Wayland was in 10th place Friday after the first round in the Division 3 state championships at the Forest Akers Golf Course on the campus of Michigan State University.
The Wildcats, like everybody else, had to overcome a lot of adversity with the blustery winds, but they managed to combine efforts for a score of 412. Spring Lake was leading with a 325 after the first day, Detroit Country Day was second at 359 and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook was third at 363.
The Lady Wildcats were nine strokes behind ninth-place New Boston Huron and three strokes ahead of O-K Gold Conference rival Hastings, which had come to the state tourney as a regional champion. South Christian, which also finished ahead of the ‘Cats in the O-K Gold Conference, was seventh with a score of 385.
Wayland had qualified by finishing third at its regional tournament.
Senior ace Ali Martus, playing in her fourth state tournament during her illustrious career on the links, finished at 83 for 18 holes, good for fifth place individually. She earned all-state honors as a sophomore and a junior, and if she can get past the inclement weather, she’s s good bet to be all-state once again.
The teams will return to the course Saturday for the second round with even worse weather conditions forecast. It will be the last round as a Wildcat for Martus, who easily has been the best female golfer in Wayland High School history.
