Cherry pickin' daddies

Golf duo cultivated game in Michigan's Cherry Capital

Traverse City. The city has long been known for its magnificent cherries. More cherries come out of Traverse City than the rest of the world combined.

Traverse City. The city has earned a reputation as one of the most picturesque cities in America. Located on the banks of Grand Traverse Bay, Traverse City has attracted many tourists for its scenery, including Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, and its watersports.

Traverse City. The city is well-known for its golf.

Golf?

Yes, that's right. Traverse City has a number of golf courses in the area and is rapidly becoming a golfing haven in Michigan.

Direct results of this golfing boom can be seen on the Michigan men's golf team, which boasts a pair of Traverse City natives, Brian Seipke and Kyle Kilcherman.

Seipke and Kilcherman aren't just two of the top young golfers on the Michigan team; they're also cousins. As high school teammates, they led Traverse City High School to its first state title in 1996. In the state finals, Seipke, who only began golfing in tournaments when he was 12, carded a school-best round of 68.

In choosing a school, golf was not the single motivation for either player.

For example, Kilcherman's decision was affected by the prestige associated with Michigan.

"The academic reputation was a big selling point for me," Kilcherman said. "The clout that goes along with U-M was hard to pass up."

While it may seem that there was some planning involved in the two cousins both landing on the Michigan golf team, that is not really the case. Both Seipke and Kilcherman said, their dual arrival at Michigan was not something that they had specifically mapped out.

"It was pretty strange," Seipke said. "We had always had different academic aspirations and ideas of what we wanted to do with ourselves. We talked about where we were planning to go a little, but when we both ended up here, we did think, 'Wow, that's kind of weird.'"

"We both knew that we wanted to play golf in college," Kilcherman added. "It was pretty strange when we both ended up at Michigan."

Both Seipke and Kilcherman developed in high school under the expert tutelage of coach Bob Lober.

Seipke said he felt that both he and Kilcherman learned a lot during their years working under Lober.

"He really helped organize us tourney-wise and meet a lot of people in the world of golf," Seipke said. "We all had coaches to work on our games with us, so coach Lober didn't spend a lot of time with us on those things. You could say that he taught us a lot about everything that doesn't have to do with strict golfing."

Lober is reportedly one of the candidates for the soon-to-be-vacant Michigan State head coaching job. Seipke said Lober would be a good addition to the Spartan program.

"He runs one of the best programs," Seipke said. "I think that he'd bring in a fresh face and a new perspective to their team.

"He doesn't have as many collegiate connections as some other coaches might have, but I feel that he could more than overcome that with his organization and his ability to lead a team."

Current Michigan coach Jim Carras recruited both Seipke and Kilcherman.

Carras said that he saw the players playing in summer tournaments and "liked everything that (he) saw".

But he said that he first learned about the two players in part because of the strength of the Traverse City golfing program.

"Coach Lober has had an outstanding program up there for a long time, and they've produced a number of good players," Carras said. "Any time you see people playing in a program like that, it catches your attention."

Carras noted the contrasting styles of Seipke and Kilcherman in terms of their strengths and weaknesses as golfers.

"Kyle is very strong and very long off the tee," Carras said. "He was an All-State tennis player in high school, so he's very athletic. However, he didn't play a lot of golf, so he's a little bit behind on experience.

"Brian is almost the opposite. He's pretty average in terms of his length off of the tee, and his long irons are probably his biggest weakness.

"But, he's able to make up for some of that because he has one of the better short games. Even if he misses the green with his irons, I'm confident that he can get up-and-down."

As two young members of a very young Michigan team (every golfer will be returning next season), both Seipke and Kilcherman have had their share of struggles this year. As Kilcherman put it, "It's been a learning experience to some degree."

Seipke, demonstrating some of the unflappability that earned him praise from his coach, noted the gradual improvement that has come through the adversity.

"I still feel like I'm struggling a bit," Seipke said. "I've been trying to get it back, but it's frustrating going out and shooting a score and then knowing that you can do better.

"I'm starting to get more comfortable here, though. Gradually, I feel like I'm getting to the point where I can do what I'm capable of doing on the course."

The cousins had a tough time pinpointing one event which stood out in their minds as the most memorable experience of their golfing careers. In the end, though, they both settled on the same thing.

"Winning the high school state title in 1996 was great," Kilcherman said.

Added Seipke: "Individual awards are fun, but with the state title, you go as a team, and you win as a team. It was frustrating not to have won a couple of years earlier, so it was good to finally get it done."

Carras said that while Seipke and Kilcherman could both develop into top-flight golfers, it was still too early to tell how good they are going to be at this point.

"It's hard for freshmen to step in right away; usually, they redshirt," Carras said. "They have to pay their dues for a year. That's what Kyle and Brian did, and I'm counting on both of these guys for a couple of years."

Carras said the key for the Traverse City natives will be how much effort and dedication they are willing to put into their games after the school year ends.

"Ideally, every player will get better each year, but that doesn't happen all of the time," Carras said. "What I have to do while recruiting is to try and project. Will they get better? Both of these guys need to keep playing in summer tournaments to continue improving."

With any young athlete come visions of grandeur: dreams of team championships and individual honors are commonplace. Kilcherman, though, was somewhat reserved in his assessment of his goals for his Michigan career.

"I'd like to see the team and the program's reputation improve," Kilcherman said. "I would also like to continue improving as a player.

"I think a team championship during my time here is certainly not out of the realm of possibility. Winning a team championship isn't a one-man job, though. The question is, how much does everyone improve over the next few years?"

As redshirt freshmen, Seipke and Kilcherman each have three years left to realize all of their goals as collegiate golfers.

With hard work and some good fortune, the cousins may some day find themselves in a position similar to 1996: smiles on their faces, a championship trophy clutched in their hands, all of Traverse City beaming with pride.

04-20-99