Heroes on the Golf Course

Anthony Jabero (left) and Ethan Mukhtar show off the state championship trophy won by the Orchard Lake St. Mary’s High School boys golf team.

Ethan Mukhtar and Anthony Jabero play different roles

By Steve Stein

Ethan Mukhtar made the shot of a lifetime. Anthony Jabero didn’t take a shot all season. But both are state champions.

Mukhtar and Jabero were members of the first Orchard Lake St. Mary’s High School boys golf team to win a state championship. The Eaglets achieved the feat June 8 when they won the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 2 state title at Forest Akers Golf Course at Michigan State University.

St. Mary’s won the state championship by just one stroke, edging second-place Grand Rapids Christian 603-604 over the two-day, 36-hole weekend tournament. The Eagles were in second place after the first round.

Even though nobody knew it at the time, Mukhtar provided the one-stroke margin when he chipped a shot into the cup from about 20-25 yards out for a birdie on the par-5 17th hole late on the second day of the tournament.

The roar from the crowd gathered around the 17th green could be heard several holes away.

“That was the biggest shot of my life,” said Mukhtar, who will be a senior at St. Mary’s this fall. “I’ve chipped in before, but this was different.”

Tom Brecht agreed that it was different. He’s been the St. Mary’s boys golf coach since 1996. “I knew when Ethan’s shot went in that something special was going to happen for us that day,” Brecht said.

Jabero didn’t see his good friend’s shot go in the hole. He was at the fifth hole, encouraging a teammate.

That’s what Jabero did for his entire senior season. He was a cheerleader and the St. Mary’s team’s biggest fan. He couldn’t play because of inflammatory arthritis in his right shoulder, but he didn’t abandon the team or his teammates.

He went to the team’s practices at Wabeek Country Club in Bloomfield Hills, the Eaglets’ home course, and he was at Forest Akers West for the final round of the state tournament. “I knew all the work the guys had put in and they’re my brothers,” said Jabero. “I told the guys after the first round that I was going to be up there (at Forest Akers West) to watch them finish the job.”

Jabero said he started feeling pain in his shoulder in December. In inflammatory arthritis, the body’s defense system attacks the tissues of joints instead of germs, viruses and other foreign substances.

Thanks to medication and dietary changes like cutting out red meat and processed foods, Jabero said, he’s back playing golf again while preparing to attend Michigan State University’s Lyman Briggs College (a science-focused residential college for undergraduates) in the fall.

Mukhtar wants to play golf in college while pursuing a career in law or business. Wayne State University has made him an offer. Buoyed by the momentum of his memorable shot at the state tournament, Mukhtar feels he’s playing the best golf of his life this summer.

There was no indication about what was going to happen when Mukhtar stepped up to the tie on the 17th hole at Forest Acres West on June 8.

He pulled his drive on the 477-yard hole into an area left of the fairway that was filled with trees.

“I shot a double-bogey 6 on No. 16. I was mad. I tried to take out my anger on the golf ball on my tee shot on the next hole. That’s never a good idea,” he said.

After taking a St. Mary’s assistant coach’s advice and punching out a shot over the trees back onto the fairway about 140 yards away from the hole, Mukhtar sent his next shot over the green.

That set the stage for the shot heard around MSU.

Using a 58-degree wedge, Mukhtar’s chip shot popped into the air, landed about 10 feet from the cup on a downward slope, and rolled right in. “It couldn’t have been a more perfect shot,” he said. “It didn’t barely make it in or go on the lip of the cup and fall. It went right in.”

Was he nervous with all the people watching? “No. I like playing in front of a lot of people,” he said. “There could have been a million people there. If they’re watching, I want to put on a good show for them.”

Mukhtar shot 78-78--156 for the tournament and tied for 31st place in the individual standings. It was the best he’d shot at any of three MHSAA state tournaments he’s played in, but he wasn’t particularly happy with how he played over the weekend on the par-72 Forest Akers West course.

“I gave away eight strokes in the first round,” he said.

Brecht said both Mukhtar and Jabero are good teammates and solid citizens off the golf course. “Ethan is very likeable. He gets along with everyone. He encourages his teammates and his opponents. He’s the type of kid you’d like to call your son,” the coach said. “Anthony’s teammates liked him. He was a good guy to have around.”

Mukhtar, 17, lives in Farmington Hills. His parents are Michael and Pauline. He has three siblings: Gabriella, 24, Aydan, 22, and Sabrina, 15.

Jabero, 18, lives in West Bloomfield. His parents are John and Eva. He has two sisters: Kendall, 17, and Aubrey, 12.

There was a third Chaldean golfer on the St. Mary’s boys golf team, junior Maveric Attollah. He didn’t play in the state tournament.