Ferris State’s Katke Golf Course will host the 46th Michigan Junior State Amateur – The Voice next week
BIG RAPIDS – Ferris State University’s Katke Golf Course will host the top junior golfers for the first time beginning Monday at the 46th Michigan Junior State Amateur Championship.
The field of 108 golfers aged 18 and under was determined by previous performances and through qualifying matches in certain sections. They will compete for the overall championship or in an under-15 division through Thursday.
Katke is home to Ferris State University’s groundbreaking Professional Golf Management Program. It also serves FSU’s golf student body and is home to Ferris State’s NCAA Division II men’s and women’s golf teams.
It is also home to the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame with its award-winning indoor/outdoor practice facility, the Ken Janke Sr. Golf Learning Center.
It offers 21 holes of golf on the highest point in Mecosta County in a rolling landscape with a mix of links and tree-lined holes and was designed by Robert Beard of Indiana. The course has a maximum length of 6,967 yards and offers five tee options.
Katke has received several awards including being named one of the Top 100 Golf Practice Facilities in America by Golf Range Magazine and being selected as the Mecosta County People’s Choice Award for Favorite Golf Facility and Favorite Golf Course.
Brian Corwin, a 1996 graduate of FSU’s Professional Golf Management program, is the head golf professional and Tony Geib is the superintendent.
Golfers competing in the overall standings will play 36 holes of stroke play on Monday to determine a medalist and top seed, who will advance the 32 lowest-scoring golfers to the match play bracket.
From Tuesday there will also be a division for under 15s with 18 holes of stroke play.
In the overall class, the first round and round of 32 games will take place on Tuesday, the second round and quarter-finals on Wednesday. The semi-finals and championship rounds for both age groups will take place on Thursday.
Last year, at A-Ga-Ming Resort in Kewadin, Will Preston of Grand Rapids beat Connor Fox of Lake Orion 3 and 1 in the championship match on the Sundance Course, and Troy Nguyen of Macomb beat Cooper Reitsma of Ada 3 and 1 to win the under-15 championship.
Preston, who is committed to the Penn State University golf team, returns to defend his title, and Richland’s Max VanderMolen, who won the overall title in 2022 at age 14, is also in the mix.
Fox, Nguyen, Reitsma and East Lansing’s Drew Miller, a recent Michigan Amateur Championship semifinalist who is now transferring to Michigan State University, are also in the mix.
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