Kingsford’s COle Myllyla follows through on a swing Wednesday afternoon during the MHSAA Division 1 U.P. Golf Finals at the Sage Run Golf Course in Bark River. (Todd Rose/Daily Press photo)

BARK RIVER — While the Houghton Gremlins claimed the MHSAA Division 1 U.P. Finals Team Championship, it was Menominee’s Brady Badker who earned the individual U.P. Finals Championship on Wednesday afternoon at the Sage Run Golf Course in Bark River.

Marquette finished second at 334, with Kingsford and Calumet tying for third with 334. Iron Mountain carded a 386 and placed 10th.

Kingsford junior Cole Myllyla and Iron Mountain freshman Cooper Pigeon both shot 79 to finish tied for third with Westwood’s Tyler Annala, four shots off the pace set by Badker.

The top five individual finishers were awarded.

For the Gremlins, it was only their second time on the Sage Run course.

“I’m really proud of the kids,” Houghton coach Corey Markham said. “We had never seen the course until yesterday. We came down to do a practice round, and the wind was howling like 30, 35-mile an hour. So it was hard to get a read on how you’re playing the course in those kind of winds. But, they got to see the course and how it was laid out, so that really was great.

Houghton put together a collective score of 329. Following in second were the Marquette Redmen just five strokes back at 334.

“Going in, I thought if the guys played well and had a really good day there would be a good chance we’d be in the mix,” said coach Ben Smith of Marquette. “I bet if you asked the kids while they were out there, you probably wouldn’t get too many ‘It’s going great, coach’ responses.

“But, conditions were tough out there. Obviously, the wind and the course itself is not easy, but credit to the kids, they hung in there.”

For Badker, it has been a senior year of second places as he earned second place in the Great Northern Conference and played a vital part on the Maroons’ basketball defense in their run to the Breslin Center which fell just 10 points shy of a state title.

That changed Wednesday.

“This one feels good to get off my chest,” Badker said. “The last two things I cared about most were basketball and golf and was runner-up, runner-up. But, this one was kind of the one I wanted really bad because last year I came up short.”

Badker finished three strokes ahead of Houghton’s Marino Pisani, shooting a 75 to Pisani’s 78.

Badker felt he earned the advantage in the first half of the day’s golf.

“I’d say on the front nine my approach shots were kind of getting real close,” he said. “I got good looks at birdies instead of those long 5-foot par putts. Those are the ones you have to save out here because it’s a tough course. When you’ve got those 5-footers for birdie instead of 5 footers for par, that really helps to keep your mindset going.”

Kingsford coach Ryan Pepin summed up the day for his squad.

“The course played tough,” Pepin began. “Windy conditions. My kids had to grind and they had their best tournament of the year at the right time. Cole was a break here or there away from being right there competing for the individual championship. Badker deserved it with some exceptional par saves down the stretch. He played well all year and I was happy to see him play well on the big stage.

“As a team we were also a few shots here and there away from grabbing the title. The future is bright for our team with 4 of our top 5 returning next year.”

Todd Rose can be contacted at trose@dailypress.net.