Durand Railroaders Boys Golf

06/18/2026

2026 Season Thank You Post

Our 2026 boys golf season wrapped up at the Division 3 State Finals earlier this month. Looking back at the season, we couldn’t have done it without the help of so many people from so many different organizations.

First and foremost, a huge thank you goes out to our parents. Our parents made sure their players had all the equipment and gear they needed to start the year and throughout the season. We appreciate all the rides, the food money, the early morning drop-offs and everything in between.

So many Durand Area Schools departments and groups were so good to us and supportive throughout the season. Our athletic department, transportation department, and district administrators were quick to adapt to the many schedule changes we had to make and quickly prepared us to head off to the state finals. The Durand High School administrators and teachers got us everything we needed and helped catch up our players during the many school days we missed to participate in events. The Durand Athletic Boosters provided so much help and financial assistance during the state finals. Game One and Small Town Creations did a fabulous job creating quality clothing and apparel for our players and fans.

The Grounds in Flushing became our home away from home and took great care of us, especially in the early part of the season. We lived there for several weeks hitting balls in 20, 30 degree wind chills, and during April when Michigan was hammered by two flooding events. They had all the gear we needed, provided swing lessons and equipment recommendations to our players.

Willow Brook Golf Course worked so hard to recover from the April floods and got the course in great shape for our practices and the home events we hosted in May. The course layout, green speeds, and bunker conditions were always top notch and provided daily challenges to the players. Playing Willow Brook each day made the other conference courses and even the Regional course to seem less challenging.

Lastly, we are thankful to the many people who graciously donated money to the program during our vertical fundraising event: Wes Hull, Jeff Mutch, Amber Libby, Isabella Tolene, Percy Jackson, Matt Kimmer, Alisha Demo, Jeremy Blake, Jeff Long, Debra Fournier, and Megan Rathbun.

The 2026 season is in the books and players are practicing, playing rounds, and some are competing in different summer leagues. We finished in 3rd place in the conference and four of our players earned all-conference recognition: Carson Drury- 1st team, Travis Hull- 2nd team, Linkin Armour and Kyler Hatchett- Honorable Mention. We finished in T-2nd place at Regionals and moved onto the Division 3 state finals at Bedford Valley, finishing 18th. We had no seniors in the program last season, so 2027 will have high expectations. There will be many players competing for the top 5-6 varsity slots for next season. Even though 3 conference teams qualified for the state finals, most of the top MMAC players return for next year. 2027 should be a very competitive season.

06/15/2026

Durand 5 Hole division participants in the Flint Junior Golf League:

Wyatt Atkinson, Kain Miller, Jack Inman

06/15/2026

Flint Junior Golf kicked off this morning. Here are 3 of our guys together at Atlas Valley, competing in the FJGA 18 Hole division.
Kyler Hatchett, Carson Drury, Travis Hull.

Good luck to all our players playing in the different divisions!

Thank you Michelle for sending this pic.

06/06/2026

The team of Travis Hull, Carson Drury, Linkin Armour, Kyler Hatchett, and Brody Demo competed in Day 2 of the Division 3 State Finals at Bedford Valley, north of Battle Creek. The team finished the tournament in 18th place.

Hatchett and Demo had our best rounds, each scoring a 93. Demo had two birdies (holes 7 and 17).

This was an incredible experience for the players and we hope to get the chance to return. We don’t have any seniors in our program, but know how fortunate we were to finish 2nd at regionals and to arrive at states. We got a chance to see the best of the best from all corners of the state, walking with kids from Grand Rapids, Boyne City, Flat Rock, and Elk Rapids.

Thank you to all our supporters and family members who showed up this weekend and for all the community members and the school community for all the calls, messages, and financial help!

06/06/2026

Team Dinner at the Battle Creek Texas Roadhouse. Thank you Durand Athletic Boosters!

06/05/2026

The Durand team of Travis Hull, Carson Drury, Linkin Armour, Kyler Hatchett, Luke Inman participated in Day 1 of the two day MHSAA State Finals. Durand is sitting in 18th place heading into Day 2. Our best scores were Travis Hull’s 87, Kyler Hatchett’s 91, and Carson Drury’s 91. Hull made 2 birdies on the day.

The morning started out under sunny skies, but as you can see from some of the last pictures, we finished in a 2 hour monsoon rain.

Teeing off tomorrow at 9am for the final day of the season.

06/05/2026

Breakfast at 6:15am, warming up 7:15am, teeing off at 9am. State Finals Day 1.

Here’s the program for the event:

https://www.mhsaa.com/sites/default/files/Golf-Boys/2026/Finals/D3-Program.pdf

06/04/2026

We have arrived in Battle Creek and are getting settled in before day 1 of the MHSAA Division 3 State Finals on Friday.

The last week since we qualified has been a whirlwind, but so many people have stepped up to help us get here.

Durand Area Schools administration, our transportation department, and our high school athletic department have been so helpful and so generous to our team, this week and all season long.

The Athletic Boosters got together and hooked our players up with drinks, snacks, and food. We will eat like kings this weekend.

Whitney Kincaid and Small Town Creations made State Finals shirts for our players and parents to wear at the finals this weekend with the quickest turnaround possible.

Our parents have played a huge role. Michelle Drury scouted around and got us a nice hotel, Jen Armour and Corissa Hull decorated our school van and transported goods. The Demo family let us use their golf cart in the parade and helped transport our luggage. Amanda Inman helped a lot with supplies.

We are very appreciative for the Durand Fire and Durand Police Department for escorting our team through town today and making a parade for us.

Thanks to the many people who donated to our spring fundraiser it helped the guys be able to play in a practice round at Bedford Valley yesterday.

I’ve had so many community members, local HS golf coaches, teachers, students, former students and former players reach out and wish us well. It’s been hard to write and call everyone back. We even heard from a few guys from the 2008 Durand state finalist team, the last DHS boys team to qualify. Thank you for all the love, we feel everyone behind us, rooting for us.

Durand Schools are an incredible place where the district and parents provide so many opportunities for a smaller district. The City of Durand and local businesses shows love to its young people, supports the schools, and made our players feel special today.

No matter what happens this weekend, we are so appreciative of everyone’s time, effort, and money to help us get to the State Finals. We have a lot more people and groups to thank for the entirety of our season, but these people and groups have been so helpful in the last week.

06/02/2026

Stop by Saginaw Street this Thursday, starting at 3:30pm. The golf team will be escorted out of town as they head to the state finals near Battle Creek. Parade route will start by the bowling alley and finish at the clock tower downtown.

Division 3 State Finals are Friday and Saturday at Bedford Valley. This is the first DHS Boys Golf state finals appearance since 2008.

Many thanks to the Durand Athletic Department and the Durand Fire Department for setting this up!

05/30/2026

Summer Golf Opportunities:

FJGA. Flint Junior Golf

Monday mornings. For the clinics and the league it's usually around $75-$125ish depending on what league you sign up for. I would recommend the 9 hole division or Hybrid for newer guys

https://www.fjga.org/divisions-and-groups (click around this site).

First Tee at the IMA Brookwood. They have a nice summer program on Thursday mornings. A few of our top varsity players have played there over the years. Click this link and look to register for "Brookwood Age 12-13 Class". Its $160. https://firsttee.my.site.com/parentRegistration/s/?language=en_US&website=www.firstteeeasternmichigan.org

Finally, Owosso Country Club has a very involved summer program with more drills and training, but the cost is the highest of the 3.

Youth On Course

For just a $20 membership, you will gain access to “Youth On Course” member rates across the state. Most courses will allow you to walk for just $5 a round! University home courses, the site of the MHSAA state finals, resort courses up north that cost over $100 to play- you will only be charged $5 a round!

https://gam.org/start/join/?cid=10030

Here are all the courses you will have access to:

https://gam.org/juniors/youth-on-course/youth-participating-courses/

Birch Run, Chesaning, Montrose/NL, Ovid-Elsie home courses are all on Youth on Course. Get extra practice ahead of next year’s jamborees at those courses.

The GAM Foundation would like to give special recognition to the following Youth on Course participating clubs that do not request a subsidy for their participation.Special Thanks go to: Black Lake Golf Course, Carl’s Golfland Bloomfield Hills & Plymouth locations, Foundation Golf Center, Ga***rd ...