Potent Pair Lead Cedarville/DeTour Girls to Repeat; Ontonagon Ace Paces Field

By Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com

June 1, 2023

HYDE – Cedarville and DeTour have been golfing together for just two years as a co-op – and they already have two Upper Peninsula Girls Golf Finals titles.

The Islanders repeated in Division 3 with a score of 420 on Thursday at Highland Golf Club near Escanaba. That was eight strokes better than runner-up Big Bay de Noc and 16 fewer than third-place Ontonagon.

“It’s nice,” Islanders coach Jeff Autore said. “These girls worked hard. They knew they had a chance to be defending champions. We knew we had a pretty good chance coming in. This was our goal. The girls knew it, they were determined. This is why we practice in the rain and in the snow and in the cold.

Ontonagon’s Emmy Bobula tees off during her championship round.“We expected this and we worked hard for this, and they deserve it.”

For Hayley Kohlmann, who shot a 94, and Taylor Williams, who carded a 107, it was their third-straight team title. Cedarville also won as a standalone team in 2021. 

“They’ve had a pretty good run,” Autore said. “And then we co-opped with DeTour, and Lily Plowman has been our best player all year long. She finished in the top five last year.”

Plowman also shot a 94 on Thursday. She and Kohlmann were two of just three golfers in the field to shoot under 100.

The other was medalist Emmy Bobula of Ontonagon; she shot a 90. All three were over 100 at last year’s Final, held at the same course.

Bobula shot a 113 last year.

“So I really improved this season a lot,” she said. “It was crazy, that was my PR (personal record), so yeah, pretty bonkers.”

It was definitely a good time for such a good performance. She likes playing in tournaments and doesn’t get nervous for them. There’s no bigger tournament than this one for U.P. high school golfers.

Mackinac Island’s Isabella Nitzschke hits out of a tough spot beside a tree. “It’s crazy, it’s kind of surreal,” Bobula said. “I shed a few tears because it’s my senior season. It feels pretty good.”

Her coach Jim Jessup said Bobula wanted to have a big year – and she did.

“She’s a senior, she had drive, she wanted to do things this year and she did them,” Jessup said.

It all started for her Thursday off the tee.

“Probably my drives really saved me,” she said. “I had good drives today, which is probably the best thing and chipping, I did pretty well in chipping today actually.”

Ontonagon’s Madyson Pantti shot a 102 and Camryn Pederson of Big Bay de Noc a 105.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Cedarville/DeTour’s Lily Plowman hits out of the sand during Thursday’s UPD3 Final. (Middle) Ontonagon’s Emmy Bobula tees off during her championship round. (Below) Mackinac Island’s Isabella Nitzschke hits out of a tough spot beside a tree. (Photos by Jason Juno.)

iWanamaker Provides MHSAA Golf App

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

October 7, 2020

The MHSAA is providing live scoring of its Regional and Finals events for the girls and boys golf seasons during the 2020-21 school year via the MHSAA Golf app created and operated by the Wanamaker Corporation and iWanamaker.

Girls Golf Regionals began in the Lower Peninsula on Monday, Oct. 5, and will continue through Oct. 10. Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals will be played Friday and Saturday, Oct. 16-17, respectively.

Those who wish to follow this year’s MHSAA golf postseasons in real time may download the “MHSAA Golf” app, available for both iOS or Android. The app will provide live scoring, leaderboards and scorecards for all MHSAA postseason events.

“We’re excited to work with iWanamaker on a scoring platform that we believe will add to the excitement of the event for fans and the golfers themselves,” said MHSAA assistant director Cody Inglis, who serves as the Association’s administrator of girls and boys golf. “The opportunity to follow how every competitor is faring on the course, after every hole, has the potential to make this a next-level experience for high school golf.”

Schools across Michigan have used the MHSAA Golf app throughout this fall’s girls golf regular season. The app charges for a “ticket” for events to be followed – $5 each for MHSAA Regionals and Finals. Those who have used the app during the regular season may continue to utilize their $90 family season tickets or $30 single season tickets for MHSAA events as well.

The MHSAA Golf app allows golfers to input their scores after each hole in real-time, with that data then viewable by fans and tournament officials. An added benefit, the use of the digital app by individual golfers also eliminates any need to exchange paper scorecards, further minimizing risk as part of COVID-19 precautions.

Live scores from MHSAA tournament events also are available online, linked from the Girls Golf page of the MHSAA Website. “Tickets” from iWanamaker are still required to watch the live scoring on the website.