The Junior College Team that Could – Then Couldn’t
By Tom Lang
With a nod to the traditional children’s book “The Little Engine that Could” – overcoming the struggles of that small train tale of overcoming all odds, could be similar to what has transpired with Montcalm Community College’s men’s golf team this past school year.
Montcalm, located north of Greenville, added men’s golf this school year and the team had unconventional success for a first-year program. In May, the Centurions tied for 1st at the National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Regional with Grand Rapids Community College – which has won the last 14 consecutive league titles.
However, as a new first-year program, Montcalm was left on the outside looking in.
Due to NJCAA rules, there was no reason for a playoff with GRCC to conclude a Regional winner for advancing to Nationals. First-year programs are not allowed to participate on the national stage.
Michigan teams like Grand Rapids, Muskegon, Oakland, Schoolcraft, Jackson and Mott all compete in men’s golf. The Montcalm team had three first-place finishes and five runners-up in its first season.
“Just watching these kids grow up and how excited they were, I think gracious is a good descriptor,” rookie college head coach Doug Harkema said about the team’s reaction to not being recognized for tying for first place at the post-event ceremonies. “The other thing is, we knew we couldn’t go (to nationals) so what is there to play for? And they did it anyway. It’s pretty cool.”
Harkema is the former golf coach at Holt High School. As he looked for something to do in retirement from teaching, a Facebook ad for the Montcalm job kept popping up. He continued to ignore the job posting, until he couldn’t any longer. “I guess God had a different plan for me,” he said.
Montcalm athletic director Hunter Redman confirmed that first-year teams are on probation to start out and cannot win awards nor advance to Nationals.
“The rule was put into place to make sure that programs are sustainable, and that the data showed that a lot of first-year programs, some schools didn’t get audits correctly, eligibility compliance, so the rule is mostly a safeguard to make sure that the schools are doing everything appropriately, but that they’re also not trying to start something too quickly. I completely understand that.
“For the most part I think we are the exception to the rule,” he added about producing such a successful team in Year One.
Montcalm was 11 shots back to start the Regional final round, but the team of Ethan Johnson (age 21, Holt High), brother Zach Johnson (18, Holt), Jerald Brownell (18, Cedar Springs), Ryan Cingenpeel (24, East Lansing) and Lucas Hirkaway (18, Central Montcalm) came back to tie the mighty Grand Rapids program.
“The one thing I’ve always tried to do, with my basketball teams and all, is to try creating an atmosphere where kids will play for each other,” Harkema said. “If they’re only playing for themselves, it’s easy to quit on yourself. It’s harder to quit on others. And by the end of it, it really felt a lot like a family. It was a wonderful experience, the first year of competition. To come from 11 strokes back on the last day, and tie it was spectacular.
“We’ve got some good players that really work hard. It’s been a blast.”
