Okemos' Masih Completes Homecoming, DCC Finishes Finals Repeat Under New Leader
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 7, 2025
EAST LANSING — Two years ago, Ian Masih of Okemos was envisioning high school golf success in Michigan, although he wasn’t even living in the state at the time.
Masih grew up in Michigan, but spent his freshman and sophomore years of high school living in the Orlando, Fla., area with his grandpa. He took online classes and enjoyed the luxury of being able to play golf year-round with a coach he had there.
But before his junior year, he decided to move back to cold-weather Michigan in spite of his golfing ambitions.
“I wanted to come back for family and friends,” he said. “It was good to be down there practicing all the time. But it was nice to come back.”
Masih was really thankful he came back to Michigan on Saturday after he won the medalist honor at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West.
Not surprisingly, the team championship was once again claimed by Detroit Catholic Central, which won its second-straight title and third over the last four years.
Back to Masih, he shot identical scores of 69 for a two-day total of 138 – one shot ahead of Catholic Central junior Jack Whitmore (139) and two shots ahead of Warren De La Salle Collegiate senior Julian Sinishtaj (140).
Signed with Grand Valley State, Masih had five birdies and just two bogeys and finished his day by birdieing the par-4, 386-yard third hole.
“Patience,” Masih said of the key to his round. “There were a lot of times I wanted to hammer it at the hole. But I stayed patient and made the putts I needed to.”
Masih said he didn’t know he needed a birdie on his last hole to sew up the title.
“I tried my best not to look,” he said. “It worked out.”
All of that certainly made coming back to the cold of Michigan worth it, even as he had to readjust to hitting balls in a dome during the winter. “A lot of (simulator) golf also,” he said.
Behind Masih, Catholic Central had two players finish among the top 10 – Whitmore and senior Dillon Che, who placed as part of a five-way tie for 10th (146).
Juniors David Krusinski and Collin Davis flanked those two with identical two-day totals of 151 for the Shamrocks, who had to deal with a little bit of a transition this year.
Head coach Mike Anderson retired after leading Catholic Central to five Finals titles over 10 years, but the train kept rolling behind new coach Mike Fras, an assistant with the team the past three seasons.
Catholic Central finished with a final team total of 587, seven shots ahead of Rochester Adams, which finished as the runner-up for the second-straight season with a total of 594.
“It was definitely a change with Coach Fras coming in,” Whitmore said. “We did things different. We actually had team practices this year. There really wasn’t any pressure. Just have fun, go out there and play good.”
Catholic Central entered the day 11 shots ahead of second-place Brighton and 15 shots ahead of fourth-place Adams.
The Highlanders had a strong second day, shooting a team score of 296 to climb into second position. But it wasn’t quite enough to make up the difference with Catholic Central.
“We only cared about the team, and that is what our priority has been all season,” Fras said. “Our first tournament of the season, Rochester Adams beat us pretty good. We knew Adams was going to be right back and we’d be going back and forth all season. Fortunately we had a really good first day, because Adams had a really good day today.”
Brighton (601), Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern (602) and De La Salle (602) rounded out the top five.
(Click for more photos from High School Sports Scene.)
Mid Pen's VanDamme Finishes Finals Climb, Lake Linden-Hubbell Clinches 1st Team Title
By
Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com
May 28, 2026
WATERSMEET — Rock Mid Peninsula's Christian VanDamme is only a sophomore, yet he came into Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final with two past runner-up finishes at this golf tournament.
He made the top five as a seventh grader before shooting an impressive 76 as an eighth grader to finish second behind his brother Bradly. Last year, he had a seven-hole lead going into the back nine, but couldn’t hold off Powers North Central’s Nathan Pipkorn.
“I’ve definitely been putting too much pressure on myself the last couple years,” VanDamme said. “So I just kind of played free today.”
It translated into a first-place finish this time, while carding a 75.
“It’s nice,” he said. “It’s a lot nicer than losing, I’ll tell you that.”
His coach, and mom, Earlene VanDamme was proud of the growth he showed.
“I think Christian’s come a long way in his mental game,” she said. “That was what his big focus was. We knew he had the skill. He just really needed to work on that mental game. So all season, we’ve watched him pull through on that, where if he has a bad shot, he can overcome it on the next one. And so to see him take it today really cemented that.”
That’s what hurt him last year – a bad hole that he couldn’t let go.
Now he has a U.P. title he doesn’t have to let go.
“He works really hard at his game,” Earlene said. “He loves the game. If he could live at the golf course, he would. I like to see kids have hard work pay off, and that’s what he has.”
He didn’t putt all that well at the Lac Vieux Desert Golf Course, but most everything else went fine.
“It’s nice playing this short of a course; you don’t have to hit much of a tee ball, I hit a lot of hybrids and three woods,” he said.
Big Bay de Noc’s Parker Pederson carded a 78 to finish second. Three players tied for third.
“Tyler is pretty level-headed on the course. Brady, a technical player, grinds it out. Lukas plays smooth and easy-going, and he hits putts.”
That’s how Lake Linden-Hubbell coach Brett Poissant describes the Lakes’ Axford triplets, who all golf differently, but equally well. The juniors all shot an 80 to tie for third individually and lead the Lakes to their first U.P. team title after finishing in second place the last two years.
“That’s just been our success, the last few years with them, they’re the driving force,” Poissant said. “They’re so consistent, and there’s definitely that sibling rivalry. They like to battle each other, and I think that’s part of the motivator for the team is they want to best each other and ultimately ended in a tie.”
Lake Linden-Hubbell’s other two golfers also finished among the top 10, Brayden Beaudette in a tie for sixth with an 81 and Bodie Fortin in 10th with an 84.
It’s no surprise then that they won comfortably, 321-354 over runner-up Big Bay de Noc. Ontonagon took third with Wakefield-Marenisco fourth and Bessemer fifth.
“It’s been the goal since those kids were freshmen, to win a U.P. title,” Poissant said. “They’ve really, really put it in their sights, and it all came together today. They shot really well.”
“It’s very cool. This is our first team title in school history,” Lukas Axford said. “We put a lot of work in this spring. We got a real tight-knit group of guys, and it’s amazing to see our hard work pay off.”
PHOTOS (Top) Rock Mid Peninsula's Christian VanDamme rips through an iron shot during Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Middle) Lake Linden-Hubbell’s Brady Axford follows a tee shot. (Photos by Jason Juno.)