This Time, Cranbrook Kingswood Comes from 12 Back to Clinch Repeat Finals Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 6, 2026
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.
(Click for more photos from High School Sports Scene.)
Tawas Closes with History-Making Round
June 11, 2016
By Scott Keyes
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – It's no secret. Lansing Catholic has owned the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Golf Finals over the past decade.
After the Cougars rolled to a double-digit victory over Tawas at their Regional, it looked like they were primed to capture a fourth straight Division 3 title on a course they were quite familiar with in Forest Akers East on the campus of Michigan State University.
Think again.
Lansing Catholic wasn't in contention; however, the team that looked vulnerable at Regionals turned out to be he one everyone was chasing Saturday afternoon.
Tawas won its first-ever MHSAA Finals championship in any sport by overcoming a 13-stroke deficit on the final day.
Tawas shot a two-day score of 600 (303, 297), with Saturday's 297 setting a school record 18-hole round.
Jackson Lumen Christi came in second (603), Big Rapids took third (619), Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian took fourth (625) and Houghton Lake rounded out the top five (631).
"Tawas has never won a state championship in any team sport," ninth-year coach Keith Martin said. "So we were really excited, but thanks to the tracking we were able to do, we kind of knew we had it."
Martin knows in tournament play you never know what is going to happen until the final hole, so to watch his team overcome double-digit strokes was a huge accomplishment – not to mention doing so with a first championship on the line.
It appeared it wasn't Tawas' day through the first nine holes when the Braves fell 13 strokes behind perennial power Jackson Lumen Christi.
"We started out really slow on the front nine, and Lumen Christi was playing really well," Martin said. “One of our kids chipped in for eagle on the 10th, and the positive vibes spread pretty quick after that.
"Then we knocked in a couple birdies and really regained our composure."
After shooting 153 as a team on the front nine, sophomore Daniel Shattuck chipped-in on the 10th to start the momentum toward the team’s best nine-hole score this season, 144. Martin called that shot the turning point in the match, not to mention calling it one of the most incredible shots he’s witnessed first hand,
"We shot 144 on the back which is – that’s pretty dang good."
Shattuck said he was mulling through his round, but the shot gave him new life. He wound up shooting the best nine holes of his life.
"It's crazy how things work out," Shattuck said. "All you need is a break or a confidence boost, and that's what happened. I looked up and realized I made eagle in the final round of the state championship. It doesn't get any better than that."
Tawas has a six-man rotation, and two split one of the five spots in the Finals lineup.
Mason Buresh and Kyle Costigan played on Friday and Saturday, respectively, and combined to shoot a 153 – which finished third among the team’s five scores.
Buresh shot an 80 on Friday, while Andrew Volk had a consistent weekend with a 152 (74-78), which put him just two strokes outside the individual top 10.
Senior Bryce Myles who led the team with a two-day total of 148 – 73 Friday and 75 Saturday – and finished tied for fourth individually with a 148.
Winning the individual championship was Macomb Lutheran North's Scott Sparks with a 141; he also won an individual title two seasons ago as a sophomore. Dundee’s Justin Kane and Big Rapids’ Carter Bechaz tied for second at 147, and joining Myles at 148 were Freeland’s Benjamin Balen and Jackson Lumen Christi’s Will Double.
Myles said there was nothing like saving one of his best rounds of his career for his final high school tournament.
“To be able to win a state championship, finish all-state all in your final high school tournament is an incredible feeling," he said.
As for Lumen Christi, which was tied with Tawas after the first day and at one point held a 13-stroke lead – the Titans settled for their third runner-up finish over the past four seasons.
"Lumen Christi is an amazing program with a Hall of Fame coach," Martin said. "They played really well, but I guess it was our day today."
PHOTOS: (Top) Tawas’ Bryce Myles responds enthusiastically during Saturday’s second round of the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Middle) Macomb Lutheran North’s Scott Sparks watches a shot at Forest Akers East. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)