Brown, Bark River-Harris Repeat in UPD3
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 28, 2015
ESCANABA — St. Ignace High School was represented by just one golfer at Thursday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Girls Final.
Senior Margo Brown, however, represented her school admirably by earning medalist honors with an 83 at the Escanaba Country Club.
“It’s a beautiful day,” said Brown, who will play basketball at Ferris State University next winter. “It was a little windy, but it wasn’t that big a thing. I like this course. It’s pretty open and it’s in pretty good shape. I think the rain we got last (Wednesday) night helped a little.”
This marked the third consecutive year Brown was crowned individual champion. She also won Division 3 in 2013 and captured the Division 2 title a year ago.
Bark River-Harris retained its team title with 439 strokes. Crystal Falls Forest Park went home with the runner-up trophy for the second straight year with 457, and third-place Engadine had 464 on this sunny and mild day.
“That’s a very tough task, especially in D-3 with so many good teams,” said BR-H coach Scott Farnsworth. “All of the girls improved through the season. They put a lot of time and effort into their game. I don’t put any pressure on the kids. I just stress working hard in practice. Many of the girls play during the summer. For the most part, they know and understand the game. They do the work. I just offer them guidance.”
Forest Park coach Harold Payne was pleased with the runner-up finish.
“This was absolutely a solid performance by our girls,” he said. “I’m very proud of their performance today. We have one senior who has played for a year. Our junior (Annie Taylor) who placed fifth today means a lot to our team. She keeps improving every year and our two freshmen have come a long way. Both of our freshmen hadn’t played much golf before this year. We’re very pleased, especially for having only four girls. All of them did what they were supposed to do. Our (Skyline Central) conference represents itself well.”
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BR-H junior Hannah Starnes and DeTour sophomore Madison Wilke shared the individual runner-up spot at 92.
Brown stated with a double-bogey on No. 1 and finished with a 43 on the front nine. She followed with 40 on the back.
“When you have a bad hole, you’ve got to shake it off and do better on the next hole,” she said. “My irons were pretty good. My drives were decent, and I started making good putts. On the back nine I was ready to go. Number 10 was a pretty good hole. After Number 10, I knew I was going to have a pretty good back nine.”
Starnes improved by two strokes from a year ago on this course.
“The first nine holes were pretty rough, but the back nine went better,” she said. “My swing felt a lot smoother once I got into a rhythm. My second shot got better this year. I struggled with my woods last year, but I worked on that extensively and feel more comfortable with my whole game.”
Wilke added a stroke to last year’s score.
“I had a lot of bad shots,” said Wilke. “It was a lot of different things at different times, although I’m pleased to come out of here as a runner-up. I think everyone was nervous today.”
PHOTOS: (Top) St. Ignace's Margo Brown watches a shot on hole No. 6 at Escanaba Country Club on Thursday. (Middle) Bark River-Harris' Hannah Starnes sizes up a shot on No. 3. (Photos by Keith Shelton.)
Offer Sisters Too Good to be Refused in Leading Forest Hills Central to First Finals Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
October 17, 2026
EAST LANSING — For Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central girls golf head coach Ann Offer, the original plan once her daughters Alivia and Abigail got to high school was just to be a parent and follow them around the course.
Ann Offer and her husband got their girls into the game when they were young, and there were constant foursomes and training sessions as they were growing up – so just rooting them on as a parent seemed natural.
But before last season, Forest Hills Central needed a head coach, and essentially Ann Offer said, “Why not?” and pursued the gig.
“I’m so happy I did, because there are moments I’ll never get back,” she said. “I get to spend time with my girls, be with an amazing team, and we made history, right?”
Indeed they did, as the Rangers claimed their first Finals championship in girls golf by winning Division 2 this weekend at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West.
Motivated by a third-place finish last year in Ann Offer’s first as coach, Forest Hills Central finished with a two-day score of 642, well ahead of the 687 carded by runner-up South Lyon.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (713), Grand Rapids Christian (720) and Muskegon Reeths-Puffer rounded out the top five.
Forest Hills Central entered Saturday’s second round with a 17-shot lead and only added to it as the day progressed.
“We were like, ‘You’ve got to get to the center of the green,’” Offer said. “Don’t (be) pin hunting because these are tough pins here.”
Leading the way for Forest Hills Central was Alivia Offer, a junior who won the medalist honor after finishing in a tie for sixth last year.
She shot a 72 on Friday and followed with a 77 on Saturday for a two-day total of 149, six shots ahead of Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Eleanor O’Grady (155). Muskegon Reeths-Puffer's Sophia McCollum, last season's medalist, and Farmington Hills Mercy's Megan Guerrera tied for third.
Offer shot a 1-under 35 on the front nine during the second round.
“I just stuck with my process,” she said. “Trust in myself and thinking about all the great things I had with my team. My mom’s the coach, and my sister is on the team. I was just trusting in my game. My iron play was really good, so that was really helpful.”
Abigail Offer was next for Forest Hills Central, placing seventh with a two-day score of 162 (83-79). Junior Camille Tierney (164) and senior Carolina Vandervelde (167) rounded out the top four for the Rangers.
In addition to the future being bright for Forest Hills Central, the same can be said for a South Lyon team that wasn’t highly-ranked going in, but achieved its best finish in a two-day Final.
South Lyon won Division 2 in 2020, but that season’s Final was played as a single round due to COVID-19 precautions.
Leading the way this time was freshman Presley Kiehler, who was fifth individually with a 158.
Lions head coach Kurt Bernas said one reason his team might not have been highly-ranked going into the tournament was that he made it a point to play lots of players during the season, given he had 26 golfers in the program.
“I rotate them and I tried to give them a little bit of a rest,” Bernas said. “I never really played my top five at the same time, but maybe once or twice. We kind of were under the radar a little bit. But it’s only because I wanted to give them a rest and not wear them out. In years past, we’ve played them every single time, and were ranked really high, but then they were tired by the time they got to this. So I tried something different this year.”
PHOTOS (Top) Forest Hills Central's Alivia Offer follows a tee shot during Saturday's Division 2 Final. (Middle) Muskegon Reeths-Puffer's Sophia McCollum follows through on an iron shot during her second round. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)