By Kurt Miller
After finishing fifth in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association the past two seasons, notably the best finishes since 1999, the 2015-16 Kalamazoo College men's golf team is ready to take the next step, finish in the top four and compete in the 54-hole MIAA tournament in the spring.
"The top four didn't really lose anything—Hope, Calvin, Adrian and Trine," head coach Mitch Wilson said. "We will need to improve just to keep pace with the league and hopefully battle for a spot in the top half so we can compete in the spring automatic qualifier tournament."
According to Wilson, the team has a strong nucleus coming back in 2015 led by David Smith and Phil Ritchie. Both juniors heading into 2015-16, Smith landed on the All-MIAA first team for the second consecutive year while Ritchie received All-MIAA honors for the first time in his collegiate career landing on the second team last season. Smith also earned All-Region honors in 2014-15.
In 2015-16, Smith and Ritchie will once again play key roles in how successful the Hornets are in the MIAA. Ritchie ended last season with an average of 76.9 strokes per round while Smith ended with an even better average of 75.2. The two averages are the lowest single-season averages in K history.
Junior Riley Boyd also returns to the Hornets in 2015-16 after a season as the team's most improved golfer. Boyd dropped his average from 87.5 to 83.1 from his freshman to his sophomore year and hopes to continue the downward trend this season.
Others returning for K in 2015-16 include seniors Ben Bloomfield and Nick Marsh.
Two new faces join the Hornets this fall as Wilson brought in Nick Ludka and Travis Veenhuis to help continue building the program. Each of the freshmen earned All-State honors in Michigan as high school standouts. Ludka finished fourth in the Division IV State Championship, while Veenhuis finished 10th in the Division II State Championship.
"This is a great group of young men that I really like working with," Wilson said. "They all have their unique talents they bring to the team—both on the course and off the course."
The Hornets begin their fall season on Sept. 4 at the Lou Collins Memorial Tournament hosted by Olivet College. Kalamazoo hosts its lone MIAA Jamboree event on Sept. 21 at the Kalamazoo Country Club.