Seaholm Sweeps in Team Title Repeat

October 18, 2014

By Tom Kendra
Special to Second Half

EAST LANSING – It certainly wasn’t the first time Birmingham Seaholm senior Jamie Greene had shot par in a tournament.

But given the magnitude of the stage at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final, and the bitter cold and gusty playing conditions on the already-challenging Forest Akers West course, Greene’s sterling, even-par 72 is certainly the round of her life.

At least so far.

Greene’s career round, which was three shots better than anyone else in the field Saturday, helped defending champion Seaholm increase its big lead over the final 18 holes for a 660 team total and a dominating 37-shot victory over runner-up South Lyon.

“It’s just a great way to end my high school career,” said Greene, who will play golf next year at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. “We really, really wanted to win as a team, and being state medalist has been a goal of mine for a long time.”

South Lyon, led by the sister trio of senior Caroline Harding (159), junior Priscilla Harding (169) and freshman Elizabeth Harding (179), placed second at 697. St. Joseph took third at 707, followed by Okemos (721) and Midland Dow (722).

Greene, the lone senior among Seaholm’s top five players, rallied past junior teammate and first-round leader Allegra Cunningham for medalist honors.

Caroline Harding, who will play college golf on this same Forest Akers course for Michigan State, placed third at 159. Midland Dow sophomore Stephanie Carras was fourth at 162, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central senior Evon Shay took fifth at 164.

“I’m thrilled with Jamie Greene,” said Cathie Fritz, Seaholm’s co-head coach along with Leon Braisted. “She was disciplined, she played everything to the nines. I am thrilled that it finally came together for her within her high school career.”

The 1-2 punch of Greene and Cunningham gave the Maples, who each wore maroon maple leaves on their cheeks for the Final, a decisive edge on the rest of the field. But a steady finish by the Maples’ supporting cast ensured that no other team would catch them from behind. 

Cunningham was second for the Maples at 157, six strokes behind Greene. Rounding out the scoring for Seaholm were juniors Jordan Michalak (167), Annie Trotta (185) and Cate Joelson (187).

“This turned out so much better than we hoped. We knew our one, two and three players would play strong, but we are thrilled our fourth, fifth and sixth players really rallied,” Fritz said. “They really rallied, they had never played in this cold of weather, or this soft of a course, but they came through for us today.”

While the end result was the same as last fall, Seaholm’s route to the title could not have been more different.

The Maples needed a near-miraculous Saturday rally last year, charging from 17 shots back after the opening round to nip Okemos by one stroke. This year, Seaholm found itself in the opposite position with a 15-shot lead going into the final round.

Recalling their own charge from a year ago, the Maples proved to be unflappable front-runners this time, with the highest score out of the Seaholm five a respectable 93.

Birdies were an extremely rare commodity on both days of the 36-hole stroke play tournament, with a steady wind of about 15 mph blowing out of the northwest. But Greene was able to make a pair on Saturday – on the par-3 7th hole and the par-5 13th hole – en route to her even-par score. 

Greene attributed her stellar round to her year-long focus on course management and her positive attitude about the weather.

“I enjoy playing in bad weather, because it keeps me focused,” said Greene, who is a member at Detroit Golf Club. “I left my driver in the bag most of the day, and I was hitting my 4-iron off the tee. The best part of my game today was my iron shots into the greens.” 

With the back-to-back titles for Seaholm, which now has four MHSAA girls golf titles in school history, only two schools have won Division 2 championships since 2008. Mona Shores won four consecutive from 2009 to 2012, and now the Maples have won the past two.

Fritz said her team will be motivated to pursue a “three-peat” next fall with a solid, large nucleus of players returning.  

“We have 40 players over four teams, with only one key senior,” Fritz said. “We will build all year long. We’re going to push hard.”

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Birmingham Seaholm poses with its championship trophy after repeating as winners of the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final; individual medalist Jamie Greene holds the trophy. (Middle) Seaholm’s Allegra Cunningham, also the individual runner-up, watches a shot Saturday. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).

Cox, Dy Aim To Bring Golf Fame Up North

October 14, 2016

By Dennis Chase
Special for Second Half

TRAVERSE CITY – Maple City Glen Lake senior Nichole Cox will try to become just the third golfer to win three consecutive MHSAA Lower Peninsula individual golf championships when she tees off today in the Division 4 final at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West.

With a three-peat, Cox would equal the accomplishments of Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Katy Loy (1993-95) and Okemos’ Elle Nichols (2011-13).

But that’s not foremost on her mind this morning.

“I’m not focusing on that,” Cox said. “I’m focusing on striking the ball well, not making tactical errors, just going out and having fun in my last high school tournament.”

The 18-year-old is the only girl from northern Michigan to win a Lower Peninsula title since the MHSAA started offering a postseason tournament in 1973.

Her friend, Traverse City West sophomore Anika Dy, is hoping to become the second this weekend. Dy, the Division 1 runner-up last October, is leading the reigning champion Titans into play today at Forest Akers East.

“They are two of the best, if not the best, (girls) golfers to come out of this area – ever,” Glen Lake coach Paul Christiansen said. “And Anika is just a sophomore, which is amazing.”

Cox and Dy have played in numerous high school and junior tournaments together. They text frequently.

“They’re happy for each other’s success,” Christiansen said.

And when asked, they’re genuinely excited to talk about the other.

“She can hit the ball so far,” Dy said of Cox. “She eats the short courses alive. She’ll drive the green. She’s so long and powerful.”

“She’s very focused,” Cox said of Dy. “She doesn’t make a lot of mistakes. She might not hit it as far as me sometimes, but she makes up for it with a really good short game.”

That’s been evident this fall as Dy has lowered her 18-hole average nearly seven strokes, dropping from 77.1 to 70.5. 

“I’m hitting the ball a little better, but it’s mostly been my putting,” she said. “Each course is different and you have to adapt to the greens. I think I’ve adapted better this year.”

West coach Kristen Nolan said Dy’s scores reflect a more consistent player.

“She’s been consistently in the low 70s, if not 60s,” she said. “She’s more focused on each shot, more focused on course management.”

Dy, who shattered the women’s course record at the Grayling Country Club with a 65 in August, agreed she’s keeping the ball in the fairway better, and it’s enabled her to “score well’ even when she’s not at the top of her game.

The 15-year-old won last Thursday’s Regional on The Meadows at Grand Valley State University with a 3-under 70. That was the same course where she fired a 79-77 in last year’s MHSAA Final.

“I had a pretty good day, but honestly it was not my best because I had a stretch where I struggled and bogeyed a couple holes,” she said. “I wasn’t hitting it as well. But my attitude and positive thinking kept me going. I kept it in the present and didn’t think about what happened because I knew I couldn’t change it.”

Dy’s round included an eagle.

“She missed another eagle when a 20-foot putt just lipped out,” Nolan said. “Overall, she played solid golf.”

So did her teammates. West shot a 309 and placed four golfers in the top six. Hunter Kehoe was second with a 76, Megan Jenkinson tied for fourth with an 81 and Grace Ellul tied for sixth with an 82.

“They were excited,” Nolan added. “When we looked back at our scores (at The Meadows) last year we knew we could do better. We wanted redemption.”

West shot team totals of 348 and 337 there a year ago. Kehoe had rounds of 87 and 80 in the Final.

“Hunter’s improved so much,” Nolan said. “Last year she had a few rounds in the 70s, but she was consistently in the low 80s. Now, she’s got into a streak of shooting in the 70s, and I’m excited for her.”

Dy said the Titans, who have won 12 tournaments in a row, celebrated after the Regional, but not like last year.

“I think we expected it,” she said. “We were super happy, but our focus now is on states. We know there will be a lot of good teams in the Finals. We just want to do our best.”

West is ranked No. 2 in Division 1 behind Rochester, which won its Regional with a 289. Rochester was led by Brooke Busse’s 69.

Cox, meanwhile, had to contend with windy conditions last Friday at Manistee Country Club to win her Division 4 Regional. She shot a 79 – her highest score of the season.

“I didn’t play as well as I would have liked,” she said, “but the conditions were by far the worst of any Regional.”

“We had sustained winds of 20 to 30 miles-per-hour,” Christiansen said. “Club selection was really difficult.”

It was the fourth consecutive Regional crown for Cox.

“Not too many kids are able to win a Regional event four years in a row – in any sport,” Christiansen said. “That, in itself, is a representation of how consistent she’s been over the years.”

Cox is averaging just over 74 a round, nearly the same average she sported a year ago. But her scores have been more consistent. A year ago, they ranged between 69 and 83. This season she’s been in the 70s every tournament.

She’s done that despite being sick a couple weeks.

In addition, Cox, who has committed to Bowling Green, reached the semifinal round in the 100th Michigan Women’s Amateur in August, losing to eventual champion Allyson Geer by a stroke on the final hole.

“When you count her summer and fall, she’s had an outstanding year,” Christiansen said.

Cox qualified for the MHSAA Finals as an individual, like last year, which means she will not play in the same group with any individual contenders whose teams qualified.

“It might hinder you a little, but at the same time I’m going to play my game,” she said. “It doesn’t matter who I’m playing with because I’m playing against the course.”

Cox shot rounds of 76-74 to win the Division 4 title by six shots last October.

Christiansen expects Cox to go into the Finals excited and confident. His only concern?

“I hope she doesn’t put too much pressure on herself to do well,” he said.

For one thing, Christiansen added, you can’t control what your competitors are doing.

“It’s not like basketball where you can play better defense and keep (opponents) from scoring,” he said. “You just have to go out, do your thing, do the best you can and what happens, happens.”

What Christiansen hopes happens is this: “That she ends (her high school career) with a third championship.”

Dennis Chase worked 32 years as a sportswriter at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, including as sports editor from 2000-14. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.

PHOTOS: (Top) Maple City Glen Lake's Nichole Cox (left) hits an approach toward the green, and Traverse City West's Anika Dy watches one of her shots during their respective MHSAA Finals in 2015. (Middle) Cox (left) poses for photos with runner-up Meg Watkins of Frankenmuth after receiving last season's Division 4 championship medal. (Below) Dy (top row, far right) stands with her teammates and their Division 1 team championship trophy. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)