But he admitted finishing one shot behind Marquette boys golf teammate Kaleb Chipelewski at last year’s MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final provided an incentive going into this year’s event.

“It definitely motivated me a little bit,” Moore said.

This time, it was Moore who got to celebrate for being atop the leaderboard after he carded a sizzling 2-under-par round of 70 on the tough Sage Run course near Bark River to win the medalist honor on Wednesday. 

Moore eagled the short par-4, No. 8 hole, while recording birdies on two par-5s, Nos. 3 and 9. 

“I was just making all the six- and seven-footers and hitting good drives,” Moore said. “I was throwing darts with the irons. The irons were locked in. Just putting them close and making some putts.”

Moore also led a deep Marquette team to its second straight team title. 

The Sentinels finished with a total of 311, 11 shots better than runner-up Escanaba’s 322. Menominee was third with 331, while Houghton had 334 and Kingsford 335 to round out the top five in a 15-team field.

“We’ve had a really solid year as a group and individually,” Marquette head coach Ben Smith said. “Boden was playing the five-slot (on Wednesday as the team’s fifth-best scorer). Based on our scoring averages, that’s how it fell.

“These kids grind, they play really well together, they compete a lot, but they also know they are pulling for each other.”

In addition to Moore, junior Easton Aho shot 78 to tie for fourth, junior Jack Pond 80 to also make the top 10, and sophomore Seve Swanson had 83, meaning Chipelewski’s solid score of 85 could be thrown out from the team total — though it was there as sort of an insurance policy, plus it would be used if a tiebreaker was needed.

“Today, (our boys) really didn’t have good vibes of things going the right way the whole time,” Smith said. “But they hung in there.

“The kids put in a lot of time (this spring) and have seen it pay off with some great results.”

On a pleasant day with little wind, a number of golfers took advantage, with nine of them breaking 80.

Westwood senior Tanner Annala finished as individual runner-up with a 1-over-par round of 73 as the Patriots tied for seventh in the team standings with 353.

Iron Mountain senior Cooper Pigeon was third individually with 77, while Manistique’s DJ Bellville tied for seventh with 79.

For Escanaba, it was the Eskymos’ best finish at the tournament since winning the second of back-to-back titles in 2018. Sophomore Carson Artley led them with 79 to tie for seventh. Sophomores Jared Plourde (80) and Lincoln Bradfield (81) and junior Graham Johnson (82) weren’t far behind and helped Escanaba stay within striking distance of Marquette.

“We’ve been looking at Marquette multiple times this year, and I think a lot of our success … was due to the fact we’ve been battling that team,” Escanaba coach Brian Robinette said. “Drafting off of them. We know they are going to play well, they’re not going to relent and not going to give us much.

“They made it a little interesting on the front nine, which allowed us to get a taste there. That’s just what golf does to you. As good as you are, you have to perform.”

Keith Dunlap of Lake Orion is a past sports writer for the Oakland Press and writes regularly for the Michigan High School Athletic Association, as he was for this story for the MHSAA website, mhsaa.com. He has covered several Mining Journal area teams at state championship basketball tournaments, including the Westwood boys team at the Division 3 semifinals in March, the Ishpeming girls team in its Division 4 championship run in 2024 and the Munising boys team in its Division 4 title quest in 2023.