Preview: Last Year's Second-Best Seeking to Take Final Championship Step
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 8, 2022
The 2021 runners-up very well could be the story of this weekend’s 2022 Lower Peninsula Boys Golf Finals.
Detroit Catholic Central in Division 1, Flint Powers Catholic in Division 2, Big Rapids in Division 3 and Lansing Christian in Division 4 all finished second last season but return among favorites this weekend. Three individual champions from last year moved on, but the runners-up in those divisions are expected to be among the strongest contenders this time as well.
But no one is sleeping on the returning champions. Ann Arbor Skyline entered the postseason top-ranked in Division 1, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice and Grand Rapids Catholic Central shot the best Regional scores last week in Divisions 2 and 3, respectively, and Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep is a top-five ranked team in Division 4 once again. And the one 2021 individual champion returning this weekend – Clarkston Everest Collegiate’s Remy Stalcup – also shot the Regional low among individuals in all divisions to qualify this time.
See below for more on a number of teams and individuals who could be in contention, and check out the MHSAA Website for full lineups and more. (Rankings are via iWanamaker at the end of the regular season.)
Division 1 at Ferris State’s Katke Golf Course
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Skyline, 2. Muskegon Mona Shores, 3. Traverse City Central
Nine teams shot Regional scores of 310 or lower, which could indicate a strong, close competition this weekend. No. 5 Detroit Catholic Central (289) and No. 7 Northville (298) led the way, finishing first and second, respectively, at Salem Hills in Northville. They were followed by No. 6 Brighton at Salem Hills, with No. 4 Novi missing qualification on a tie-break. Ann Arbor Skyline is coming off its first Finals championship and entered the postseason ranked No. 1 again. Mona Shores didn’t qualify as a team last season but has returned seeking its first team title since 2005, and a Traverse City Central championship would be that program’s first since 1996 and before Traverse City West opened.
Ann Arbor Skyline: The Eagles return three of their top five from last year, and the top four at this season’s Regional were a sophomore and three juniors. That sophomore, Ieuan Jones, tied for second individually at last season’s Finals and was the individual Regional champ last week at Cascades in Jackson. Skyline shot 300 overall to win the Regional team title by 22 strokes, with junior Mitchell Strickland individual runner-up and junior Hank Roebuck seventh.
Detroit Catholic Central: The Shamrocks’ winning Regional score included performances from the first and second-place (tied) individuals, senior Peter Stassinopoulos and sophomore Julian Menser, respectively. All five golfers placed among the top 14 individuals, with senior Liam Casey next in 10th. DCC was the Finals runner-up last season and brings back four of its top six players from that team this weekend.
Muskegon Mona Shores: The Sailors shot a 309 to finish runner-up by a stroke to No. 8 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at last week’s Regional at Stonegate in Muskegon. But Mona was led by junior Nicholas Taylor, who tied for first individually (but finished second after a tie-breaker) and was that individual Finals qualifier last year. Senior Chase Knowlton also was a top-10 Regional finisher, placing seventh.
Other individuals of note: Jones is joined by only two others from last season’s Finals top 10 – Forest Hills Northern senior Jack Zubkus, who also tied for second, and Rochester Adams sophomore Peter Roehl, who tied for sixth. Stassinopoulos (69), Lake Orion freshman Connor Fox (69) and Troy senior Benjamin Wu (69) broke 70 with their Regional rounds last week. Fox defeated Wu in a tie-breaker and Portage Central junior Ethan Tiller defeated Shores’ Taylor in theirs, and Fox and Tiller with Stassinopoulos and Jones were joined among Regional champions by Grosse Pointe North senior Niko Karoutsos and Oxford senior Chase Maier.
Division 2 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top-ranked: 1. South Lyon East, 2. Richland Gull Lake, 3. Chelsea
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice won last season’s championship by 28 strokes and was the only Division 2 team last week to break 300 at Regionals, shooting a 289. Last season’s Finals runner-up, Flint Powers Catholic, posted the second-lowest Regional score last week at 303. Powers last won a Finals in 2018. South Lyon East, Gull Lake and Chelsea all are seeking first Finals championships, with Chelsea coming in fifth and Gull Lake ninth last spring.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice: Last year’s Warriors were paced by three top-seven individual Finals finishers, Two are back this weekend and were part of all five golfers placing among the top eight at the Regional at Huron Meadows in Brighton. Junior Lorenzo Pinili – second at last year’s Final – won last week’s Regional, and senior Matt Baer – who tied for seventh at that Final – finished fourth at the Regional. They were joined at the Regional by freshman Leandro Pinili tied for second, junior Marcus Lee in fifth and senior Kyle Gruley tied for eighth. Brother Rice entered the postseason ranked No. 14 and was followed at the Regional by No. 7 Orchard Lake St. Mary’s.
Flint Powers Catholic: The No. 4 Chargers edged No. 13 DeWitt by four strokes at the Regional at The Emerald at St. Johns, with junior Robert Burns the medalist and senior Luke Cramer tied for sixth. Burns tied for fifth at last year’s Final. He, Cramer, junior Kyle Barbour and senior Chris Jones were the top four scorers from last season’s runner-up team finish.
South Lyon East: The Cougars will travel to the Finals as a team after sending an individual last year. East finished second at the Lakes of Taylor Regional to Chelsea, two strokes back, but with all five golfers among the top 14 individual finishers. That individual Finals qualifier from 2021, now-sophomore Ryan Kruschka, finished third at the Regional last week, with freshman Kameron Knox tied for fourth and senior Chase Temple ninth.
Other individuals of note: Although the 2021 champion graduated, six of the top 10 finishers from last season’s Final are back led by Lorenzo Pinili and Spring Lake senior Evan McDermott (third). They, Burns and Baer are joined by Grand Rapids Northview senior Colin Beckett (tied for seventh) and Williamston senior Sam Havey (tied for ninth). Pinili (69), Burns (69) and McDermott (69) all broke 70 at their Regionals last week and were joined as Regional champions by Dearborn Divine Child senior Adam Hammoud, Richland Gull Lake senior Bryce Wheeler and Hamilton junior Eli Timmerman, who defeated Hudsonville Unity Christian sophomore Colin Nieuwenhuis in a tie-breaker.
Division 3 at The Fortress in Frankenmuth
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 3. Traverse City St. Francis
Six teams have won the Division 3 championship over the last six seasons, with the lone constant Big Rapids as the runner-up the last four seasons (not counting COVID-canceled 2020). Grand Rapids Catholic Central won last year’s title by 17 strokes and was ranked No. 6 at the start of this postseason, while Big Rapids entered the postseason outside the top 15 but has advanced to this weekend. GRCC had the lowest Division 3 Regional score last week at 308, with Greenhills next at 319.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: Seniors Beau Brewer and Cale Piedmonte-Lang played in last season’s Final as individual qualifiers and are back among leaders of this year’s team. The Gryphons shot a 319 at the Regional at Grosse Ile’s West Shore to edge No. 7 Grosse Ile by two strokes. Brewer was the medalist, sophomore Max Shulman was third and Piedmonte-Lang tied four fourth.
Big Rapids: Despite not making the top 15 at the end of the regular season, Big Rapids has earned this conversation – and especially after winning its Regional at Houghton Lake’s Quest two strokes ahead of St. Francis and 11 ahead of No. 13 Boyne City. Now-senior Luke Welch finished 11th at last year’s Final and was third at last week’s Regional, with junior Kyle Schroeder and sophomore Preston Younge tied for eighth at Quest.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central: The Cougars won last year’s Final without a top-10 individual but with four between 12th and 25th – and four players who golfed at least one round are set to be back this weekend. GRCC won the Regional last week at Montague’s Old Channel Trail by 18 strokes, with sophomore Will Preston the medalist, senior Luke Preston tied for third, sophomore Matthew Sokorai fifth and senior John Harmon tied for seventh.
Other individuals of note: Grosse Ile senior Anthony Naso was Regional runner-up to Greenhills’ Brewer last week, and tied for second at last year’s Final. The only other returnees from last season’s top 10 are Saginaw Swan Valley junior Ashton DiBlasi, who tied for fifth, and Belding senior Mason Anderson, who tied for eighth. Joining Will Preston and Brewer among Regional champs were Millington freshman Bryce Martin, Bath senior Ethan Swenson, Traverse City St. Francis senior Tommy Puetz and Quincy junior Sam Sawyer. Puetz defeated Boyne City senior Kolton Stadt in a tie-breaker for that medalist honor.
Division 4 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Clarkston Everest Collegiate, 2. Lansing Christian, 3. Maple City Glen Lake
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep has won the last two Division 4 titles (in 2021 and 2019), last season by six strokes, and entered this postseason ranked No. 5 despite graduating four of last season’s top five golfers. Everest Collegiate is another regular with titles in 2016 and 2017 and the runner-up finish in 2018. The Mountaineers had the lowest Regional score in the division last week at 306, followed by Lansing Christian at 314 and Glen Lake at 323. Lansing Christian and Glen Lake are playing for their first title.
Clarkston Everest Collegiate: Although Everest missed the Finals as a team last season, Remy Stalcup was the individual champion by seven strokes, and he shot the lowest Regional score in any division last week – a 65 at Fountains in Clarkston to lead the Mountaineers to a 40-stroke team victory. Stalcup was joined in the top 10 at the Regional by freshman Parker Stalcup (fourth), senior Johnny Nedwick (tied for sixth) and freshman Will Pennanen (10th).
Lansing Christian: The Pilgrims had a similarly-dominating Regional performance at Calderone in Jackson, finishing 19 strokes ahead of a field that included No. 10 Hillsdale Academy and No. 15 Hudson. All five golfers finished among the top 15 individuals, and the four scorers were among the top six – senior medalist Davis Garrett, junior Baylor Brogan tied for second, senior William Combs in fifth and senior Caden Kinnas in sixth. Senior Isaac Haley was that 15th-place finisher, and those five were the same who took the Pilgrims to a team runner-up Finals finish in 2021. Garrett was third individually and Combs eighth at last season’s Final.
Maple City Glen Lake: The Lakers cut 21 strokes from their first to second rounds at last year’s Final to finish fourth, and two golfers from that lineup return with a talented freshman added to the mix. Now-junior Blake O’Connor tied for ninth at that Final and was second at last week’s Regional at Antrim Hills in Charlevoix as all five Glen Lake golfers placed seventh or higher. Freshman Michael Houtteman was the medalist, senior Jackson Zywicki was fifth, and junior Garrett Moss and senior Billy Rosa tied for seventh. As a team, Glen Lake finished 16 strokes ahead of runner-up and No. 6-ranked Charlevoix.
Other individuals of note: As noted above, Remy Stalcup, Garrett, Combs and O’Connor are back from last season’s top 10, joined by Saginaw Nouvel Catholic senior Luke LeBourdais (tied for fourth) and Royal Oak Shrine Catholic senior Jeffrey Andrus (tied for ninth). Joining Stalcup, Garrett and Houtteman as Regional champs were LeBourdais, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian freshman Davis Formsma and Grandville Calvin Christian senior Matthew Turcotte. Andrus shot a 72 to finish Regional runner-up to Stalcup.
Clinton Ace 'Sharpened' for Last Prep Swing
April 8, 2019
By Doug Donnelly
Special for Second Half
CLINTON – Austin Fauser is feeling a little dangerous.
The Clinton senior golfer won the Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship as a sophomore and tied for third last season. Now, having already committed to a college and with a host of medals and honors in his collection, Fauser is fired up for one more high school season.
“They say the most dangerous player on the golf course is the one who has nothing to lose,” Fauser said. “I have nothing to lose this season.”
Fauser is rested, especially mentally. He was admittedly a little disappointed with not repeating as the Division 4 champion in June. After a busy summer on the course, he focused on his other sport for the winter – basketball – and took some time away from his passion in life, golf.
“The offseason was fine, but when it ended, I really focused on basketball,” the 18-year-old said. “It was nice to get a break. Sometimes it helps to get your mind off things. Everybody has a point where they need a break. I got out a club when I could, but basketball was on my mind.”
This winter, Fauser averaged about six points a game as a solid contributor for the Redskins.
“Basketball is different, but a lot of sports are the same,” Fauser said. “You have to be mentally tough in any sport to not just be good but to excel in it. In basketball, they say to keep shooting, keep shooting. In golf, you have to be mentally tough to shrug off when you miss one and focus on that next shot.”
Fauser helped Clinton qualify for the MHSAA Finals as a freshman. Playing at Forest Akers West that weekend, he shot a 76 on the first day and ended up ninth while his team placed fifth.
As a sophomore, Fauser was medalist in nine straight competitions and tied the Division 4 Final record (since broken) by shooting a two-day 5-under-par 139 at Forest Akers East.
Fauser shot a 3-under 69 on the first day, then came back with a 70 on Saturday, tying the record set by Colby Beckstrom of North Muskegon in 2001. It wasn’t just that Fauser did it but how he did it – staying mentally focused.
On the sixth hole at Forest Akers East, Fauser sank a 35-foot birdie putt, then hit the water on the very next hole. Fauser, just 15, wasn’t fazed. He hit a wedge shot to within five feet on his next shot, saving par.
Fauser’s junior year was just as impressive. He won the Lenawee County individual title while helping his team to the top spot, was the Tri-County Conference champion as an individual as his team finished first as well and won the Regional individual title to lead his team to another championship.
“He has really sharpened his mental game this year,” Clinton coach Nito Ramos said. “I expect him to contend for the top spot in all of our tournaments.”
Fauser is like having another coach on the golf course, Ramos said. He’s always helping the younger players with their games while finding time to focus on his own.
“I enjoy watching him interact with the entire team, giving them pointers here and there,” Ramos said. “He’s a great team member, especially with our really young golf team this season.”
Fauser isn’t the only one in his family passionate about golf. The Fausers have a golf simulator in their barn along with a 40-foot putting green. Like a basketball player that goes into his backyard to shoot hoops, Fauser picks up a wedge or putter and heads to his barn.
“The greens run about the same as a really good course, about nine or 10 on the meter,” he said. “I’m out there all of the time. I putt on that green a ton. I’ll tell myself that I’m going to go out and hit 200 or 300 balls into the simulator, but I end up hitting 50 and go to the green.
“It helps out a lot, especially being in Michigan. I don’t like the cold weather. I can just go to the barn when I need to and relieve stress.”
Fauser also snuck in a golfing trip to Arizona during a break in the basketball schedule.
The Clinton team benefits from the Fausers’ simulator. During the preseason when it’s too cold, windy or snowy to get onto the local course, Ramos can work with his golfers in the Fausers’ barn.
“Once we get outside, we get outside. But until then, this simulator is great,” Fauser said.
Clinton has the pieces to make a fourth straight run at the Division 4 title. The Redskins host the Regional at Rustic Glen Golf Course and, in addition to Fauser, return juniors Garrett Ramos and Daniel Shovels from the lineup that finished seventh at the Final in 2018. Sophomore Eric Berndt is coming along, and a new golfer to the team, Will Gragg, has been a pleasant addition.
“We have a really good schedule this year,” Ramos said. “We have a lot of goals as a team.”
As for Fauser, he’s anxious to get onto the course. Ramos said the time away from the sport has been good for his star golfer.
“He took a couple months off and got back into the swing about January,” Ramos said. “He has really sharpened his mental game this year.”
Fauser will golf next season at Maryville University, a Division II program outside of St. Louis, Missouri. For now, however, he’s focused on the immediate goals ahead of him – especially for the Division 4 Final in June at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University.
“I still have to get better and work as hard as possible,” Fauser said. “It’s not going to be given to me. Last year was different. I felt a little bit of pressure, even though there really was none. I think I can achieve (the title) again.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a sports and news reporter and city editor over 25 years, writing for the Daily Chief-Union in Upper Sandusky, Ohio from 1992-1995, the Monroe Evening News from 1995-2012 and the Adrian Daily Telegram since 2013. He's also written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Clinton’s Aaron Fauser fires an approach toward the green; he’s entering his final high school season with three top-10 Finals finishes including the 2017 championship in LP Division 4. (Middle) Fauser follows through on a putt. (Photos by Mike Dickie.)