Preview: Reigning Champs Could Set Pace, but Contenders Ready to Climb
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
June 2, 2026
There are three strong repeat championship candidates teeing off at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Golf Finals.
But there are several more hopefuls hoping to enjoy that ultimate accomplishment for the first time, or first time in a while.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice in Division 1 and Auburn Hills Oakland Christian in Division 4 are both top-ranked teams seeking their first team titles in more than a decade. Grand Rapids Catholic Central, Essexville Garber, Charlevoix and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian are teams ranked among the top three in their divisions seeking a first Finals win. There will be four new individual medalists as well, as all four of last season’s were seniors.
Play begins both Friday and Saturday at 10 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 Ferris State’s Katke Golf Course
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice, 2. Detroit Catholic Central, 3. Hartland.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice: The Warriors are seeking their first Finals championship since 2012, and after finishing sixth a year ago with just one senior in the lineup. Five of those golfers are back (including two who played a round apiece at the 2025 Final) and three placed among the top 11 individuals as Brother Rice won its Regional at Milford’s Mystic Creek in a tie-breaker over DCC. Sophomore William Smidt was the Regional medalist, senior Rocco Iabobelli tied for fourth and senior Joseph Karoutsos tied for 11th.
Detroit Catholic Central: The Shamrocks are seeking a third-straight Division 1 title and fourth over the last five seasons. Although they finished second with that tie-breaker at the Regional, senior David Krusinski tied for fourth, senior Jack Whitmore and junior Kyle Chong tied for seventh and senior Collin Davis tied for 11th. Krusinski, Whitmore and Davis were part of last season’s lineup, Whitmore finishing second in the individual standings and missing out on first by just a stroke. Krusinski and Whitmore were part of the 2024 championship lineup as well.
Hartland: The Eagles are seeking their first championship since winning Class A in 1997, and making their first appearance at the Finals since 2021. Hartland advanced this time with a Regional championship at Dunham Hills in Hartland, carding a 297 led by junior Aidan Oake tying for fourth individually. All five Eagles scored counted 73-76 strokes and placed among the top 10 (with ties), with senior Wyatt Johnson and junior Liam Kastamo tying for sixth and senior Michael Maurin and sophomore Jase Sensor tying for 10th.
Individuals: Five of last season’s top 15 (top 10 with ties) will return this weekend. Warren De La Salle Collegiate junior Julian Sinishtaj placed just behind DCC’s Whitmore last season, one stroke back in third, and Rochester Adams junior Nick Smith (sixth), Holland West Ottawa senior William Nagelvoort (tied for eighth) and Brighton senior Adam Forcier (tied for 10th) also are in the field this weekend. They’ll be joined by a new wave of contenders. Along with Brother Rice’s Smidt, Regional champions last week were Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern senior Mathieu Duflo, Midland Dow junior David Han, Utica Eisenhower junior Dylan Zahuranic, Brighton senior Brandon Lovejoy and junior Grady Bissett, and Berkley sophomore Jonah Sterling.
Division 2 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Christian, 2. Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 3. Grand Rapids Catholic Central.
Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles won last year’s championship, their second in three seasons, by nine strokes and return the individual runner-up in senior Cooper Reitsma and third-place (tie) finisher in senior Sawyer O’Grady, plus another starter in senior Ty Erickson. O’Grady was first and Reitsma second as Grand Rapids Christian won their Regional at Clearbrook in Saugatuck with a 303.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central: The Cougars won Division 3 in 2021 and 2023, and will make a run at the Division 2 team title after sending only Tommy Preston to the Finals as an individual qualifier last season. He finished 17th as a freshman and leads a lineup that won its Regional by a stroke last week at Katke, as he finished fourth and sophomore Brady Berkemeier placed ninth.
Grand Rapids South Christian: The Sailors finished fourth last season and entered this postseason ranked fourth, and finished second and six strokes back at Clearbrook last week. Junior Harris Hoekwater – who tied for eighth at last year’s Final – tied for third and senior Caleb Krosschell tied for eighth at last week’s Regional. Junior Drew Vanderheide also is back from last spring’s championship lineup.
Individuals: Now-seniors Andrew Chang and Henry Delzer tied for third and fifth, respectively, in leading Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood’s Finals lineup last spring. East Grand Rapids’ junior JP Levan returns after finishing seventh, Ada Forest Hills Eastern junior Jack Klimek is back after tying for eighth, and Allendale junior Sumner Meekhof will return looking to build on his tie for 10th. Add in the Grand Rapids Christian pair and seven of the top 11 (top 10 with ties) will play again this weekend, with Meekhof, O’Grady and Chang winning Regional titles last week and joined as well by Detroit Country Day senior Yousef Darwich, Bay City Western senior Drew Goik and Parma Western freshman Bentley Coon in topping their respective standings.
Division 3 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top-ranked: 1. Jackson Lumen Christi, 2. Essexville Garber, 3. Grosse Ile.
Jackson Lumen Christi: The Titans carded a 292 Regional score last week, 16 strokes lower than any other team in Division 3 as they prepare to play for a repeat Finals title. They placed four of the top five scorers at Cascades in Jackson – junior Gabe Cooper was medalist, junior Brandon Kulka second, junior Carson Spencer third and freshman Sam Swihart tied for fourth. Kulka tied for third as Lumen won last season’s Final by 13 strokes.
Essexville Garber: The Dukes finished fourth at last year’s Final and are seeking their first top-two finish since placing second in 1999. The top four scorers from last year’s championship weekend all are back, and all placed among the top 10 as Garber won its Regional last week by 26 strokes at Scenic Golf & Country Club in Pigeon. Senior Devin Dueweke was second, senior Jonah Williams and freshman Nicholas Zeilinger tied for third, senior Lucas Schiefer tied for seventh and junior Aaron Theisen was 10th. Williams tied for eighth at last year’s Final.
Grosse Ile: After finishing sixth at last year’s Final, Grosse Ile will make a run at a first title since 2003 starting five seniors including three from last season’s lineup. The Red Devils finished second to Lumen Christi at their Cascades Regional with those three seniors leading the way; Nicholas Joly-Naso tied for fourth, Braden Chessor tied for sixth and Luke Lazorka tied for 10th.
Individuals: Along with Lumen Christi’s Kulka, Chesaning junior Luke Skaryd and Grand Rapids West Catholic senior Owen Kotowski tied for third at last season’s Final. Clare junior Bryce Wieferich is back after tying for sixth, with Garber’s Williams gives this field five of last year’s top nine returning. Grandville Calvin Christian senior Will Orme also will play after finishing ninth in LPD4 last spring. Joining Lumen Christi’s Cooper among Regional champs last week were Elk Rapids sophomore Blake Springstead, North Muskegon junior Luke Jones, Schoolcraft freshman Toby Degroote, Saginaw Valley Lutheran sophomore Reid Schisler and Ann Arbor Greenhills junior Keating Holland.
Division 4 at Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, 2. Charlevoix, 3. Muskegon Western Michigan Christian.
Auburn Hills Oakland Christian: The Lancers are pursuing their first Finals championship since 2011, and their 324 Regional score last week at The Fountains in Clarkston was the third-lowest in all of Division 4 even as it placed only second to Riverview Gabriel Richard’s 319 at that tournament. Sophomore Silas Combs was the medalist and could make a big jump this weekend after tying for 41st at least year’s Final in leading Oakland Christian to a 12th-place team finish. He’s one of four starters back from that lineup.
Charlevoix: The Rayders carded a 327 at their Regional at Birchwood Farms in Harbor Springs to finish first and book a return to the Finals. Seniors Bryce Boss and Joe Gaffney tied for third and junior Maxwell Drenth finished ninth at the Regional, and all three were also in the lineup when Charlevoix finished sixth at the 2024 Division 4 Final. The Rayders are seeking their first title and finished runner-up in 2014.
Muskegon Western Michigan Christian: WMC also is seeking a first championship and finished runner-up most recently in 2010. The Warriors advanced to the Finals for the first time since 2019 with a runner-up finish to No. 6 McBain Northern Michigan Christian at the Regional at Crystal Mountain’s Betsie Valley in Thompsonville. Junior Lucas Weare tied for third, junior Ian Vanderstelt tied for seventh and senior Zach Weare and junior Braeden Olsen tied for 10th.
Individuals: Senior Isaiah Ponstine from Wyoming Potter’s House Christian is the highest-returning placer from a year ago, when he tied for fifth, and NMC’s Blair Dezeeuw and Traverse City Christian’s Joey Mirabelli are back after tying for seventh. Joining Combs among Regional champs this time were Leland junior Hayden Vansteenhouse, NMC junior Dries Vannoord, Springport junior Brody Baum, Hillsdale Academy junior Edward Keaster and Bay City All Saints sophomore Robby Taylor.
PHOTO Essexville Garber’s Devin Dueweke tees off during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Veteran Comets Prepping for Title Run
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2018
KALAMAZOO – Golf, barbeque and honoring Martin Luther King Jr. are on the agenda for Kalamazoo Christian’s boys golf team during spring break.
The six varsity players, coach Brian Seifert and their families are headed to Memphis next week.
“We plan to take in a couple of golf courses down there and also have the opportunity to play the TPC Southwind that hosts the FEDEX St. Jude Classic, so we’re excited about that,” Seifert said.
“We’re going to be at the Martin Luther King Jr. 50th anniversary of his assassination on the actual day, April 4, so it’s a little bit of an inspiration trip along with the golf to get us focused for a big run on the year.
“We’ll be down there to play some golf and eat some barbeque.”
Three of the Comets, who as a team finished third at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final last year, had a bit of a delay in starting this season.
They were part of the K-Christian basketball team that lost in the Class D Quarterfinals last Tuesday.
While the rest of the golfers were already practicing, seniors Colin Sikkenga and John Cramer plus junior Ben Cramer did not pick up the clubs until Wednesday.
“The speeds are a lot different,” John Cramer said of the two sports. “After a little bit, you start to get used to golf again. The first week and a half or so, it’s a little tough to make that transition.”
Next sport, new home
Once they make that transition, the team will start the journey to what it hopes is another shot at an MHSAA title.
“It’s tough to win,” Sikkenga said. “It’s just two days of 18 holes. You’ve just got to get really hot those two days.
“That’s what it comes down to. Anyone can really win it. It just depends on how well you play those two days.”
Last season’s three other varsity golfers also are back: senior Derek Block and juniors Elijah Devries and Josh Bouma.
Although they lost their former home course when Thornapple Creek Golf Club closed last year, they moved to a closer one: Kalamazoo Country Club.
“That is pretty awesome,” said Sikkenga, a finalist for the coaches association’s Mr. Golf Award last year. “I’m excited. Hackett (Catholic Prep) would do their invite there, and I’ve done that since freshman year.”
The country club has not been home to a high school team in 40 years, according to Seifert.
“After 40 years, they said maybe this is the year to do it, and our ‘ask’ was at the right time,” he said. “It’s a matter of timing.”
Two of the golfers, Ben Cramer and Bouma, both caddy there in the summer and know the course layout very well.
“That will help,” Cramer said. “But most of us on the team have played the course quite a few times.”
Valuable experiences
Sikkenga and the Cramer brothers all started swinging the clubs at a very young age, but in different ways.
Sikkenga’s parents do not play golf, while dad Rick Cramer had a membership at Thornapple and started his sons in the sport.
“I had the Little Tike’s blue plastic club and I just started hitting balls,” Sikkenga said. “I loved to hit the ball really far. I think that’s why I liked it so much.”
Hitting the long ball is just one asset that put the scratch golfer on varsity all four years.
“The thing about Colin that is good for everybody else in his leadership is that he is so patient playing golf,” Seifert said of his senior captain. “That’s a real important asset to have in golf because it just takes so long to get around, and you get groups that get stacked up on top of each other.
“Nothing rattles him. That’s a real bonus when you’re playing golf.”
Sikkenga will attend Oakland University on a golf scholarship with an eye on a pro career.
“My goal since I’ve been little has been to play professionally,” he said. “It’s definitely a goal that is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.”
Oakland golf coach Nick Pumford talked about Sikkenga on the college’s web site.
"Colin brings a lot of national exposure and experience to our program,” he said. “Not only has Colin tested his game against the best players in the country, he's had success doing so.
“I'm looking forward to Colin carrying over that success and experience into our program next season.”
Besides playing their opponents, the Cramers also compete against each other.
“Oh yeah, there’s always a competition with my brother,” John Cramer said. “We always compare scores after the round. I usually win.”
But when a threesome includes their dad, “We’re pretty competitive because we’re all pretty much around the same kind of scoring level,” Ben Cramer said.
“It’s all fun, but our dad usually wins. He’s better than both of us.”
Let the fun begin
While the brothers share camaraderie on the course, one thing they do not share is their clubs.
“His are too short for me,” the 6-foot-5 Ben Cramer said. “(John) is 5-7.”
Seifert calls John Cramer the Magic Man.
“He can get up and down from spaces that most people can’t,” the coach said. “He likes to scramble when he plays golf. It’s not uncommon for him to run together five, six long putts in a row for par or birdie just to keep the round going.
“Golf’s a matter of streaks sometimes. You get on a roll, and he can find those sometimes and put quality rounds together.”
It is also a mental game, Ben Cramer said.
“You have to be focused all the time when you’re around the ball. You have to focus on how far you’re hitting, what the wind’s doing.”
Cramer describes himself as the jokester of the team.
“I joke around a lot,” he said. “I lighten the mood. I’m never really sad.”
Seifert agreed.
“Ben carries us well with his humor,” he said. “The whole team is a load of fun to be with. For him, he’s so quiet and unassuming that you would never know if he’s having a good round or a bad round. It’s kind of like calling him patient.
“He doesn’t get down on himself. I think that’s where I noticed him being the most improved last year. He got better with each shot. Even if he did hit a bad shot, the next one was right on the money.”
None of the three boys have had hole-in-one, but their coach, who is a pastor at Milwood Community Church, has had two.
“My mom taught me to play golf when I was 5, and I haven’t stopped since,” said Seifert, who grew up outside of Seattle.
“For a number of years I managed a golf resort, so I played a lot of golf that way.”
In addition to his two aces, “I also had a double eagle, an albatross,” he said. “I’ll take that.
“Golf’s meant to be having fun, and it’s hard to score when you’re not having fun. If you’re not enjoying it, there’s no point doing it.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Kalamazoo Christian’s Ben Cramer lines up a putt. (Middle top) Clockwise from top left: Kalamazoo Christian coach Brian Seifert, senior Colin Sikkenga, senior John Cramer and junior Ben Cramer. (Middle) Seifert, left, and Sikkenga survey the scene during play last season. (Below) John Cramer putts last spring. (Action photos by Daniel J. Cooke [top two] and Cheryl TenBrink, head shots by Pam Shebest.)