Mr. Golf: Will Preston
By Tom Lang
The highest honor each boys’ high school golf season comes with the naming of Mr. Golf.
That ‘opening-of-the-envelope-moment’ goes to – Will Preston of Grand Rapids Catholic Central for 2024.
“I remember sitting with my coach at a practice my freshman year, talking about goals for the team and for myself for the first year, and all four years of high school golf,” Preston told me. “One of them was to win a state championship and eventually earn Mr. Golf. It’s really nice to do that. This is pretty cool.
“Like some of the past winners, with Lorenzo (Pinilli), Bryce Wheeler, PJ (Maybank). They’re all obviously great golfers and are doing some great things. So being there with my name up with them is pretty cool.”
Preston, who is next off to play golf at Penn State, average 71.9 scoring this season.
He won the Division 2 individual state championship in early June. His team didn’t make the trip out of Regionals this season, but with his leadership, won Div. 3 team titles in his freshman and junior years.
This spring he was medalist six times, and runner up five more times, with a third and a fourth-place additionally.
“Drew has been an excellent mentor, starting right in his freshman year,” said coach Kim Napieralski. “He took the young fellas by the hand and led them down the path of ‘this is how you practice, this is how you play, this is the demeanor you should have.’
“And he’s probably one of the most confident and calm players I have ever met. I have been coaching for 25 years and I have never had such a quality human being on my golf teams, and that’s outside of his golf. A coach’s dream. I’d like to have eight more of him next year.
“He’s smart, he’s funny, he’s kind, he’s genuine,” she added. “He’s so many good things wrapped up into one person.”
Napieralski also said she loves having Preston’s sister, Kelsey (T8 at state finals), on her girls’ team that is the defending state champs in D3, and looks forward to younger brother, Tommy, coming in as a freshman.
The elder Preston learned golf from his grandfather, an accomplished amateur in Indiana, who at age 72 still shoots his age or better on many occasions. He’s won the Indiana Mid-Am and the Sr. Amateur.
“He brought me up through the game and I’ve always looked up to him,” Preston said of his maternal grandfather, Sam Till. “It took quite a few years of my life to do so, but I can beat him now, but he’ll still beat me, as recently as this winter, playing a tee up.
“His role was more of a golf buddy. He obviously helped me with stuff throughout my life, whether it be struggles or just some simple tips. (Mr. Golf) is a big honor and he said he was very proud I was able to do that.”
Like most accomplished high school golfers, Preston plays in GAM and AJGA events each year. Preston won the GAM Junior Amateur last fall over all the best players in Michigan, making it his strongest individual win so far.
“I felt very accomplished winning that event,” he said. “It’s one of the big events as a Junior golfer, winning your state tournament. I rank it a little above (winning the Div. 2 state title) because it’s against all the kids from across Michigan, compared to Div. 2 just being a chunk of them. It’s a little cooler to win the entire state championship.”
Other accolades include:
All State as a freshman and sophomore.
Super Team honors as a junior and senior.
Tied the school record for the lowest round at the MHSAA Regionals: 69 (2023)
School record - lowest round in an 18 hole non-league event: 66 (2024)
MHSAA Team State Championship (2021, 2023)
MHSAA Team State Championship Runner-up (2022)
School record - lowest team score at an 18 hole event of 293 (with teammates Matthew Sokorai, Sebastian Deimel, Tommy Jandernoa, Charlie Maczka, and Noah Onstott); in which Preston carded a 4-under par 68.
Academically, Preston was the Salutatorian of his class, on top of his athletic successes – being named GRCC’s 2024 Man of the Year, as voted by the senior class.
