D3 Final Filled with Close Finishes
May 30, 2014
By Keith Shelton
Special to Second Half
HYDE — Two superb players with two scorching scores. Two palpitating playoff holes. One winner.
Those were the stakes at Thursday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final at Highland Golf Club.
Cedarville senior Sam Eberts and Carney-Nadeau freshman Hunter Eichhorn both came in even at 71, shooting identical scores of 36 on the front nine and 35 on the back.
Neither hung around the scoreboard in the 90 minutes that followed as waves of golfers checked in. There were many good scores on the day, including a trio of 75’s. That score would have been good enough to win medalist honors in each of the past two U.P. Division 3 Finals, but not Thursday.
Inside the clubhouse, another nail-biter ensued as scores from Cedarville and Painesdale-Jeffers came in. When the dust settled, it was the Jeffers Jets by a slim margin, taking the U.P. title for the third consecutive year with a score of 314. Both teams had four golfers all at 83 or under, but Stephen Butina and Tyler Bailey’s dual 75’s were enough to put the Jets over the top. Cedarville was second at 316 followed by Carney-Nadeau at 337, Rudyard 341 and Munising 347.
Eichhorn, the young phenom from Carney, made a splash in 2013 as an eighth grader when he was runner-up on this same course. Putting together a card that was four strokes better and staying remarkably consistent throughout, he nearly still found himself in the same boat.
Eichhorn was the tactician, displaying a wealth of ability and golf knowledge. He had a seemingly large advantage from the tee box, frequently drawing “oohs” and “ahs” with his long drives of well over 200 yards.
He looked ahead on fairways with a pair of binoculars, measured distance and tested the wind with handfuls of sand, using every available piece of information to his advantage, tactics he said he picked up from watching professionals in the PGA.
“I see what they do, read the greens, test the wind, how they scout holes. I learn from watching the pros,” Eichhorn said.
On the playoff, both competitors went in confidently, playing in front of a large gallery. There was Eberts, appearing relaxed, smiling throughout and celebrating his small victories, and the stoic Eichhorn, who also enjoyed the crowd.
“It always pumps me up when there’s a crowd. The more that watch me, the better I do,” he said. “I tried to stay calm, but there’s always nerves on a playoff hole. I just tried to stay as calm as possible.”
Each appeared to make a costly error during the playoff. Eberts drove hard to the left from the No. 10 tee box, falling just out of bounds, but he recovered incredibly well. His next shot went sailing back on course and landed just on the inside edge of the green, where he two-putted for par to force a second playoff hole.
On No. 11, Eichhorn drove too hard to the right and landed amongst a cluster of trees. His next shot banked off the bark but landed in a favorable position, where had a clear shot to the green. Once there, he two-putted for a bogey. Eberts meanwhile, was in position to match with a short putt. He took his time, lined up his shot, and turned and exhaled when his ball went trickling past the hole.
Thanks to Eichhorn and Eberts however, both of their schools received a boost with their scores of 71. Carney-Nadeau finished with possibly the best MHSAA Final score in school history, coming in third at 337. For Eichhorn the team finish was more meaningful than the medalist honor.
“It was nice to win, but nice to finish third and see my team play well and compete with some of the better schools around,” he said.
The remarkably deep Jets ruled the day. Identical twins Alex and Christopher Outinen capped their team’s scores with a respective 81 and 83 on a beautiful, clear and sunny day with temperatures in the mid-70s, a welcome change from the weather Jeffers had to deal with throughout most of the season.
“We had a rough start with the weather and only having five meets under our belt,” said coach Jason Koski. “But as the year went on, the scores improved. We were in a real competitive West-PAC conference with Houghton, Calumet and Hancock. We only won one meet, but the level of competition helped — Houghton won the Division 1 Finals.
“This year, after winning the last two years, the kids had a little more confidence. I wouldn’t say they were overconfident, but they had that confidence to them this year.”
The Jets also exhibited another important quality in keeping a level head in the game of golf.
“They’re mentally strong,” Koski said. “Whenever they’d have a rough first nine, they’d pull it together on the second nine. As an example, Christopher (Outinen) had a 46 on the first nine today and ended up pulling in an 83. I always tell the kids, don’t be throwing your clubs, even when you feel like it. You forget it, and move on.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Stephen Butina of Painesdale-Jeffers holds the Upper Peninsula Division 3 championship trophy with his teammates, including, from left; Jacob Zerast, Alex Outinen, Tyler Bailey, Butina and Christopher Outinen on Thursday at Highland Golf Club. Painesdale-Jeffers shot 314 to win its third consecutive U.P. title. (Middle) Hunter Eichhorn of Carney-Nadeau watches his drive on the second playoff hole, No. 11 at Highland Golf Club. (Photos by Keith Shelton.)
Powered by Transplanted Heart, Pioneer's Williams Relishing Return to Golf Team
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
May 16, 2025
Brady Williams knew something was wrong.
The then-freshman at Ann Arbor Pioneer was in class when he texted his parents that something wasn’t right. His mom, Tiffany, rushed to the school, got Brady into the car and drove straight to the emergency room in Ann Arbor.
His father, Greg, arrived a few minutes later.
“He was in heart failure,” said one of the doctors who was caring for Brady, then 14.
When he went home from C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital nearly six weeks later, Brady was the proud owner of a new heart.
“It was really random,” Williams recalled. “One day I wasn’t feeling good at school, so I left and went to the doctors. They kept me for a couple of days and told me I needed to get a heart transplant.”
It’s been an incredible journey for the Pioneer sophomore, who returned to school last fall and is now on the Pioneers junior varsity golf team.
“I can do basically everything now,” he says. “I’m back up to normal for sure.”
Normal is something Williams had rarely known. Even as a young boy he would occasionally get tired from doing simple things. As the family learned to deal with it, they decided at one point to seek more medical advice. After genetic testing, at the age of 7 he was diagnosed with a rare neuromuscular disease, known as limb-girdle muscular dystrophy.
“It basically makes the muscles weak, especially your heart,” he said.
As he got older, he was would sometimes struggle with the effects.
“We carried an AED (automated external defibrillator) with us everywhere,” Tiffany Williams said.
He tried playing sports, including basketball, and golfed regularly. In the months leading up to the heart transplant, though, Brady had slowed down.
“I was playing basketball and golfing four times a week,” Brady said. “Slowly I stopped playing basketball and even golf because I was getting really tired.”
Under the care of Dr. Mark Russell, Dr. Aaron Stern – a professor of pediatric cardiology at University of Michigan – and Dr. Kurt Robert Schumacher, the medical director for the pediatric heart transplant program at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, Brady at first had a temporary device installed in his heart, but it was quickly determined that a heart transplant was needed – and fast.
“They didn’t think it would be this bad, but it ended up hurting my heart so bad that I had to get a new one,” Williams said.
After the decision was made to move forward with the heart transplant, he waited only two days for the new heart.
“They put me at the top of the list, and they got it there quick, thankfully,” Williams said.
His passion for sports has always been a driving force. A football fanatic, he is a die-hard Cleveland Browns fan. His favorite quarterback, former Browns signal-caller Baker Mayfield, sent him a video message while he was recovering. Former Eastern Michigan University and current Las Vegas Raiders star Maxx Crosby also reached out to him.
In the hospital, Williams was glued to the television.
“Everyone took to Brady,” Tiffany Williams said. “He helped everyone with fantasy football teams while he was in the hospital, plus Michigan won the national championship. So that was a good year.”
His recovery included several months of physical therapy and doctor visits. At first, Brady had to attend school virtually, but returned to the halls of Pioneer in the fall.
“I feel like honestly better than I ever have,” Williams said. “This is a really good heart, a lot better than the one I was born with. This is like 100 percent. My old one, I never lived at like a 100-percent level. It was always low.
“I don’t even notice anything. It’s just normal all of the time.”
This spring he was cleared to golf after a physical. He is able to use a cart during his matches and tournaments, something he said helps him a lot.
“This is what I really wanted – just to join the team and get back to how I used to be – hanging out with friends and making new ones,” Brady said. “That’s the best part about being on a team.”
Being part of a team was at one point something Brady didn’t think he would get to experience. He knows how fortunate he is to have that opportunity again.
“I realize that everything can get taken away from you easily,” he said. “One second you can be at the highest point and the next you can be at the lowest. I’m definitely at the highest right now after making the golf team, being on it and having a lot of fun with it.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.