The Marcus boy’s golf team played in the third annual Fall Palmetto High School Golf Championship in Myrtle Beach, SC on September 14 and 15.  This 36-hole college-style tournament drew 120 junior golfers from seven states to the Grand Strand.

With a first round 305 putting the Marauders in 2nd place, the boys were determined to overcome their six shot deficit to the team from Cookeville, TN.  On day two, Marcus played well enough to win the tournament by five shots, shooting a 5 over par 293.

Jeremy LeGuen led the Marauders in scoring, shooting 75-67 for a 2 under par for the tournament and placed second individually.  Jeff Weisheit followed with 75-73, placing him 6th.  Robby Apfel placed 9th shooting 77-73.  Rounding out the Marcus players were Micah Blair with 78-84 and Bruce Brockinton with 81-80.

Marcus Golf Coach, Craig Koch said, “For the first time since I've been at Marcus, I felt like all of our guys were ready to play and play to win.  We prepared the right way, approached the tournament with the idea of winning, and felt like we belonged in a big time tournament. We grew up a lot this past weekend and we were able to play through some elements that we haven't been able to overcome in the past.  There was some rain we had to play through, sloshy fairways, which meant no roll after the carry so the course played much longer than the actual yardage on the card.”

The coach added, “We were paired with some very good teams who have won state tournaments in their respective states, not to mention had played in this tournament before and knew what to expect.  We were able to come back from six strokes down after the first round and win by five, something we've never done before.  I was proud to see my guys perform so well under pressure and pull out a win.  Hopefully this will be indicative of the rest of our season. Jeremy LeGuen's 67 on the second day was awesome.  He was 2 under par at the turn.  As he went to 3, then 4, then 5, I was able to let his teammates know how he was doing, and it seemed to relax the rest of the guys and allow us to finish with confidence that we could win the tournament.  His round was huge for our team and for him personally."

Jeremy LeGuen commented, “I've never hit the ball that well in a tournament round before.  I was able to stay focused all day and concentrate on every shot. I stuck some in there close and had a couple of easy birdie putts, but I was able to make some pretty long ones for birdies as well.  It was a lot of fun to shoot 67.  I'm glad I was able to help our team win the tournament.”

Jeff Weisheit was equally cheerful about the outcome. “I hit the ball great all weekend.  I just never felt comfortable with the speed of the greens for some reason.  I hit a lot of putts that I thought were in, but they ended up short by a few inches or went 5 or 6 feet by the hole.  I prefer to finish higher than 6th, but was proud of our team for being able to come from behind and win the Palmetto."

Robby Apfel put it like this: “If I could have made some putts, I would have gone low, especially the second day.  I controlled my speed real well and was able to make a lot of pars, but I sure wanted birdies.  I'll work on reading greens and my alignment in practice and hopefully those putts will start falling. It was great to start our season in Myrtle Beach and to be able to win.”