DeFrain Wins Jackson City Golf Championship

By Jeff Steers
JTV Sports

(June 11, 2022 8:32 PM) Zach DeFrain’s first love in high school and college was baseball.

But eventually, golf was his passion.

DeFrain won his first major tournament in Jackson County by winning the Jackson City Golf Championship on Saturday with a 7 and 5 match play win over Nick Reynolds in the 36-hole final at the Country Club of Jackson.

DeFrain played golf at Northwest High School but went to Spring Arbor University to play baseball.

“I got back into tournaments after eight or nine years off,” DeFrain said of his golfing career. “I started to love the game of golf as a teenager.”

DeFrain may have loved his start in the finals, going three up after 18 holes. 

“I played well on the front nine and just kept getting better,” DeFrain said. “It was a long grind this week.”

DeFrain defeated defending champion Cannon Risner 4 and 3 in the semifinals, Jamie Clark 2 and 1 in the quarterfinals, Conor Spencer 2-up in the second round, and Tony Hurd 1-up in the opening round.

“My side of the bracket was hard and bad weather had us stuck out there on Wednesday,” DeFrain said of his week of play. 

DeFrain hopes to have another “long week” of play as he will compete in the Michigan Open at The Bear Golf Course near Grand Traverse. He will practice for the tournament Sunday. 

After that, he expects to take a couple of weeks off and play in the Jackson County Open at Cascades Golf Course in the middle of July.