The men’s golf team has extended its lead in the MIAA to 20 strokes. On Monday, they headed out to the Wuskowhan Player’s Club for the MIAA Jamboree hosted by Hope.

Calvin shot a score of 304, 11 strokes better than second-place Alma. Trine, who trailed Calvin by two strokes heading into the competition, was 20 strokes behind Calvin after the round.

Senior Dave Sarkipato shot a nine on the third hole but was able to overcome and take first place with a score of 73. It was Sarkipato’s first medalist honor of his collegiate career. Junior Mark Allen shot a 75 for a second place tie. Senior Ben Kuiper and junior Jake Hoogstrate shot rounds of 78 and sophomore James Van Noord had 80 strokes.
Calvin left the day with a 22 stroke lead in the MIAA.

On Thursday, in the team’s make-up game from Trine last week, Calvin took fourth with 297 strokes. Trine won with 288 strokes followed by Hope and Adrian with scores of 291 and 294 respectively.

Hoogstrate led the Knights shooting a 72 for a seventh-place tie. Kuiper shot a 74, Sarkipato a 75, and Allen and VanNoord both shot 76.

With this fourth-place finish, the Knights’ lead in the MIAA was shortened to 13 strokes.

On Saturday at Alma’s home course of Pine River Country Club, the Knights took back seven strokes to bring their lead to 20 strokes.

The Knights shot a 301, three strokes ahead of Hope. Kuiper led the team with a 73, which put him in second place. Sarkipato had 75 strokes. Hoogstrate shot a 76 followed by VanNoord with a 77. Allen shot an 82. Sophomore Michael Wierenga shot a 77 as an alternate.

This is the fourth time this season that the Knights have taken first at a MIAA Jamboree. This is the most in school history for first place finishes in a single year. With two MIAA competitions left and a 20-stroke lead, the Knights are not letting up.

“20 strokes is not enough with two tournaments to play. We have to go out and win [Monday] to put ourselves in good shape going into the final tournament at the Medalist. Golf is a crazy game and anything can happen. We’ve played well but haven’t won anything,” commented Hoogstrate.

The Knights play again on Monday at the Watermark Country Club in Cascade. The jamboree starts at 1 p.m.