Plymouth Emerges as Repeat D1 Champ
October 19, 2013
By Gary Kalahar
Special to Second Half
EAST LANSING – If it’s possible for a defending MHSAA champion to lay in the weeds, the Plymouth High School girls golf team pulled it off this weekend.
Some early-season struggles might have kept the Wildcats out of the discussion of title contenders. But when the time came, Plymouth was ready to repeat. Plymouth captured its second consecutive Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship, emerging from a knot of teams at the top on a cold and soggy Saturday at Forest Akers West.
Plymouth finished two rounds at 706, four strokes in front of Rochester Hills Stoney Creek and five ahead of Troy. Those three teams were among five bunched within four strokes – and nine within 15 strokes – after the first round.
“Everybody had a chance to win,” Plymouth senior Kayla Whatley said. “We knew every stroke was going to count, because there are some good teams here and they were going to improve (from the first day).”
Plymouth led by two strokes after the first round, played in decidedly better conditions than the high-40 temperatures, cool breeze and intermittent rain of the second round. The Wildcats turned the worst day of the fall into the best.
“This one is better,” Plymouth junior Sydney Murphy said. “No one was expecting us to come out on top, and we did. We weren’t doing so well at the beginning, but we kept working at it, and here we are. We succeeded.”
Murphy, Whatley and sophomore Katie Chipman all helped Plymouth win the title last year. But that success didn’t carry over to 2013, at least early on as Plymouth had to replace two all-state players, including MHSAA medalist Kelsey Murphy. Even heading into the Regional, Plymouth was ranked just 10th in Division 1 by the coaches association.
“We started playing well the first of October and rode it through,” Plymouth coach Dan Young said. “We kept improving. It’s hard to explain. They’ve always practiced hard, done what they’re supposed to do. For whatever reason, they started playing better. They’ve gotten better, and it’s been together as a team.”
Whatley, the only senior of the five Wildcats who played in the MHSAA Final, said the title was somewhat of a surprise.
“We really wanted to get it last year,” she said of Plymouth’s first championship. “We played much better all year long (last year).But after we won the conference, then we got excited, and we knew we had the potential to compete and win this.”
Even in the poor conditions, four of the five Plymouth golfers improved their scores from the first day. Murphy’s 77 was nine better, and Whatley’s 89 was a seven-stroke improvement.
“I needed to contribute to the team,” Murphy said about rebounding from her uncharacteristic first round. “It’s a team sport, and you all have to contribute what you can.”
“To her credit, she didn’t get down,” Young said. “Her attitude was tremendous. That’s what it’s all about. They all knew they had to come back and play better, and they did.”
Murphy’s ninth-place individual finish was Plymouth’s best, but the Wildcats’ depth was the difference. Katie Chipman totaled 166 and Alaina Strzalka 192 for Plymouth, which could have used its fifth-best score Saturday – Ariana Strzalka’s 103 – and still come out a winner.
For individual champion Lily Pendy, the single word on the back of her shirt – “Fight” – said it all.
Pendy, a senior at Grosse Pointe South playing in her fourth MHSAA Finals, fought through the conditions and won medalist honors with a 74-76—150. The pink shirts Pendy and her teammates sported bore inspirational words in honor of breast cancer awareness month and had special meaning for Pendy, whose mother, Megan, just finished cancer treatment.
“It shows what we’re playing for,” Pendy said. “This is really exciting. I did it for my team and my coach and my parents. Without them, I wouldn’t be here.”
After posting a sixth-place Finals finish last year and helping her team win the team championship in 2011, Pendy figured the top individual spot was attainable.
“I hadn’t thought about it too much, but I had it in the back of my head,” she said.
Pendy’s 74 in the first round put her three strokes in front, and she finished six clear of the field.
“I felt pressure,” Pendy said about carrying the lead into the second round. “I was nervous. I’m not going to lie. But I tried to turn the nerves into excitement.”
Elayna Bowser of Dearborn took second with a pair of 78s for 156. Emily White of Saline matched Pendy for the second day’s best round of 76 and finished third overall at 157.
“I convinced myself that I like playing in the rain,” Pendy said. “You have to have a good attitude about it. I played steady golf, par golf most of the way.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Plymouth players hoist the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship trophy for the second straight season. (Middle) A player launches an approach shot toward the green during Saturday's second round. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
Johnson Joins Legends, Maroons Make Legacy
May 29, 2019
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
HARRIS – Paxton Johnson only achieved half of her goal in her final high school golf match here Wednesday, but it was a special half.
The Escanaba High School senior won her fourth straight Upper Peninsula Division 1 golf championship to join two other four-time winners. The southpaw posted a sharp 4-over-par 76 at Sweetgrass Golf Club, which next month will host its ninth straight Symetra Tour women's professional golf tourney.
Menominee High School dashed Johnson's second goal by winning the team title, ending Escanaba's three-year title reign. The Maroons shot a dazzling 385 to finish a whopping 27 strokes ahead of the Eskymos.
"I wanted the team to win so bad," said Johnson. "I can honestly say I wanted the team win more than the individual win. I tried to encourage my teammates and play as best I can and try to pull it off."
Johnson, who has received a golf scholarship to Northern Michigan University, joins Marquette golfers Kendra Palmer (1996-99) and Carley Saint Onge (2008-11) as the only four-time champions. "It is an honor. I really look up to both of them," she said.
"It is amazing. It was a really great four years," Johnson said as she relaxed outside under the best spring conditions to date, sunshine and 81 degrees.
She finished 11 strokes ahead of runner-up Emma Hofer of Menominee and knew she was the heavy favorite but pushed the pressure to win aside. "I was competing against myself. I knew if I stayed out of trouble and out of the bunkers I would be okay. I wasn't thinking of anything else, just thinking about one shot at a time," she said.
Johnson overcame a pair of consecutive short putt misses – for par and birdie – on holes 12 and 13, respectively. "I tried not to get too discouraged and tried to let it go," she said, still visibly perturbed at those miscues after the round ended. "I didn't let it get in my own head. But if I had capitalized around the green I would have played much better."
She also missed a good opportunity on the short No. 14, leaving her tee ball short-left and then chipping over a bunker to the back fringe before two-putting for par. "I'm not upset with par, but the hole should be a birdie. But pars are good. You can't get too mad at par," she said, although it was obvious she was still peeved at herself later.
Johnson, who won the Upper Peninsula Ladies Golf Association crown last year, stayed within herself most of the balmy day by following her primary creed. "I was kind of in a zone. I focused on my game. Swinging freely is my best thing," she said.
Escanaba coach Brian Robinette said Johnson "is fundamentally as sound as any high school player." He also said the "consistency, the way she hits the golf ball" is a key. "She is a high IQ golfer. She can regroup (from a bad stretch) and can leave the past in the past. You rarely see her follow up a bad shot with another bad shot."
He is also impressed with the way "she can compress the golf ball and works right through the bag, driver to wedge."
Two of her playing partners, Emma Hofer of Menominee and Morgan Rhodes of Marquette, copied Johnson's approach by paying attention to their own shots and were not overwhelmed by her dominance.
"I know she is better than me. I'm totally fine with that," said Hofer, a frequent opponent the past four years. "I try to get closer to her and if I'm close to her I'm fine."
Rhodes said playing with Johnson helps her: "It makes me a better player playing with someone more advanced. I just don't compare myself to them."
Menominee has won 15 U.P. girls titles, but this was the first since 2008 and the first for coach Tony Hofer, who has two daughters (Emma and Josie) on the team.
"All year we've had all five girls score well. Different girls step up and do something good at every meet," he said, noting four seniors have led the way as they chased Escanaba. "We were not very good four years ago, but they stuck with it. This year we knocked off a handful of strokes here and there."
PHOTOS: (Top) Paxton Johnson of Escanaba won her fourth straight MHSAA Finals title Wednesday at the Upper Peninsula Division 1 golf tournament at Sweetgrass Golf Club in Harris. Johnson, the third U.P. girl with four straight titles, posted a 4-over-par 76. Johnson tees off on the par-3 island green, No. 15, which she parred. (Middle) The Menominee Maroons won the Upper Peninsula Division 1 team title. The team includes, front row from left: Maddy Derusha and Emma Hofer; standing from left, Arikah Bellisle, Josie Hofer, coach Tony Hofer, Olivia Badker and Emma Antilla. (Photos by Dennis Grall.)