The Grand Rapids Community College golf team took first place in the Jackson Fall Preview on Friday, a tournament at Arbor Hills Golf Club, hosted by the Jackson Community College Jets in Summit Township, Michigan.
This was the Raiders’ second, first place finish in the young fall season. GRCC golf coach John Forton praised his team’s performance.
“It went really well,” Forton said. “We shot 303, which you know, always our goal is 300, so we were just above that. Good performance by one of the younger players Graham Fulcher, with a 75 did really well. The rest of them kind of fell in there.”
Some of the top performers for the Raiders along with Fulcher were Cooper Bell who shot a 77, Ryan Skislak with a 76 and Nick Ward who matched his teammate Fulcher’s score with a 75.
“We finished first out of six,” Forton said. “It’s kind of a preview for our fall where we’re going to play the region or the state, so it gave us a good opportunity to take a look at the course and get familiar with what’s going on out there and the layout, so it was a very good tournament for us.”
This tournament matched the Raiders up against other MCCAA schools that they will be competing against in the spring season to make it to the national championship. Forton mentioned one school in particular that he enjoyed beating.
“The big one you know, we always have trouble with Mott (Community College),” Forton said. “We beat Mott by 15 shots, so, you know that’s always a rewarding thing to beat a team that’s been beating us pretty good the last couple years. So that kind of gives us a preview of what we’re going to see when we start playing in the conference in the spring.”
The Raiders’ next match comes later today in the Spring Arbor Invite at Grande Golf Club in Jackson, Michigan. Forton looks forward to the challenge of this tournament as they will be the only two-year school competing.
“What I like to do is get my guys…up against some four-year schools,” Forton said. “So they can play against that type of competition and see how we do. This is always a good testament – you know if we finish in the top five here, that would be a real, real good thing for us.”
After the Spring Arbor Invite today, the Raiders don’t return to action until Monday, Oct. 8 when they play in the Taylor University Fall Invitational at Egypt Valley Golf Course in Ada, Michigan.
