one has come in the sport of golf. That is right, not a single conference title in the sport of golf has gone to Union City. That is, until now, as that 50-year streak officially ended Tuesday night.
On the links at Whiffletree Golf Course in Concord the Union City Chargers and the Springport Spartans faced off one final time, in a winner take all scenario. Both teams had won three jamborees throughout the year, each team had multiple medalists and the two number one golfers on each respective team had battled with the other, trading win after win.
So, it goes without saying that once all 18 holes were played on Tuesday night, it came as no surprise that Union City and Springport were tied, 356-356. Meaning the decision on the Big 8 championship would go to a tiebreaker. The tiebreaker that decided the Big 8 conference championship fell to each team’s fifth golfer, and in a stroke of unbelievably bad luck, the Spartans did not bring a fifth golfer to Whiffletree. Union City did, however, as freshman Blayne Crance fired off a score of 106, wrapping up the conference championship for his team as the final stroke dropped.
Quincy, who entered the season looking to replace all but one starting golfer from last season, finished with a very respectable third place with a 365, followed by Bronson in fourth with a 430, and Maple Valley in fifth place with a 568. Neither Concord nor Reading were able to field a full team this season and were thereby not eligible for the team standings and Stockbridge will not join as the eighth team until the 2024-25 school year.
Springport took the top two spots in the tournament, as Braydon Hawes took first with a 77 while Brody Baum shot an 85. The Quincy duo of Braylon Estlow and Keegan Neely tied for third place with a score of 87, followed by three Union City golfers in a row, led by Landyn Crance with an 88, followed by Carter Krummrey and Jeremy Zehr with an 89. Springport’s number three golfer, Maximilian Argumedo finished in a tie for sixth place, followed by Union City’s Logan Mears in ninth with a 90 and Quincy’s Grant Carter in tenth place with a 95.
Bronson was led by senior Carson Norton who tied for tenth place with a 95 while freshman teammate Clayton Shortridge finished in fourteenth place with a 102. Rounding out the Bronson effort was Drew Shoup in eighteenth place with a score of 110 and finishing of the scoring was Aiden Whittaker in twenty-third place with a score of 123.
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Union City’s Big 8 championship was finished off by Max Bigelow who finished in nineteenth place with a 111 while Quincy’s third place effort was paced by Brydan Wible in twelfth place with a score of 96, Caleb Bostic in sixteenth place with a score of 106 and Issabelle Neely in twentieth place with a score of 112.
After finally breaking their Big 8 conference championship skid on Tuesday, the Chargers wrap up their fourth conference boys title of the year, with Union City having already won the Big 8 title in football, cross country, wrestling, and now golf, with the team also seeing a phenomenal shot at winning the track conference title after finishing the regular season unbeaten.
Individual All Conference Honors
The Big 8 conference also announced its individual all-conference honors, a list that includes the top 10 scoring golfers in conference action.
Conference championship and medalist honors went to Springport freshman Brody Baum while second place honors went to Landyn Crance of Union City.
The list of Big 8 All Conference Golfers reads:
Brody Braum, Springport; Landyn Crance, Union City; Max Arguemndo, Springport; Braydon Hawes, Springport; Logan Mears, Union City; Braylon Estlow, Quincy; Carter Krummrey, Union City; Keegan Neely, Quincy; Carson Norton, Bronson; Jeremy Zehr, Union City; Grant Carter, Quincy
What’s Next?
The whole Big 8 will now look towards the Michigan High School Athletic Association Regional tournament to be held on May 28. Union City, Bronson and Quincy will make the long trip to South Haven for the Division Three Regional tournament.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Union City secures first Big 8 golf title in school history
