Golf Finals: Aces Abound
June 16, 2012
ALLENDALE – Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice came back from an eight-stroke deficit after Friday’s first round to edge first-day leader Battle Creek Lakeview by a stroke, 603-602, in the Division 1 Final on Saturday at The Meadows.
The Warriors had finished fourth at the 2011 Final and brought four of their top five scorers from that team to Allendale this weekend. It was their first championship since 1998.
Sean Friel shot a 148 to tie for fourth individually, and Kyle Gaines was sixth with a 149. Two others missed the individual top 10 by two and three strokes.
Battle Creek Lakeview’s Mike Garland shot a 141 to win the individual championship by four strokes.
Reigning team champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central finished fifth.
Division 2 at Ferris State
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood made good on its No. 1 ranking by shooting a 588 – 27 strokes better than runner-up and two-time reigning champion DeWitt, at Katke Golf Course. The Cranes finished runners-up in 2011.
Cranbrook-Kingswood placed three among the individual top 10. Dylan Deogun tied for fourth with a 144, Michael Ray tied for seventh with a 146 and Alex Papa tied for ninth with a 147.
Hamilton’s Nick Carlson won the individual championship in a playoff with DeWitt’s Tyler Polulak. Both shot 139.
Division 3 at Michigan State
Boasting four of its top five scorers from last season’s championship run, Jackson Lumen Christi repeated by shooting a 596 at Forest Akers East. The Titans finished six strokes ahead of Hanover-Horton and Grosse Ile. (Hanover-Horton was runner-up based on a tie-breaker.)
It was the fourth straight Division 3 title for Lumen Christi.
After losing in a playoff last season to Pontiac Notre Dame’s Aaron Knutson, Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Sam Weatherhead finished four shots ahead to win the individual championship with a 136.
Lumen Christi had two golfers finish among the top five – Alex Reynolds tied for third with a 144, and Austin Eccleton was fifth with a 145.
Division 4 at Michigan State
Lake Leelanau St. Mary moved up from its No. 2 ranking in the state coaches poll to win the championship by five strokes over Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central at Forest Akers West.
The championship was St. Mary’s first. The team finished 10th in 2011.
Hackett’s Ted Rider moved up one spot to claim the individual title with a 142 after finishing runner-up last season. Joel Sneed was fourth for St. Mary and Paul Bardenhagen was seventh.
Northville Rises from Low-Scoring Pack to Finish with 1st Finals Victory
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
June 10, 2023
ALLENDALE – A mere six shots separated the top three teams at Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Boys Golf Final.
Out of the competitive tussle emerged a first-time champion.
Northville captured the program’s first Finals title after fending off its two closest competitors.
The Mustangs shot a two-day total of 605 to clip runner-up Rochester Adams (607) and third-place Brighton (609).
Adams’ junior Peter Roehl won the individual title after closing with a final-round 68.
“This program has never won a team state title in golf so this team, yesterday and today, just battled and battled and battled,” Mustangs coach Matt Lewicki said. “It’s been one of the toughest state finals we’ve ever seen from a competition standpoint top to bottom, so for these guys to prevail, it's incredible.”
Four seniors catapulted Northville to the win, led by Mason Sokolowski with a third-place finish.
Sokolowski fired a 144 (70-74), while teammate Greg Braun shot a pair of 74s and finished 11th overall.
“This is crazy, our first boys golf championship,” Sokolowski said. “Everyone had each other’s back, and we were having fun out there in our last high school tournament.
“We’ve been going back and forth all year (with Brighton), and today was about smart golf. No big numbers and not getting ahead of ourselves. We just battled on a really tough course.”
The unsung hero for Northville was senior Thomas Forsythe, who hadn’t competed during the last two weeks due to the team’s talent and depth and had to go through qualifying for the opportunity to play.
“He wasn’t expecting to play in this tournament and he came out and really contributed and really helped the team,” Lewicki said. “He came in and had a counting score yesterday and nailed it down today. He came through a gauntlet of qualifying to get in this tournament, and it was incredible for him and the rest of our seniors.”
Forsythe shot a 156 (77-79), while senior Ryan Gallagher added a 157 (79-78).
“I’m overwhelmed,” said an emotional Forsythe. “I had to qualify to get into this, and now we’re state champions. We have some good players on this team, and I’m happy that I could help and get this done.
“We just took it one shot at a time and managed to pull through. I’m happy for all the seniors, and this is the first one in school history. It’s a big deal and means a lot.”
Northville and Brighton entered the final round knotted at 300.
“The mindset today was to have fun, and the reason they were here was because they worked their butts off to get here,” Lewicki said. “Just stay calm and stay confident. Don’t get too high or too low.”
Adams trailed by nine strokes entering Saturday, but posted the best final-round score (298) to jump into second place.
Senior Justin Oviatt finished eighth overall with a 147 (74-73).
“These kids had a great year, and I think we had 10 first or second-place finishes,” Highlanders coach Matt Zavadil said. “Overall they had a great year, and to finish it off with runner-up is pretty good.”
Roehl shot a 72 on the first day, but stormed to the top of the leaderboard with stellar play and finished Saturday with a tournament-low 3-under-par round.
He bested runner-up Drew Miller of East Lansing, who shot a 143 (74-69).
“I was just trying to make par on every hole,” Roehl said. “I knew scores might be a little lower, but I didn’t really look at the leaderboard and just played the golf course hole by hole. It worked out in the end.”
Roehl drained a 20-foot eagle putt on the fourth hole.
“That kickstarted my round,” he said. “I cooled off a little bit but finished strong. It feels good to win, but it stings to come up short as a team.”
Two Brighton players, seniors Winston Lerch and Andrew Daily, finished among the top 10 individuals.
PHOTOS (Top) Mason Sokolowski putts during Northville’s title-clinching round Saturday. (Middle) Adams’ Peter Roehl tracks a shot during his medalist weekend. (Below) East Lansing’s Drew Miller follows one of his approaches. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)