Preview: While 1 New Champ Guaranteed, Field Filled with Familiar Contenders
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 8, 2023
At least one new team champion will be celebrated at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Golf Finals, while three teams from the Detroit Catholic League will be seeking repeats although they will be met by several more contenders when play begins Friday.
The individual races also have familiar favorites with plenty of valuable Finals experience. Runners-up from all four divisions will be playing to take the final step this weekend, including both who tied for second in Division 1 a year ago.
Play begins both Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m. See below for more on a number of teams and individuals who could be in contention, and check out the MHSAA.com Boys Golf page for full lineups and more. (Rankings are via iWanamaker at the end of the regular season.)
Division 1 at The Meadows of Grand Valley State
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Skyline, 2. Brighton, 3. Traverse City Central.
Skyline won the championship in 2021 and was runner-up last season to Detroit Catholic Central, only two strokes back and as the only team to clear 300 strokes both rounds. Brighton is seeking its first championship ever and first top-two finish since 1967, and Traverse City Central is pursuing what would be its first championship since 1996, before Traverse City High split into two schools. Nine teams broke 310 across the six Regionals last week, with DCC’s 288 at Salem Hills in Northville easily the lowest score.
Ann Arbor Skyline: The Eagles shot a 301 to win the Regional at Pine View in Ypsilanti by 34 strokes, led by three golfers who were part of last season’s runner-up Finals finish – junior Vibhav Alokam and seniors Andrew Slade and Hank Roebuck – as all five Skyline golfers finished among the individual top five and ties for the fifth spot. Alokam was the Regional champ with a 71 after tying for sixth at last season’s Final, where Roebuck was just one stroke out of the top 15. Alokam also was the team’s second-lowest scorer at the 2021 Finals win.
Brighton: The Bulldogs have climbed from seventh to third at the Finals over the last two seasons and will return all five golfers this weekend from last year’s run – with three of those five also on the 2021 team. Brighton finished second at Salem Hills to DCC, shooting a 296, with senior Andrew Daily fourth at 69 and senior Winston Lerch tied for seventh at 74. Daily tied for second at last season’s Final.
Traverse City Central: The Trojans have dominated in Northern Michigan this spring and continued during a Regional trip south to Currie West in Midland, where they won by four strokes shooting a 309. Central has improved from tied for ninth to sixth over the last two Finals and will bring four players back this weekend from last season’s contender. Senior Michael Beattie tied for fourth at the Regional with a 75, and senior Mack Shane tied for eighth at 77.
Individuals: Daily and Alokam are joined by East Lansing junior Drew Miller (tied for second) and DCC junior Julian Menser (eighth) among returnees from last year’s Final top 10. Menser won the Salem Hills Regional with a 66 and is the only returnee from last season’s DCC championship lineup. Miller was third at the Currie West Regional, won by Holt senior Zach Johnson. Portage Central senior Ethan Tiller, Rochester Adams junior Peter Roehl and Warren De La Salle sophomore Max Teschendorf also were Regional champions last week, and South Lyon East junior Ryan Kruschka (67) and Northville senior Mason Sokolowski (68) also broke 70 in finishing second and third, respectively, to Menser. Mattawan junior Matthew Novak was second to Tiller at Sunnybrook in Grandville and tied for ninth at last year’s LPD2 Final.
Division 2 at The Fortress in Frankenmuth
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Christian, 2. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 3. Richland Gull Lake.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice has won the last two Division 2 championships and finished runner-up to St. Mary’s at last week’s Regional at Huron Meadows Metropark in Brighton with three members of last year’s championship lineup finishing seventh individually (with ties) or higher. The Warriors shot a 300, but St. Mary’s shot a 293 that was the low for all Division 2 Regionals. Grand Rapids Christian also broke 300, shooting a 296 at Diamond Springs in Hamilton as it pursues its first Finals title since 2013. Vicksburg shot a 299 at Coldwater Golf Course and is pursuing its first top-two finish after tying for 17th a year ago.
Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles didn’t have a senior in their Regional lineup but placed four among the top five individuals (with ties) including sophomore John Cassiday and junior Maxwell O’Grady, who tied for first. They were part of last season’s fourth-place Finals lineup, and juniors Adam Workman and Dylan Clark also are back among the top five this spring after finishing tied for fifth and tied for 16th, respectively, at last year’s Final.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s: The Eaglets were ninth a year ago with just one senior and four underclassmen, and three of those four are back this weekend. Juniors Cooper Eaton and Ben Carroll led the Regional title charge tying for second individually at Huron Meadows, with sophomores Ethan Mukhtar and Mason Shea placing sixth and tied for seventh, respectively.
Richland Gull Lake: Last season’s runner-up team graduated the individual medalist, but returns the rest of the lineup this weekend after finishing third at Coldwater. Junior Beau Carr is the newcomer but was the team’s low scorer at the Regional as he tied for fourth.
Individuals: Total five of the top 12 (as three players tied for 10th) from last season are back in the field, led by Brother Rice senior Lorenzo Pinili after he tied for second in 2022 and finished second outright in 2021. He won the Huron Meadows Regional individual championship in a tie-breaker hole. Sophomore Leandro Pinili tied for fourth at the Regional and tied for ninth at last year’s Final. Adrian junior Carson Ritz returns after finishing fourth a year ago, as does Gaylord senior Kole Putnam after tying for fifth. Other individual Regional champions last week were Ritz, Grand Rapids Northview sophomore William Pollack, Vicksburg senior Josiah McClelland and Flint Powers Catholic senior Robert Burns. Burns tied for 12th and Pollack for 14th at last season’s Final, and Burns tied for fifth in 2021.
Division 3 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 2. Jackson Lumen Christi, 3. Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central will play for its second championship in three seasons after winning in 2021 and finishing runner-up last spring to Ann Arbor Greenhills. The Gryphons are back in the mix after a third-place Regional team finish but individual Regional championship by junior Max Shulman, one of two golfers back from last year’s Finals lineup. Lumen Christi won that Regional, by 15 strokes at Hills of Lenawee in Adrian and with four golfers among the top 10 individual finishers. Fourth-ranked Hanover-Horton was runner-up at the Regional, one of the strongest in the state in any division. Liggett is seeking its first championship since 1982 but coming off a Regional runner-up finish to Lansing Catholic at Hawk Hollow in Bath.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights have three golfers back from last year’s top five as the team improved to third at the Final from tied for fourth in 2021. Senior Sean Sullivan and sophomore Charlie Cooksey finished tied for eighth and tied for sixth, respectively, in the individual standings last spring and tied for second at last week’s Regional.
Jackson Lumen Christi: The Titans are coming off a seventh-place Finals finish, and they’ll be returning their entire lineup this weekend. Senior Joshua Baker and sophomore Charlie Saunders led the Regional title run tying for fifth individually. Senior Nash Hanchett was seventh at the Regional and led the team tying for 16th at last year’s Final.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central: The Cougars also were Regional champions, shooting a 317 at The Falls at Barber Creek in Kent City to win by 19 strokes. Junior Will Preston was the medalist at 69, and junior Matthew Sokorai tied for second after they were also the team’s top two scorers at last year’s Final when Preston was second individually and Sokorai was 18th.
Individuals: Six golfers from last year’s top 10 are back; joining Preston, Shulman (tied for sixth), Cooksey and Sullivan are Grand Rapids Covenant Christian junior Michael DeVries (tied for 10th) and Hanover-Horton senior Brady Applegate (also tied for 10th). Joining Preston as Regional champs last week were Olivet senior Dawson Redfield, Shepherd sophomore Christopher Crockett, Lansing Catholic sophomore Hayden Riley, Adrian Madison freshman Cameron Bozyk and Tawas senior Alex Kaems, who won in a playoff.
Division 4 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top-ranked: 1. Clarkston Everest Collegiate, 2. Maple City Glen Lake, 3. Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep.
There will be a new champion as 2022 title winner Lansing Christian is not in this weekend’s field, and Hackett won in both 2021 and 2019, while Everest was the runner-up last season. The Mountaineers last won a Finals championship in 2017 (and actually 2016 as well), while Glen Lake is pursuing its first title as are No. 4 Charlevoix and No. 5 Hillsdale Academy among other contenders.
Clarkston Everest Collegiate: The Mountaineers shot a 293 at Fountains in Clarkston to win their Regional last week by 34 strokes, with the four scorers all finishing tied for seventh or higher individually. Senior Remy Stalcup was the medalist with a 69, followed by sophomore Parker Stalcup in second and sophomore Will Pennanen third, and they were the team’s top three at last season’s Final as well. Remy Stalcup tied for third at last year’s championship tournament, while Parker Stalcup tied for 15th.
Maple City Glen Lake: After finishing fourth in 2021 and third last season, the Lakers should be in the hunt with three golfers back from year’s lineup including senior Blake O’Connor – who was the Finals runner-up last season and tied for ninth as a sophomore. He and sophomore Michael Houtteman tied for second at last week’s Regional at Harbor Point in Harbor Springs.
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep: The Fighting Irish were fourth a year ago with four freshmen and a junior all playing at least one Finals round, and four of those five golfers helped the team return this weekend with a third-place Regional finish at Clearbrook in Saugatuck – but with the biggest contributor freshman Justin Tyler, who won the individual title.
Individuals: O’Connor and Remy Stalcup are a pretty formidable pair returning from the top three, and they and Houtteman are joined by three more top-10 finishers from a year ago: Saginaw Nouvel sophomore Alex McCarthy (tied for fifth), Hillsdale Academy junior Rykert Frisinger (tied for eighth) and Lansing Christian senior Baylor Brogan (tied for eighth). Frisinger and McCarthy joined Tyler and Stalcup among Regional champions last week, as did Grandville Calvin Christian freshman Will Orme and Charlevoix junior Hudson Vollmer.
PHOTO Ann Arbor Skyline’s Vibhav Alokam tees off during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Katke Golf Course. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Back to Full Strength, Menser Eager to Show Full Talent with Title Pursuit
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2024
For a while this spring, Detroit Catholic Central senior golfer Julian Menser probably wondered if he was going to be spending more time in the hospital than on the golf course.
Up until the initial days of May, Menser had a terrible bout of mononucleosis, and treatment days were more common than sessions on the driving range or putting green.
“After I was done with the symptom part, I would be out practicing and I’d all of a sudden get hit with random fatigue,” said Menser, who said he also suffers from asthma. “It would hijack what I was trying to get done.”
Fortunately, it appears as if his senior season will have a happy ending after the slow start.
Menser is not only healthy, but is playing superb golf heading into this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek.
The happiest conclusion would be for Menser to close his high school career with an individual championship – and the way he’s been playing, it’s quite possible.
On May 15 at the Oakland County tournament, Menser fired a 7-under par round of 65 at Fieldstone Golf Club in Auburn Hills to win the medalist honor going away.
Last week in his Regional tournament at Twin Lakes, Menser shot a 6-under par round of 66 to win the medalist honor and lead the Shamrocks to the team title.
Signed to play next for Michigan State, Menser is rightfully full of confidence.
“I’m playing well, but I just try to look at it that golf can change and how you are playing can change every single morning when you wake up,” Menser said. “I don’t really look at it as, ‘I shot this then’ or ‘I played this well here.’ I don’t really look at it like that. I just kind of look at it as coming into this tournament it means a lot to me, and the team wants to win. I just prioritize that.”
Menser hopes to also rebound from what was a disappointing result by his expectations at last year’s MHSAA Tournament.
After finishing eighth individually two years ago as a sophomore, Menser couldn’t crack the top 10 last season.
“I didn’t really play how I wanted to play last year,” Menser said. “I honestly felt like I let the guys down on the team last year. I felt good going into last year. I just didn’t execute how I was trying to or play like I was trying to. But that’s golf.”
Menser has been on varsity since his freshman year, and Catholic Central head coach Mike Anderson said it’s hard to tell what has grown more, his game or his body.
Anderson said Menser has grown about seven inches since his freshman year, which is allowing him to hit the ball a ton now in addition to having an outstanding short game, putter and intelligence around the course.
“He’s very mature for his age,” Anderson said. “He’s got great golf mechanics. He thinks his way around the course well. He’s a fantastic young man. Very smart.”
Menser will have a busy summer circuit before heading to MSU, where he hopes to follow in the footsteps of past Catholic Central golfer James Piot by having an unforgettable career with the Spartans.
Piot also became well-known when he won the U.S. Amateur and played on the LIV Golf tour.
“I think those footsteps are ones that anyone would want to follow in,” Menser said.
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) Detroit Catholic Central’s Julian Menser putts during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final. (Middle) Menser sends a shot out of the deep rough at The Meadows at Grand Valley State. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)