Lake Orion Savors Championship Sweep
June 8, 2019
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
FRANKENMUTH – After 18 years of dreaming about this moment as head coach of the Lake Orion boys golf program, the reality obviously turned out to be even better for Monty Gallaher.
Since taking over the program, there have been tears over not being able to qualify for the Finals despite playing Regionals on the home course, years with disappointing finishes when his team had qualified for the championship tournament, or simply years when there wasn’t enough talent to win much of anything.
But the only tears Gallaher and the rest of Lake Orion’s team shed after the Lower Peninsula Division 1 tournament at The Fortress in Frankenmuth on Saturday were tears of joy after the Dragons captured their first MHSAA Finals title.
Lake Orion finished with a two-day score of 606, 11 shots better than the 617 put up by runner-up Grosse Pointe South.
Rockford was third at 621, Detroit Catholic Central shot a 623 to finish fourth and Hartland was fifth with a 624.
“I just feel a little numb right now,” Gallaher said. “I’ve known we can do this. We’re a great team. But finally seeing it happen, it’s winner winner, chicken dinner here in Frankenmuth.”
The Dragons took a 10-shot lead after posting a 294 for Friday’s first round, and actually were 18 strokes worse as a team on the second day.
But other than Grosse Pointe South, no other team was noticeably better to the degree needed to catch Lake Orion.
South entered the day 23 shots behind Lake Orion, a gap that was too much to overcome despite its better play during the second round.
But the reigning champion rallied to earn another runner-up finish, its third in four years to go with the title won last year.
“One of the things I stressed is that if you’re making good choices, there’s no regrets,” Grosse Pointe South head coach Rob McIntyre said. “Good choices lead to no regrets. They went out there and made some good choices today.”
Even better for Lake Orion was that it celebrated the individual champion as well after junior Justin Sui defeated Grosse Pointe South senior Coalter Smith in a playoff after each shot two-day scores of 141 (71-70).
After each parred the par-5 10th hole, Sui sank a 10-foot putt for par on the par-4, 9th hole to clinch the title as Smith was lining up a 6-footer for bogey that would have potentially forced a third playoff hole if Sui missed.
“I was really excited,” Sui said of his mindset going into the playoff. “I had the adrenaline rushing, and everyone was watching. The team was cheering me on. It felt great. I feel like I played better during the playoff than normal.”
Lake Orion senior Drew Coble flanked Sui by finishing in a tie for fourth with a two-day total of 145 (70-75).
Senior Andrew Remer shot a 159 (76-83), and junior Zach Hay had a 161 (77-84) to round out the top four for Lake Orion.
Gallaher said having to sleep on a 10-shot lead after the first night wasn’t too nerve-racking for his team, mainly because the Dragons kept as normal a routine as possible.
Instead of staying at a hotel in Frankenmuth, the team drove back home after Friday’s round, with Remer actually attending the school’s prom Friday night.
“I made the executive decision to sleep in our own beds,” Gallaher said. “We do all kinds of tournaments in southern Ohio and northern Michigan, where we stayed over and we didn’t play great. That was a determining factor. We didn’t win those tournaments and I said, “That’s what we are here to do, to win this tournament.’”
PHOTOS: (Top) Lake Orion got out to a 10-stroke lead during Friday’s first round at The Fortress. (Middle) Grosse Pointe South made a run at the title Saturday, finishing second for the weekend. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Pinili Aiming to Add Medalist Honor as Brother Rice Seeks Finals 3-Peat
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 8, 2023
The phrase the “third time is a charm” might often be trite and overplayed, but it also couldn’t apply more to Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice senior golfer Lorenzo Pinili.
Two years ago as a sophomore, Pinili finished as the individual runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final, five shots out of first at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek.
Last year, Pinili was the runner-up again at Grand Valley State, valiantly rallying from an opening-round score of 76 to shoot a 68 on the second day at The Meadows, but still ending six shots behind.
Both years, Brother Rice won the team title, so Pinili still left happy.
But no doubt, he hopes the third time will be the charm from an individual point of view when he competes at this weekend’s Division 2 Final at The Fortress in Frankenmuth.
“This year, I definitely have a lot more motivation to finish first,” he said. “It’s a lot of patience. That’s what it is. I just have to trust my game and not really force anything. That’s what most people try to do. If they know they want to get a win or know they want to play well, they’re going to start forcing shots that’s out of their comfort zone or do stuff they don’t really do.”
Pinili, who will play collegiately at Michigan State, has been hitting a lot of good shots throughout a golfing life that started when he was 2 years old.
In fact, while Pinili has no recollection of the moment he took up the game, his father Rommel has reminded him constantly throughout his life.
“He said that I picked up a stick while the TV was on and I tried to copy what was on TV,” Pinili said. “From there, he gave me a plastic club, and he gave me real balls. He thought I was making good contact. From there, he gave me real metal clubs, and I was able to hit balls. There’s actually a video on YouTube that you can find of me hitting golf balls at the range when I was 2. From there, it’s been with me my whole entire life.”
Pinili said if there’s one area of his game that has evolved more than any other since he began high school, it’s performing when the stakes are the highest.
Brother Rice associate coach David Sass echoed those sentiments about Pinili’s enhanced ability to stay even-keeled mentally under pressure.
“He has a tendency to have such a high level of expectation for his game, that can kind of prohibit him from looking beyond a simple mistake,” he said. “He’s been really good about doing that lately. Golf is very hard, and it’s really about managing your mistakes. Perfection is basically unattainable in golf. If he stays patient, understands that, picks his spots on when to be aggressive, is aggressive in that moment, and then plays it smart during moments he shouldn’t be aggressive, I think he’s got an incredible chance to win this thing.”
One of the biggest competitors for Pinili this weekend could be someone in the same household.
Leandro Pinili, a sophomore, finished in a tie for ninth last year at the LPD2 Tournament, and definitely helps push Lorenzo to greater heights in the game.
“We share a lot of passion with the game together, and sometimes it gets a little too competitive just because he wants to beat me and I can’t let him beat me,” Lorenzo said. “It’s really nice having someone besides me who understands the side of golf that I understand. It’s also really fun being able to play with my brother and compete with him. I really love it, and that’s one of the biggest things I’m going to miss about Brother Rice golf.”
And no doubt, Brother Rice will definitely miss Lorenzo Pinili when he finishes his high school career on Saturday at a course he is looking forward to playing because it will require precise shots.
“I think it will separate the best from the rest of the pack,” he said. “You really can’t get away with anything out there.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) Brother Rice's Lorenzo Pinili, right, tees off during the 2022 LP Division 1 Finals as Grand Rapids Christian's Adam Workman follows his shot. (Middle) The Warriors celebrate their second-straight team title, including Pinili (standing, third from left) and his younger brother Leandro (standing, fourth from right). Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)