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ORCHARD LAKE — It was a part of his game that he’d been working on and improving all season.
A three-time Michigan High School Athletic Association state finals competitor, Orchard Lake St. Mary’s junior Ethan Mukhtar was a seasoned veteran for this year’s state finals squad.
He’d shown physically what he could bring to the table with a club in hand, but it was all about the mental game in his third year on varsity.
“This year, I felt like after a bad shot, I would go into the next shot thinking about how to execute in order to save par or save birdie,” Mukhtar said. “I picked my head up after a bad shot that way.”
Little did Mukhtar know that on the 17th hole June 8 at Forest Akers West — with the MHSAA Division 2 state finals ever so close to St. Mary’s grasp — all of his mental planning would come to fruition.
Grand Rapids Christian was on the heels of the Eaglets all throughout the day after entering day two four shots behind leader Richland Gull Lake and three behind St. Mary’s. Gull Lake shot themselves out of contention on day two, but St. Mary’s continued to push back against GR Christian with birdies from Mukhtar, junior Mikey Karwaski and senior Ben Carroll on the 15th hole.
Every stroke mattered, and every shot had ramifications that could cost its team a state championship. Mukhtar was staring one down with two holes left to play after flying a 140-yard iron shot over the green.
“I was walking down 17, and I just put a tee shot into the trees on the left after making a double on 16,” Mukhtar said. “I was pretty down on myself. I was thinking how I didn’t want that to be the reason why we missed out on a state title.”
Luckily for the Eaglets, Mukhtar had been strong with his execution and deciding what to do next in the face of danger.
A year or two ago, moments like this might have only gotten worse for the young golfer. Now more poised than ever, he followed through on a shot that he’ll never forget.
“Right as I hit the shot I knew it was going to be pretty good, but then I just saw it rolling and rolling,” Mukhtar said. “I saw it drop and it was just electric. The whole course heard me. It was such a cool moment. People chip in here and there, and yeah it’s a good feeling, but when it’s on the 35th hole of the state championship to pull away by one, it’s something you can’t explain. I consider it the shot of my life.”
The Eaglets edged GR Christian by one stroke (603-604) to capture their first state championship in school history with longtime St. Mary’s coach Tom Brecht, who’s been at the helm since 1996, finally having the opportunity to hoist a first-place trophy.
“I was looking at an article on MHSAA that was a preview for the state finals about a month ago, and we weren’t even in the top-3 teams,” senior Cooper Eaton said. “It was definitely really big that we were able to all put it together, especially since we didn’t win a tournament all year.”
Courtesy of top-10 finishes from Eaton (third) and sophomore Blaise Krol (seventh), St. Mary’s was fortunate enough to even have a shot at first as Eaton and Krol were consistent all weekend.
Eaton shot a 71 and a 73 in the two rounds, while Krol added a 74 and a 73. Eaton had had an up-and-down season for his standards as a four-time state finals golfer, but locked in when his team needed him most.
“Cooper (Eaton) struggled all season, but he finally got it together at the end of the year and played to the ability that I knew he had,” Brecht said. “I stuck with him throughout the year, and he did very well. Blaise (Krol), I was very fortunate with that young man. He played baseball last year, and while St. Mary’s is very good at baseball, this year he decided to play golf instead.”
Mukhtar and Karwaski both finished tied for 31st in the tournament with a two-round score of 156, while Carroll finished with a 164.
Four of the Eaglets’ five state finals players had played in one or more state tournaments, three having played in three or more, and Brecht said the past finals helped his team over the weekend.
“I think it was the experience that this group had playing in the state finals,” Brecht said. “I had one kid (Eaton) that played in four of them, two kids that played in three of them (Carroll and Mukhtar), and one kid (Karwaski) who played one, and the other (Krol) was his first time. I think the difference is you have to have experience to understand the pressures that come with playing in the state finals, and I think they did a very good job with that.”
The 2024 class has been a history-making group for the Eaglets, bringing home the school’s first regional title in 2023 and first state title this year.
Losing both Eaton and Carroll will be a tough pill to swallow, but Mukhtar, Krol and Karwaski are all ready to step up and defend their Division 2 crown.
“I’m playing the best golf of my life at this moment,” Mukhtar said. “I feel like we can go back-to-back, especially with how I plan to improve. I’m putting in countless hours each week because I want to go back-to-back.”
