But Pine Grove Country Club in Iron Mountain might prove to be the pinnacle of his golf career after the Northern Ireland native won the 108th Upper Peninsula Golf Association tournament by three strokes on Sunday.

Black put together a 1-under-par score of 283 from Thursday through Sunday on the par-72 course, beating out runner-up Ryan Pepin of the host course. Pepin shot a 2-over 286 while two-time UPGA champion Mark Clements of Wawonowin Country Club in Champion was third with a 4-over 288, one stroke ahead of former North Central High School standout Bryson Mercier at 289.

Clements, 49, won this tourney in 1997 at Wawonowin and 2001 at Menominee.

Black, 24, graduated from NMU with a bachelor’s degree in business management in 2020 and played golf on the Wildcats men’s team from 2016-20. He’s actually still attending Northern, working on his master’s degree in business administration that he said he expects to earn in December.

Former Northern Michigan University golfer Chris Black tees off on the Greywalls course of the Marquette Golf Club, where he is a member. Black won the 108th edition of the Upper Peninsula Golf Association annual tournament at Pine Grove Country Club in Iron Mountain on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Chris Black)

He’s a member of the Marquette Golf Club, was an assistant golf coach at his school during the year following his graduation and currently is a graduate assistant at NMU’s Center for Student Enrichment. At the CSE, he’s listed as working with the Student Leader Fellowship Program, Superior Edge and the Volunteer Center.

Those with well-honed math skills might notice that a 283 score on a par-72 course should equate to a 5-under-par total, since shooting four rounds of 72 would add up to a score of 288.

“Well, we only played 17 holes on Saturday,” Black said. “Apparently the fourth hole got flooded out and they couldn’t play it.”

So while his rounds of 76, 70, 66 and 71 look impressive, the 66 came on what was a par-68 course on Saturday.

This native of Lisburn, Northern Ireland — the same country that PGA veteran Rory McIlroy is from — had only seen the Pine Grove course once before. And that five years ago when he was on the NMU team.

Former Northern Michigan University golfer Chris Black tees off at Royal County Down golf course in his native Northern Ireland. Black won the 108th edition of the Upper Peninsula Golf Association annual tournament at Pine Grove Country Club in Iron Mountain on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Chris Black)

So he wasn’t surprised with his slow start on Thursday.

“The nerves were definitely a huge deal at the end,” Black said. “I’ve been playing really well since last summer, and I put in some extra practice, especially the last two weeks leading up to this tournament. I’ve been on the range every day.

“By the second day (of the UPGA), I think I had figured out what clubs I wanted to use on each hole. The last three days, I was pretty much using the same club as the day before at each hole.”

With his slow start, he trailed by seven strokes after the first day behind Pepin, who had a three-stroke lead on the entire field at that point.

In fact, if the 12-man championship flight had been set after one round, Black would’ve missed it by one stroke.

Former Northern Michigan University golfer Chris Black tees off at the Gaylord Springs Golf Links near Nashville, Tenn. Black won the 108th edition of the Upper Peninsula Golf Association annual tournament at Pine Grove Country Club in Iron Mountain on Sunday. (Photo courtesy Chris Black)

“My first goal was to make the championship flight,” Black said. “But it was nice to be in the final group on Sunday.”

Like Thursday’s opening day, just one golfer on Friday — Scott Lauerman with 68 — broke 70, meaning that Black’s 70 on Friday propelled him well up the leaderboard, though he still trailed Pepin by four strokes after the latter added 73 to his opening 69.

Then came Saturday, when Black and Clements each shot 66, the low rounds on Saturday’s 17-hole, par-68 course.

With Pepin shooting 70, Black and Pepin were tied headed into the final day. And Clements and Mercier were only two behind them.

But while Pepin and Clements each shot 74 and Mercier had 75 on Sunday, Black posted 71, by two strokes the best round of the day across all 11 flights. And no one else in the championship flight shot as well as this quartet on Sunday.

Black’s key?

“I think it was my hitting off the tee,” he said. “I was hitting my long irons on the par-4s and keeping it in the fairway. Then I used a driver on the par-5s.

“I hit a lot of greens, something like 15 or 16 each round. I putted OK, but it was my ball striking that really allowed me to do this well.”

A past biography of Black’s on NMU sports website, www.nmuwildcats.com, listed his highlights for the Wildcats and also in his home country before that. They include his best competitive round of 64 at Dunmurry during the Stuart Cup that missed the course record by one shot, and placing second in Ulster junior stroke play while playing for the Friends School in Lisburn.

With his upcoming MBA degree, though, Black doesn’t plan to try for any higher reaches of golf.

“I think I want to play in the club tournament,” he said about the upcoming Marquette Golf Club event.

Steve Brownlee can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 252. His email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.