Brogan Finishes School Sports Career by Teaching Lesson in Perspective
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 22, 2023
Baylor Brogan admittedly broke down for a moment or two. Who could blame him? Six months of unpredictable lows and highs to finish his senior year of high school sports had just taken another unexpected dive.
In December, the Lansing Christian senior tore his right ACL playing basketball, ending his hoops season after it had just started. Nine months of anticipated recovery were expected to wipe out his entire golf season too – and after he’d finished eighth in Lower Peninsula Division 4 as a junior in helping the Pilgrims to their first team Finals championship.
But wait. Brogan made it back to the golf course in mid-May after just five months. He played one practice round, and the next day finished fifth individually at his team’s Regional at Ella Sharp Park in Jackson, advancing to the MHSAA Final as the third of three individual qualifiers.
His recovery was remarkable. The story just kept getting better. And if he would have gone on to win the Finals championship two weeks ago, or even place top-10 again, the ending would have been extraordinary.
Instead, he faced another completely unscriptable scenario – but the difficult decision he made launched the latest dip into the highest of notes as he ended his Pilgrims career.
Brogan headed to Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley for the weekend of June 9-10 to finish off his comeback. He thought he’d shot a 79 during Friday’s first round that tied him for 13th – well within range of a potential top-five finish. In golf, playing partners keep track of each other’s scores – and after Brogan’s group finished its 18 holes, he and his partners that round attested to what had been counted on their scorecards, and Brogan figured that was it until Saturday.
But there was a problem.
As he and his two coaches talked through the round after, they realized what had been reported for hole No. 15 was incorrect. It should have included another stroke. His total score should have been 80.
And yet, no one would have known except for those three. But that wouldn’t have sat well with Brogan or his coaches. As soon as they realized the mistake, they contacted the tournament director and rules official.
“For him to say, ‘Hey Coach, I just want to do the right thing,’ and knowing the right thing would potentially DQ you,” Pilgrims head coach Jason Block explained, “I just said, ‘Hey, we’re a Christian school. We have Jesus to answer to.’ I just think putting our heads on the pillow at night knowing we made the right decision for us felt good, and he agreed with that.”
Brogan figured they would just put in the lower score – after all, it was a stroke worse, and the other competitors couldn’t be mad about that. But because Brogan had already attested to the 79 – and by his own admission should have been monitoring his card after every hole while his round was being played – by rule he was disqualified and would have no score for the first round of play.
“When my head coach called me and told me, that’s when the sadness … I definitely cried a little bit,” Brogan said.
But here’s why his weekend will be recalled down the road as the games go on and others every once in a long while find themselves in a similar spot.
Brogan could have gotten angry. He could have blamed his coaches, or his partners, or anyone else supporting him on the course that day for not catching the mistake. He could have questioned the rule, called the disqualification unfair. He could have thrown a fit, made a scene. This was the last event of his high school career, and after he’d already battled back just to get here.
Instead, he chose grace. He just went back out and played. He would no longer have a chance to place with a two-round score, but also by rule he could still finish the weekend with Saturday’s 18 holes.
“To get DQ’d senior year was kind of a bummer. But in the end it didn’t really matter that much, because they let me play, and my name was still on the leaderboard,” Brogan said. “That’s really all I cared about, is that I could go out and even though it wouldn’t count if I did well, I still wanted to go out and compete. Because that’s what I missed so much from being injured, and that’s all I wanted to do – is still play.
“I just went back out to the range that night. They said I could still play. That was the one thing I could be grateful for. I just went back out and practiced again, and woke up at 6 a.m. the next morning to go play.”
It’s guaranteed Brogan will be sure to monitor every hole on his scorecard as his golf career continues at Wheaton College (Ill.) these next few years. But like his coach, Brogan credited his faith for guiding how he managed this situation. There was an unintentional mishap, and it happens. He needed to accept it and report it, and that’s how he approached it.
Still, Brogan now would have to fill people in on what happened – and that seemed worst of all.
So he sent a group text to his team. Then he waited for his parents to get home from a date night – and they definitely were curious because Block had texted them how sorry he was about the tough news. They had no idea what that meant until Baylor explained – and they told him how proud they were of him for making the right decision.
Brogan’s dad Eric then texted the rest of the family – Baylor is eighth oldest of 10 siblings – and others who had been supporting him. That helped a lot. And the next day, Brogan went out and shot an 80 – a pretty big personal win after missing all but a few weeks of a season, and after the disappointment of the evening before.
“As a coach, he missed the whole season, he comes back like he comes back, and then to have this happen, it would have been very easy to go, ‘Man, can we just forget about it? Can we just not say anything?’” Block said.
But that was never a conversation.
Now, about the hat.
During a spring break trip to Florida six years ago, Brogan and his grandfather Dr. George Bettman were on the golf course. Brogan hadn’t really started playing golf at that point, but he accompanied his grandpa as Bettman shot below his age – 90.
A week later, Dr. Bettman died. Sometime after that, as the family was looking through some of his things, Brogan found the hat. It was way too big for Brogan at that point, but by junior year he was able to wear it with a washcloth lining the inside to make it fit more snugly.
There aren’t a lot of straw hats to be found at Michigan high school golf events, so it’s definitely been something of a Brogan signature as well as a reminder of his grandpa.
“It’s his hat, and I feel like he would love seeing me have some success in golf,” Brogan said, “and probably love even more that I would turn myself in for a mistake.”
Geoff Kimmerly joined the MHSAA in Sept. 2011 after 12 years as Prep Sports Editor of the Lansing State Journal. He is a senior editor of MHSAA.com's editorial content and has served as MHSAA Communications Director since January 2021. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Barry, Eaton, Ingham, Livingston, Ionia, Clinton, Shiawassee, Gratiot, Isabella, Clare and Montcalm counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Lansing Christian's Baylor Brogan follows an approach shot during the LPD4 Final at Bedford Valley. (Middle) Brogan, in the straw hat, celebrates his team's 2022 championship. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Preview: Game On at LP Boys Golf Finals as Familiar Foes Set to Meet Again
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 5, 2025
This weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Golf Finals will see several returning standouts from championship tournaments of the recent past – and provide several rematch possibilities at the top of the standings.
The three highest-ranked teams playing in all four divisions return at least three golfers who competed at last season’s Finals, and the Division 3 and 4 tournaments in particular return nearly full lineups for most of the favorites.
Play begins both Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m. See below for more on a number of teams and individuals who could be in contention, and check out the Boys Golf page for full lineups and more.
Division 1 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Detroit Catholic Central, 2. Rochester Adams, 3. Traverse City West.
Detroit Catholic Central: The Shamrocks are seeking to repeat as champions and win their third title in four seasons, returning three golfers who played at least one round at last year’s Final. DCC won its Regional last week at Twin Lakes in Oakland Township with a 285, edging No. 8 Bloomfield Hills and No. 5 Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice. Junior David Krusinski, one of the returners from last season, finished second individually at the Regional, while senior Dillon Che tied for fifth and junior Collin Davis tied for seventh.
Rochester Adams: After finishing second in 2023 and third last season, Adams will pursue a first championship since 1978 this time coming off a second-place Regional finish (one stroke back) at Greystone in Washington Township. Three golfers return from last year’s lineup, including senior Jack Vogel after tying for 13th at last year’s Final. Sophomore Drew Rzeppa led the Regional push this time tying for fourth.
Warren De La Salle Collegiate: The Pilots are ranked No. 4 and coming off a Regional title at Lakes of Taylor. They finished fifth at last season’s Final with only one senior in the lineup, and the top three from that team will be back this weekend led by junior Troy Nguyen, who tied for third individually in 2024. All three returning players finished among the top seven at last week’s Regional, senior Max Teschendorf second and Nguyen and sophomore Julian Sinishtaj tied for seventh. Sinishtaj also tied for 13th at last year’s Final.
Individuals: With Nguyen, four more of last season’s top eight (with ties) will play again this weekend, including Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern senior Will Pollack and junior Mathieu Duflo, who tied for eighth a year ago. Okemos senior Ian Masih is back after finishing seventh, and Lake Orion senior Connor Fox returns after tying for fifth. Masih and Fox won Regional titles last week, as did Muskegon Mona Shores freshman Cruz Beckstrom, Bloomfield Hills senior Dominik Dostal, Ann Arbor Huron senior Adam Thanaporn and Detroit U-D Jesuit senior Aidan Treharne. Brother Rice senior Leandro Pinili was second in Division 2 last season and tied for seventh at his Regional last week.
Division 2 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Christian, 2. Orchard Lake St. Mary’s, 3. Richland Gull Lake.
Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles won Division 2 in 2023 and finished runners-up last season just one stroke behind St. Mary’s. Three returners who all placed among the top 22 at that Final will try to take the next step again this weekend, and after Christian edged No. 7 South Christian to win the Regional at Stonehedge North in Augusta. Senior John Cassiday was medalist, junior Sawyer O’Grady tied for fourth and junior Cooper Reitsma tied for ninth at the Regional; they finished tied for 22nd, tied for 19th and tied for fourth, respectively, at last year’s Final.
Orchard Lake St. Mary’s: The Eaglets also bring back three golfers as they seek a repeat, and after edging No. 6 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood by a stroke to win last week’s Regional at Flint Golf Club. Junior Blaise Krol tied for seventh at last year’s Final and third at last week’s Regional, the latter with senior teammate Tim Humes while junior Mikey Karwaski and senior RJ Galacz tied for 12th.
Richland Gull Lake: Two golfers return from last season’s third-place finisher as Gull Lake again pursues a first championship. Those two helped set the pace as Gull Lake finished just a stroke off the lead at their Regional at Island Hills in Centreville; senior Joseph Blondia tied for seventh individually and senior Hank Livingston tied for 10th in part with senior teammate Carter Dominowski. Livingston also was in the lineup as a freshman at the 2022 Final, when Gull Lake finished a program-best second overall.
Individuals: South Christian sophomore Harris Hoekwater tied with Reitsma for fourth last season, and they are the top placers back this weekend. East Grand Rapids sophomore JP Levan tied with Krol for seventh last season and also returns, as does Allendale sophomore Sumner Meekhof after tying for 10th at the 2024 Final. Meekhof joined Grand Rapids Christian’s John Cassiday among Regional champions, as did Battle Creek Harper Creek senior Joey Mario, Bay City Western junior Drew Goik, Cranbrook’s Henry Delzer and Adrian’s Cayden Staib.
Division 3 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top-ranked: 1. Jackson Lumen Christi, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Grosse Ile.
Jackson Lumen Christi: Last season’s runner-up finish was the Titans’ highest since winning Division 3 in 2017, and four golfers from that lineup are back this weekend including senior Charlie Saunders after placing a team-best tied for 16th a year ago. Lumen won its Regional at West Shore in Grosse Ile by 12 strokes ahead of No. 3 Grosse Ile and No. 8 Ann Arbor Greenhills, with sophomore Brandon Kulka the medalist, senior Adam Fuller and sophomore Gabe Cooper tying for second, Saunders placing eighth and senior Anthony Kulka tying for 12th.
Traverse City St. Francis: The Gladiators won last season’s championship by 18 strokes and without a senior in the lineup – and four of those five starters are back this weekend including reigning medalist David Ansley, now a senior. He tied for sixth during the team’s 22-stroke win at their Regional at Belvedere in Charlevoix, as senior teammate Josh Slocum was first, junior William Gibbons also tied for sixth, sophomore Casey Jackson tied for eighth and junior Ben Wolff tied for 11th. Jackson tied for ninth at last season’s Final.
Grosse Ile: The Red Devils are expected to make a big jump from last year’s tie for 14th, and although they finished second to Lumen at West Shore their 316 score was the fourth-lowest among teams at any Division 3 Regional. Three golfers are back from a year ago and all five placed among the top 12 at the Regional – juniors Luke Lazorka and Michael Olenchak tied for fourth, junior Braden Chessor finished 10th and juniors Nicholas Joly-Naso and Palmer Kehoe tied for 12th.
Individuals: In addition to the St. Francis pair, five more are back from last year’s top 10 (plus ties). Millington senior Brad Coleman was third a year ago, Tawas senior Austin Baker and Pinconning senior Cole Brady tied for fourth, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian senior David Formsma tied for sixth and Midland Bullock Creek senior Colton Lower tied for ninth. Joining Slocum and Brandon Kulka among Regional champions last week were Grand Rapids Covenant Christian senior Aidan Pipe, Comstock senior Cayden Schultz, Shepherd senior Christopher Crockett and Lansing Catholic senior Hayden Riley – Riley after a playoff with Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett senior Steve McMahon.
Division 4 at Ferris State’s Katke Golf Course
Top-ranked: 1. Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central, 2. Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, 3. Clarkston Everest Collegiate.
Saginaw Nouvel: The Panthers are seeking their first championship and highest finish since placing second in 2013. Nouvel came in fourth a year ago with only one senior in the lineup, and the other four golfers are returning led by senior Alex McCarthy off tying for eighth in 2024. Nouvel won its Regional at Mount Pleasant Country Club by 22 strokes, with junior Ian Ziegelmann finishing third individually and McCarthy, senior Rodney Iamurri and junior Ty Iamurri all among those who tied for sixth.
Kalamazoo Hackett: The Irish will bring four seniors and a junior in pursuit of a championship to add to their most recent won in 2021. They finished fifth last spring with the same lineup, as now-seniors Chris and Andrew Ogrin tied for 11th individually. Chris Ogrin defeated his brother in a playoff to finish as medalist at the Regional at Hampshire in Dowagiac, with junior Justin Tyler placing third and senior Noah Emmer 12th.
Clarkston Everest: The Mountaineers have won the last two Division 4 championships and return four golfers from last year including reigning medalist senior Will Pennanen and senior Parker Stalcup, who finished fourth last season and second in 2023. Everest won the Regional last week at Fountains in Clarkston by 21 strokes with Stalcup second, junior Nolan Alban fourth, Pennanen fifth, junior Dominic Walker tied for 12th and senior Mark Cross tied for 14th.
Individuals: In addition to the Everest and Nouvel standouts mentioned above, Maple City Glen Lake senior Michael Houtteman (second) and Grandville Calvin Christian junior Will Orme (seventh) are back from the 2024 top 10. Houtteman joined Ogrin among Regional champs last week, as did Novi Christian junior Nate Spaude, Portland St. Patrick senior Landon Simpson, Wyoming Tri-unity Christian senior Hezekiah Nobel and Petersburg Summerfield sophomore James Feudi – who won a playoff against Riverview Gabriel Richard freshman Ben Allen.
PHOTO Jackson Lumen Christi’s Charlie Saunders launches an approach during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)