ALLENDALE — Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood boys golf coach John Minnich didn’t need to deliver a special inspirational or motivational speech to his team after the first day of this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals at The Meadows at Grand Valley State.

Instead, with his team in fifth place and trailing by 12 shots going into Saturday’s final round, Minnich resorted to simple math as the primary message.

“I said, ‘We were 15 back (after the first day) last year,”’ Minnich said. “We’re only 12 back. That’s three shots per player. That’s nothing. I said, ‘You guys are good. We can make up three shots per player.’”

Cranbrook did that and more, shooting a sizzling second-day score of 292 to rally and win its first Finals championship in boys golf since 2014. 

The Cranes finished with a two-day score of 602, four shots ahead of 2025 champion Grand Rapids Christian and five better than Grand Rapids Catholic Central.

On Saturday, Cranbrook got a 70 from freshman Tim Delzer, a 71 from senior Brennan Tato, a 74 from senior Henry Delzer and a 75 from senior Andrew Chang to complete the comeback – and in the opinion of Minnich, go down in history. 

“I’ve been telling these guys all year that they are the best team in the state regardless of division,” Minnich said. “Division 1, 2, 3, 4, you guys are the best team. That’s the deepest team I’ve had. I’ve got eight, nine guys that I can put in that rotation. I have said that if we could play eight and count six, nobody could touch us. This is probably my favorite team, my best team and my closest team.”

Minnich said one factor contributing to his team’s success was its starting position on the course. Cranbrook started on holes 15, 16 and 17, and holding firm on those holes at the beginning of the round paid dividends later on.

“Holes 15 through 18 on a lot of golf courses is the toughest stretch of holes on the course,” Minnich said. “We played those early in the round. I knew that if we could make up some shots or at least hold our ground early, that those other teams would have to play those holes down the stretch. We were already through them.”

Grand Rapids Christian was seeking its third title in four years, but had to settle for the runner-up trophy after holding a one-shot lead over Catholic Central after the first day. 

“I thought those kids fought really hard,” Grand Rapids Christian coach Kevin Broene said. “Golf is so difficult to play perfectly all the time with the ups and downs. I thought they played so hard today.” 

Individually, 18 holes weren’t enough to decide the medalist. 

East Grand Rapids junior JP Levan and DeWitt senior Justin Steinman finished with identical 1-under-par scores after 36 holes, creating a playoff to determine the winner. 

Steinman won on the second playoff hole, which was the par-5 No. 9. He hit his drive to roughly 220 yards from the green, hit a 6-iron to within 10 feet of the hole and two-putted from there for a birdie and the win.  

“It was a little nerve-racking, but it was fun,” said Steinman, who will play in college at Saginaw Valley State. “It was a blast. I love playoffs.” 

Ada Forest Hills Eastern junior Jack Klimek and Catholic Central sophomore Tommy Preston tied for third at 1-over-par. 

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