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Country Day Claims First Championship

October 19, 2013

By Dean Holzwarth
Special to Second Half

ALLENDALE – It was a case of mixed emotions for Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood's Cordelia Chan.

The junior standout was elated to become the individual champion at Saturday's MHSAA Division 3 Final, but also heartbroken by her team's runner-up finish.

Chan posted a two-day total of 157 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University to win medalist honors.

She was three shots better than teammate Greer Clausen, who finished runner-up with a 160.

Chan was the only player in the field to break 80 in both rounds. She fired a 5-over 78 Friday and closed with a 6-over 79 Saturday.

“I'm feeling kind of upset because my team didn't win, and then I kind of feel regret because I tripled the last hole and there were some putts that I did leave out there,” Chan said. “But I do feel happy that I won. I wish I could've had both.”

In the closest team competition in recent Finals history, a fifth score tiebreaker was needed to decide the champion.

Top-ranked Detroit Country Day and second-ranked Cranbrook-Kingswood were knotted up with identical scores of 707 after 36 holes, but the Yellowjackets won based on the combined aggregate of the fifth score from both days.

It was the first MHSAA Finals title for Country Day in girls golf. The program has been in existence since 2002.

“Oh my gosh, it was too close for comfort,” said Yellowjackets coach Peggy Steffan, whose team placed third last year by three strokes to Ada Forest Hills Eastern.

“We've always been rivals with Cranbrook, a friendly rivalry, and we didn't play our best today and they played really well. It's just a good thing we had a good day yesterday (Friday), and it couldn't be any closer coming down to that fifth score.”

Senior Ellie Miller led Country Day with a 162 total and was third overall following rounds of 82 and 80.

Junior Nicole Junn finished at 179, while sophomore Simran Brar and senior Monika Hedni came in at 183 and 184, respectively.

“We're just so happy right now,” said Miller, who finished among the individual top 10 for the second straight season. “We didn't think this would be a reality and now it is. We really worked together this season and we're all really close friends.”

Hedni thought her team had won by a single stroke before she was corrected by her coach.

“We're in a little bit of shock, and thank God we all pulled through,” Hedni said. “We're really happy and excited, and we really wanted to improve this year and play well.”

Country Day opened with a 347 and took a commanding 13-stroke lead into Saturday's final round.

However, Cranbrook-Kingswood stormed back with its own 347 to even the score.

The Yellowjackets edged the Cranes by one stroke at Regionals.

“They told us coaches that with the possibility of bad weather, if they couldn't get 18 holes in the second day, then the first day scores would stand,” Steffan said. “We talked about having to come out strong in case we didn't play (Saturday), and I think the girls were nervous today because they knew they were ahead.

“When you're in second place, you have nothing to lose. When you're in first place, you just have to hold on. They scared me a little bit.”

It was the second consecutive runner-up finish at the Finals for Cranbrook-Kingswood, which finished two strokes back last season.

Cranes coach Mark Moyer commended his team for improving by 13 strokes from Friday, but he was disappointed by the final outcome.

“It's real tough,” he said. “I knew it would go to the fifth position, but I didn't know it was the aggregate of both days. The girls are obviously disappointed with the what if, what if, but everybody can do the what ifs, so you have to let it go.

“With the group that played today, there was only one senior, so we have a lot of girls coming back and we'll use this as a learning experience to move forward. I congratulate Country Day on the job they did.”

Moyer was thrilled by the play of Chan, who placed runner-up in last year's Finals.

“It's tremendous, and she has worked so hard, not only during the season, but starting back to early spring,” Moyer said. “It's really impressive to see a young lady that can pull it together, and she's only a junior. It's exciting to know we have her coming back next year.”

Chan said she wasn't motivated by coming close last year.

“It was more about the team,” she said. “I wanted to play well for my team because I know I'm one of the leaders, but winning first is kind of cool, too.

“I knew it was going to be close because the players before me were playing well, too. I just wanted to wait and not get too excited.”

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day's Monika Hedni follows through on a putt during Saturday's Division 3 Final. (Middle) Eventual individual champion Cordelia Chan of Cranbrook-Kingswood fires a chip out of the rough at The Meadows. Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)

Sailors Book 23rd Straight Finals Trip

October 17, 2018

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half

GRAND RAPIDS – A familiar name is once again among the qualifiers for this weekend’s MHSAA Division 3 Girls Golf Finals.

Grand Rapids South Christian has made annual appearances in the season-ending event and put together quite an impressive streak.

The Sailors claimed a Regional title last Wednesday and punched their ticket to the Finals for the 23rd consecutive year.

“We’ve been able to go to state for a lot of years, and that’s been awesome,” South Christian’s No. 1 player, senior Natalie Samdal said. “We take a lot of pride in the fact that no matter who is on the team we’ve worked really hard to achieve the goal of going to state.”

South Christian, which won Division 3 championships in 2007 and 2009 and has finished runner-up six times, will play at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East Golf Course on Friday and Saturday.

The Sailors placed runner-up to Macomb Lutheran North a year ago by a mere three strokes and should be in the mix again with a veteran lineup consisting of four who competed in the Finals last season: Samdal, seniors Ashley Keen and Sara VanSolkema and junior Maddie Wieringa.

VanSolkema suffered a slight knee ligament tear at Regionals and didn’t play. She’s expected to return for the Finals.

“We have a lot of returning girls from last year, and they’ve played well,” South Christian coach Ben Cook said. “Natalie is our best player and has played a lot of tournament golf, and Ashley put a lot of time in this summer and has improved a lot. Those two have led us this season.”

The Sailors, whose top five also includes sophomore Kate Hoekwater, have similar expectations for success at the Finals this year as well, although the field is filled with several talented teams.

“Last year I would’ve been disappointed if we didn’t finish in the top five, and our goal going in was to shoot around 700 and we shot exactly 700 – so that was pretty cool,” Cook said. “Obviously we would like to finish one place higher this year, but we know the competition is tough. I think we’re one of the top teams, and we will see how it plays out.”

Keen said it was important to advance to the Finals again despite key graduation losses.

“It’s a big deal for us, and we’re excited to be going again,” she said. “We were a little nervous because we lost two very good players that graduated, but I’m proud to say that we made it again.

“This is my third year on varsity, and I want this to be the best ending in a good way. It was tough being so close last year, and it would be cool if we won because we’ve put a lot of work in.”

The team also received a congratulatory tweet from another sport at the school after winning its Regional.

The football team made a short video and posted it on social media.

“I thought that was pretty cool, and I wasn’t expecting that,” Keen said. “Golf doesn’t get a lot of credit from other sports, so that was a surprise to me. I liked it, and they just congratulated us on winning Regionals and told us good luck at state.”

Samdal has been the catalyst in the program’s ability to remain consistent. As a four-year performer, she’s dropped her scores steadily and been among the Grand Rapids area’s best.

She tied for third individually at last season’s Final and will play golf next year at Davenport University.

“She’s improved every year and is a solid player all the way around,” Cook said. “She’s tough mentally as well and wants to do well. She’s driven that way.”

Samdal is vocally talented, too, and is part of the choir program at South Christian. She said both pursuits help bring out the best in her.  

“I’ve been singing my whole life, and both choir and golf take a lot of practice and hard work,” said Samdal, who joined her choir in singing “The Star Spangled Banner” at an NCAA Division III basketball game. “You can’t just jump right to it. You have to work at it.”

The forecast for the weekend isn’t expected to be ideal for golf, but the Sailors are determined to conquer the elements.

“We played a practice round last weekend and that helped, but our team will fight through the cold or rain or whatever it throws at us,” Samdal said.

She is looking forward to her final high school tournament.

“I’m going to miss high school golf, but part of me is excited for college golf as well,” she said. “I don’t think it will be as emotional as it would be if I wasn’t playing more, but it will be bittersweet.

“I think we have the potential to be in the top five as a team, and possibly the top three. We will see how well we can do.”

Dean Holzwarth covered primarily high school sports for the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years and more recently served as sports editor of the Ionia Sentinel and as a sports photojournalist for WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) South Christian’s girls golf team poses with its latest Regional championship trophy, won last Wednesday. (Middle) Natalie Samdal tees off during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Top photo courtesy of South Christian’s athletic department; middle by HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)