Suttons Bay Makes History - Again
June 6, 2015
By Dean Holzwarth
Special for Second Half
ALLENDALE – Nine years ago, the Suttons Bay boys golf team won the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final at The Meadows of Grand Valley State University with four seniors and an underclassmen.
History repeated itself Saturday afternoon.
Suttons Bay claimed its first Division 4 championship in nine years by clipping runners-up North Muskegon and Grosse Point Woods University Liggett by two strokes.
Suttons Bay finished at 675, while North Muskegon and University Liggett closed at 677.
“It was very similar from nine years ago in many ways, and this is an incredible feeling,” Suttons Bay coach Todd Hursey said. “I’m just so happy for these seniors, and this was a week where I felt like we were coming in as the underdogs. But I knew we had a shot.
“For these guys to stay resilient on a tough course in these kind of conditions was just amazing.”
Suttons Bay shot 334 Friday and trailed North Muskegon by one shot entering the final round, but made up ground by shooting a 341 Saturday.
Suttons Bay’s title run was even more satisfying given it didn’t make it to the MHSAA Finals a year ago after placing fourth at Regionals.
“We didn’t have a lot of experience in the state finals and that was a concern, but a key to this team was they were able to stay relaxed in some real pressure situations,” Hursey said. “It’s a tough sport to keep composure, but watching them for the 36 holes I had a great feeling about the final result because of how they handed it.”
Senior Devin Capron finished runner-up by two strokes after shooting 148 (73-75).
Senior Lars Thornton carded a 165 (83-82), while Chris Jasinski shot 181 (91-90) and Mason Rohback had a 185 (87-98). Freshmen Thomas Hursey shot 188 (94-94).
“I’m amazed, and I’m so excited,” Capron said. “We’ve been dreaming of this since we were freshmen, and this was our goal. I think there was less pressure being underdogs coming in, and our team has worked super hard. We hadn’t reached our full potential this year, and it’s very special for the seniors.”
Capron qualified as an individual a year ago and placed fourth. He was much happier to have his join him this time around and wasn’t upset at all about finishing second individually behind Leland’s Joel Sneed.
“I wasn’t playing for myself today, and I didn’t care if I won individually,” he said. “I just wanted my team to do well, and we did and we pulled it off.
“I thought I played really well today and kept my head after shooting 41 on the front, but Joel is a great player. I’ve played with him all year, and he’s in our conference. I love to see him win.”
University Liggett was seeking to win its first MHSAA Final in 33 years, but had to settle for its best finish since its last title.
“They fought hard, but we’re disappointed with the result,” said University Liggett coach Dan Sullivan. “Our scores all year have been much better, but this is a very difficult track and we came up two strokes short. Give credit where credit is due to Suttons Bay. They did the dance.”
University Liggett was led by senior Stephen Campau’s 161 (81-80) total.
“It’s tough for me because I had four seniors out there, and this was our one shot to do it so that’s frustrating,” Sullivan said. “But it is a pretty successful season to finish second in the state. That’s pretty good stuff, but just bittersweet.”
North Muskegon was paced by junior Will Mierz, who finished in the top 10 for the second year in a row with a 159 (80-79) total.
Sneed, a senior, repeated as individual champion after firing an even-par 72 on Saturday. He shot 74 on Friday and finished at 146.
“I played really good golf,” Sneed said. “I was a little stagnant early on and made a couple of good putts, but it was just a good steady round. Nothing spectacular.”
Sneed was in a competitive battle with first-round leader Noah Schneider of Jackson Christian, and Capron.
He created breathing room on his 16th hole, the par-5 first hole.
“I played the par-5s horribly until No. 1,” said Sneed, who will play for the University of Nebraska in the fall. “I hit the best drive of my life probably and had 130 yards in. I hit a 52 degree (wedge) to 12 feet and made eagle. I kind of felt a little separation there, and I three-putted my last hole but it didn’t cost me.”
Sneed trailed Schroeder by two strokes after an opening round 74, but liked his position.
“I was right where I wanted to be,” he said. “I didn’t want to shoot 74, but I found that I’m a little more comfortable playing from behind, especially playing with the leader. The pressure is not on you, and you know exactly where you are. It was a nice setup going into the second day.”
Sneed recorded a pair of birdies to go with his eagle.
“It hasn’t really sunk in that I won, but it’s my swan song going out with a state championship,” he said. “It’s the best way to finish my career.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Suttons Bay came back Saturday to earn its first MHSAA championship since 2006. (Middle) Leland's Joel Sneed won his second straight individual title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).
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.)