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.
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Pinili Aiming to Add Medalist Honor as Brother Rice Seeks Finals 3-Peat
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
June 8, 2023
The phrase the “third time is a charm” might often be trite and overplayed, but it also couldn’t apply more to Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice senior golfer Lorenzo Pinili.
Two years ago as a sophomore, Pinili finished as the individual runner-up at the Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final, five shots out of first at Bedford Valley in Battle Creek.
Last year, Pinili was the runner-up again at Grand Valley State, valiantly rallying from an opening-round score of 76 to shoot a 68 on the second day at The Meadows, but still ending six shots behind.
Both years, Brother Rice won the team title, so Pinili still left happy.
But no doubt, he hopes the third time will be the charm from an individual point of view when he competes at this weekend’s Division 2 Final at The Fortress in Frankenmuth.
“This year, I definitely have a lot more motivation to finish first,” he said. “It’s a lot of patience. That’s what it is. I just have to trust my game and not really force anything. That’s what most people try to do. If they know they want to get a win or know they want to play well, they’re going to start forcing shots that’s out of their comfort zone or do stuff they don’t really do.”
Pinili, who will play collegiately at Michigan State, has been hitting a lot of good shots throughout a golfing life that started when he was 2 years old.
In fact, while Pinili has no recollection of the moment he took up the game, his father Rommel has reminded him constantly throughout his life.
“He said that I picked up a stick while the TV was on and I tried to copy what was on TV,” Pinili said. “From there, he gave me a plastic club, and he gave me real balls. He thought I was making good contact. From there, he gave me real metal clubs, and I was able to hit balls. There’s actually a video on YouTube that you can find of me hitting golf balls at the range when I was 2. From there, it’s been with me my whole entire life.”
Pinili said if there’s one area of his game that has evolved more than any other since he began high school, it’s performing when the stakes are the highest.
Brother Rice associate coach David Sass echoed those sentiments about Pinili’s enhanced ability to stay even-keeled mentally under pressure.
“He has a tendency to have such a high level of expectation for his game, that can kind of prohibit him from looking beyond a simple mistake,” he said. “He’s been really good about doing that lately. Golf is very hard, and it’s really about managing your mistakes. Perfection is basically unattainable in golf. If he stays patient, understands that, picks his spots on when to be aggressive, is aggressive in that moment, and then plays it smart during moments he shouldn’t be aggressive, I think he’s got an incredible chance to win this thing.”
One of the biggest competitors for Pinili this weekend could be someone in the same household.
Leandro Pinili, a sophomore, finished in a tie for ninth last year at the LPD2 Tournament, and definitely helps push Lorenzo to greater heights in the game.
“We share a lot of passion with the game together, and sometimes it gets a little too competitive just because he wants to beat me and I can’t let him beat me,” Lorenzo said. “It’s really nice having someone besides me who understands the side of golf that I understand. It’s also really fun being able to play with my brother and compete with him. I really love it, and that’s one of the biggest things I’m going to miss about Brother Rice golf.”
And no doubt, Brother Rice will definitely miss Lorenzo Pinili when he finishes his high school career on Saturday at a course he is looking forward to playing because it will require precise shots.
“I think it will separate the best from the rest of the pack,” he said. “You really can’t get away with anything out there.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties
PHOTOS (Top) Brother Rice's Lorenzo Pinili, right, tees off during the 2022 LP Division 1 Finals as Grand Rapids Christian's Adam Workman follows his shot. (Middle) The Warriors celebrate their second-straight team title, including Pinili (standing, third from left) and his younger brother Leandro (standing, fourth from right). Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)