Mercy Takes 3rd Team Title, Byron Center Wins 1st Individual Championship
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2022
EAST LANSING -- Finally, Farmington Hills Mercy girls golf coach Vicky Kowalski can talk a little less about the history of her program.
It’s certainly a rich history since Mercy won two state championships and finished as a Finals runner-up between 1999 and 2002, but in her 45th year of coaching this fall, it was getting a little harder to resonate with her current group that wasn’t even born then.
“The game has changed so much now,” Kowalski said. “If you go back and look at the scores that were shot back then when we won, we had to go a lot lower than that these two days to get the victory.”
But Mercy did just that, and now the current group has its own history to bask in.
For the first time since 2001, Mercy is a Finals champion in girls golf, winning the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 title at Forest Akers West with a two-day score of 684.
“To finally get that third state title is just a great feeling,” Kowalski said.
The Marlins took a 10-stroke lead with a first-round total of 343, and followed that by going two shots lower for a second-day score of 341.
Leading the way for Mercy was sophomore Maeve Casey, who finished fourth with a two-day score of 159 (79-80).
Senior Chloe Vig was ninth at 166, sophomore Lila Polakowski was 16th with a 178, while junior Abby Slankster was 20th at 181 for a Mercy team that returned its entire lineup from a squad that finished fourth in 2021.
Still, Kowalski knew it would be a task to outlast South Lyon, which was seeking its second title in two years.
“We spent all year chasing South Lyon,” she said. “We beat them once in one tournament. I guess these two days were the days to do it again.”
South Lyon did manage to finish runner-up with a final score of 711 thanks in large part to senior Gabby Tapp, who was second individually with a 153.
“We just didn’t play as well as we could’ve, and Mercy played well,” South Lyon head coach Dan Skatzka said. “It’s just one of those things. It’s the way golf is.”
Individually, Byron Center junior Macie Elzinga made history by becoming the first girl in her school's history to win a golf Finals title.
Elzinga entered Saturday with a one-shot lead over Tapp after a first-day round of 72, and followed that up with a 76 on a chilly and windy day to finish at 148, five shots ahead of Tapp, who won the championship in 2021 and 2019.
“It’s just kind of a surreal feeling,” Elzinga said. “I’m just very honored to be able to represent my school.”
Elzinga was familiar with the course given she’s played it plenty of times over the summer and during high school season, so it was a matter of hanging in mentally.
“It was a battle,” Elzinga said. “The wind was really tough. There were times where you thought it was a one-club wind, and it was a three-club wind. It was really hard to judge. Given the conditions, it was a lot harder to get the ball close on the green. Lag putting was huge. I was really thankful to have lag-putted really good. I didn’t have many three putts on the card.”
Haslett senior Sydney Dausman finished in third behind Elzinga and Tapp with a score of 157.
PHOTOS (Top) Forest Akers West at MSU hosted the MHSAA L.P. Division 2 Girls Golf Finals. (Middle) Team champion Farmington Hills Mercy. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
No Heartbreak This Time as Rochester Rises
October 15, 2016
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Every high school golf coach reminds his or her team that “every stroke counts.”
The exception is Rochester girls golf coach Jeff Haney, because his team has learned that lesson first-hand over the past three seasons.
Rochester missed out on making it to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Division 1 Final by four strokes in 2013, then by two strokes in 2014 and, last year, the Falcons lost out to Traverse City West for the championship on a fifth-player score tie-breaker.
That cumulative heartbreak fueled plenty of extra desire this fall for Rochester, which certainly made every stroke count in a 21-shot victory over Novi for the Division 1 title Saturday at windswept Forest Akers East in East Lansing.
“Oh yes, because of what’s happened the past few years, it’s very easy for me to get their attention on the importance of every single shot,” said Haney, who guided the Falcons to their third Finals championship in the past nine years, and fourth overall. “These girls have all shaved strokes off their average from the start of the year, which is why we were able to win it.”
Rochester registered the lowest team scores in the 18-team field on both Friday (310) and Saturday (308), for a 618 total. Novi was second at 639, followed by Bloomfield Hills (648), 2015 champion Traverse City West (652) and Saline (661).
The Falcons were paced by senior standout and fifth-place individual Brooke Busse (73-75-148), but the real secret to their success was depth. Exhibit A was the Falcons’ fifth golfer, junior Keri Yang (83-83-166), whose total was 15 shots better than any other team’s No. 5 player.
Senior Veronica Haque (75-75-150) placed eighth overall and was followed closely by her freshman sister, Savannah Haque (79-79-158), and senior Erica Yang (84-79-163).
“I’m just very relieved that it’s over and that we did it,” said Busse, who was part of all three years of Finals-related heartbreak for the Falcons. “We knew we could do it, and we were really focused on staying positive. A big key is that we putted better (Saturday), and that’s why we shaved a few strokes off our total from the first day.”
Rochester actually extended its lead in Saturday’s final round, just the opposite of last year when unranked Traverse City West charged from five strokes back to tie for the top spot, eventually winning on the tie-breaker. Since neither Rochester nor Traverse City West had a senior in their lineup last fall, the stage was set for a rematch.
While the lower half of the West lineup struggled, sophomore Anika Dy certainly did her part for the Titans.
Dy, who placed second last year as a freshman, finished 1-under par with rounds of 72 and 71 for a 143 total, two shots better than Clarkston senior Meghan Deardorff (74-71-145) and Bloomfield Hills sophomore Mikaela Schulz (72-73-145).
Novi senior Alexa Hatz (147) shot a sizzling 3-under par 69 on Saturday – the best round of the tournament – which moved her up to fourth overall and powered her team to a surprising second-place overall finish. Also placing in the top 10 for the Wildcats was junior Abby Livingston, who shot 151 and tied for ninth.
Other individuals in the top 10 were Grand Blanc senior Cammi Lucia (149) and Ann Arbor Skyline senior Jami Laude (149), who tied for sixth, and Lake Orion senior Moyea Russell (151) and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior Lauren Ingle (151), who tied for ninth.
But the story of the weekend was the continued surge by Rochester, which just one week ago set the state girls golf record for postseason scoring with a 289 total at Twin Lakes Golf Course in Oakland Township.
That Regional performance was an incredible achievement for a Rochester program that has had plenty of highlights in recent years. The Falcons have finished in the top 10 at the Finals 16 times over the past 21 years, with four MHSAA titles (the others coming in 2002, 2008 and 2009) and three runner-up finishes (2005, 2007 and 2015).
Haney said it was huge to validate that Regional performance by staying hot and winning the program’s first Finals title in seven years.
“It’s a big relief to tell you the truth,” said Haney, whose team was able to handle the increasing winds on Saturday, which were more of a factor on the more open East course than Forest Akers West. “There are some great teams and great individuals in Division 1 that we battle with all the time. This team definitely earned it.”
PHOTO: (Top) Rochester's Veronica Haque putts during Saturday's second round at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final. (Middle) Traverse City West's Anika Dy watches a drive during her round; she finished as individual medalist. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)