June was quite a month for outstanding performances by TGA coaches, former coaches, students and former students:
Coach Nathan’s hole-in one: Coach Nathan Alcantara is 21 years old and will be a junior this fall at Wayne State University. He was one of our first TGA students, attending after-school enrichment classes at University Liggett in the fall of 2008. He became an assistant coach while playing high school golf at Liggett, and returned this summer as a camp instructor. He brought a wedge to demonstrate some shots to kids during the June 14-18 camp session at Somerset Park and hit a tee shot into the cup on the par-3 eighth hole. Nathan fulfilled the traditional hole-in-one obligation of buying drinks for everyone. Campers were treated to lemonade at lunch the next day.
High school boys state championships — In the fall, 23 girls with TGA connections (former students and current coaches) qualified for the state championships. The boys couldn’t quite match that number, but 16 TGA-affiliated boys advanced to states. Former student Lorenzo Pinili shot 71-68 to finish second in the Division 2 event and lead Brother Rice to the team title. Former student and current coach Ryan O’Rourke of Walled Lake Northern tied for 11th in Division 1 with rounds of 76-72 and former student Adam Burghardt of DeLaSalle tied for 12th with rounds of 75-74. Former student Scott Hanna of Country Day tied for 11th in Division 2 with rounds of 76-72. Also advancing to states were Carter Cusmano of Troy, Alex Blyth and Jack Jones of Grosse Pointe South, Nick Iafrate and Ethan Tran of DeLaSalle, Dominic DeLaura and Matthew Himmelsbaugh of Romeo, Garrett Kuppler of Utica Ford, Vikram Goddla and Arnav Modi of Country Day and Will and Adam Weingartz of Austin Catholic.
Major events — Ryan O’Rourke followed up his performance in the state high school boys tournament by qualifying for the U.S. Junior Amateur. He will compete at the Country Club of North Carolina July 19-24. Former coach and recent Wayne State graduate Grant Haefner reached the semifinals of the prestigious Michigan Amateur.
Drive, Chip and Putt — The following TGA students and former students have advanced to the second round of the national Drive, Chip and Putt competition and are one step closer to Augusta National: Leo Bugajewski, Lois Cortez, Harriet Cortez, Rodrigo Dugarte, Alex DuPont, Brooke Haney, Reid Jarjosa, Preston Johnson, Watson Mercier, Siena Salvatore, Lauren Timpf and Hannah Wang.
