Cass City's Langenburg Rolling Into Final Focused on Her Game, Not Her Finish
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2026
Lindsey Langenburg knew she was in the middle of a great round during the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Girls Golf Regional at Twin Brooks Golf Club in Chesaning.
But in order to keep it going, she tried as hard as she could to block out how great she was playing.
“It gets a little nerve-racking,” the Cass City senior said. “I remember the whole round, I wouldn’t check the scoreboard. The girls I was playing with were like, ‘Lindsey, you’re in first.’ I was like, ‘Don’t tell me that.’ Going into it, my mom and dad and coach were like, you know what you’re doing, just go out there and give it your best.”
Langenburg shot an 81 on Oct. 6, winning the Regional and leading Cass City to a second-place finish as a team, qualifying for the Division 4 Final which takes place Friday and Saturday at The Meadows in Allendale.
It was the best round of Langenburg’s life and tied for the third-best regional round in all of Division 4.
“I was feeling pretty good,” Langenburg said. “I was just trying to focus on not overthinking and taking it one stroke at a time. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I just wanted to play each hole by itself. My short game (was working). My chips were right up close to the pin, so I had some pretty good one-putts. My putting was definitely there, too.”
Langenburg’s Regional breakout was a crowning achievement during an already strong senior season. She finished first, or tied for first, in six of the eight Big Thumb Conference Jamborees this fall, and tied for first in the Big Thumb Conference Tournament.
“Last year, I was shooting in the high 40s, low 50s,” Langenburg said. “This year, I dropped down to the low 40s. I had a lot of practice all summer. I was out every day, hitting the range, hitting the course. I was just a lot more focused this year with it.”
Cass City coach Eric Tamlyn said Langenburg took her game to a new level this season, something he knew was right there all along.
“Lindsey always had the ability to bounce back and not let an early bogey or double get in her head,” Tamlyn said. “I think Lindsey kind of put together the round at Regionals we all knew she could. She had been shooting some mid and low 40s. From a fundamental standpoint, she’s just very solid.”
One major change Langenburg made this season was with the club she’s using near the green, switching from a pitching wedge to a sand wedge for her chip shots.
“Last year, I couldn’t get on the green to save my life,” she said. “I had a lot of three-putts and four-putts. I think it was that I hadn’t worked on it so much, because last year I was more focused on working on my irons. (Short game) is a lot of feel, and I think I just got more of a feel for it this year. The sand wedge around the green definitely changed a lot, because it has a higher loft to get it up there. Confidence, especially with pitching, is big. So many times you can get up to the ball and be like, ‘I hope I don’t hit the ground and duff this shot.’ Especially during Regionals, I would tell myself, ‘You know how to chip. Just get up there and trust yourself.’”
Langenburg plans to take her Regional mindset into the Final, and she’s already blocking out the fact her 81 makes her a serious all-state contender, or better, in her third Finals trip.
“Honestly, I’m just focusing on being relaxed,” Langenburg said. “I don’t want to get out there and worry about every shot or try to kill the ball. I’m really focused on tempo and keeping a rhythm.”
Having her teammates with her for the second-straight year will also help Langenburg relax, as classmates Lexi Tamlyn and Lily Jaworski, as well as junior Jaidyn Vanvliet and sophomore Nevaeh Stevens were all part of the Red Hawks’ runner-up finish at the Regional.
“Going alone (as a sophomore), it was my first year playing, so it was a little scary,” Langenburg said. “It was nice knowing my teammates were out there playing the same course – and also, being able to talk to them between days about the course.”
It’s a repayment, of sorts, as Langenburg’s presence was massive this season, not only for scores, but in helping get the younger players ready for this part of the season.
“This year was a little bit different, because Lindsey’s level raised so much, and she was either winning league matches or coming in second,” Eric Tamlyn said. “Lexi had herself a really good year, as well, so we were able to have some of our sophomores, juniors and one of our seniors, usually, step up. That all kind of materialized into a team that was competitive in the league, but we usually ran up against a Millington team that was really talented. We gave them a good run at Regionals; we only lost by six strokes.”
Tamlyn’s outlook on the Final is much like Langenburg’s, as he’s hoping she and her teammates can relax and play their game, and from there the scores will take care of themselves.
“I think that, culturally speaking, making the Finals is usually the goal,” he said. “Winning the Regionals and making the Finals is usually the goal. A lot of what we’re going to stress this week is trying to make the most of this moment and enjoy it. The girls get to go have fun on a world-class golf course. Let’s try to compete, try to have fun and soak up the moment.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Cass City’s Lindsey Langenburg tees off during a match this season. (Middle) Langenburg lines up a putt. (Below) The Red Hawks have advanced to this season’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final as a team after finishing runner-up at their Regional. (Photos by Danielle Laming/Cass City Schools.)
GR Catholic Central Earns 1st Finals Title, Timpf Claims 3rd Medalist Honor
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2023
ALLENDALE – Adverse weather conditions couldn’t prevent the Grand Rapids Catholic Central girls golf team from making school history.
Despite two days of rain, wind and chilly temperatures, the Cougars overcame the elements to win their first Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final.
Catholic Central shot a 673 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State to win by 12 strokes.
Williamston finished runner-up with a 685, while 2022 champion Macomb Lutheran North (696) was third.
“It’s exciting,” Catholic Central coach Kim Napieralski said. “Just think about it. The boys had their first a couple years ago, and now the girls have their first. We’re on a roll.
“The good news about this weather is I have mudders for players. They don’t care about the conditions as much as some other teams perhaps. It was hard to get through the puddles of water, but they just kept playing.”
Lutheran North senior Lauren Timpf won the medalist honor, claiming her third individual Finals title. She became the seventh golfer in MHSAA Lower Peninsula girls golf history to achieve the feat, carding a 5-under-par 67 to finish with a two-round 141.
The Cougars’ previous best team finish at the Finals was fifth, which happened last year, but they got contributions from across the line-up to prevail.
“It’s been that way all season,” said Napieralski, who returned three of her top four golfers from a year ago. “A couple of girls at the top and then our three, four, five and sometimes even six. It could switch up any day. We go really deep as far as talent across the board.”
Junior Ava Wisinski led the Cougars with a 158 and finished sixth individually.
“I'm just so proud of my teammates," Wisinski said. “We knew it was going to be a challenge when we went into it, but we really stuck it out and it was a good fight.
“It was really wet out there, but I think we did well despite the conditions.”
Sophomore Kelly Preston also placed in the top 10 with a 159, while sophomores Margaret Deimel and Sofia Piccione and senior Katie Cook also played well.
Cook, the team’s lone senior, said it was even sweeter to win in her final tournament.
“I’ve been on the team since my freshman year, and just seeing it grow has been awesome,” Cook said. “We worked so hard to get here. We’ve had a really good season, and our depth is where we shine and we can all put together good scores on any day.
“We came into today thinking we were even with everyone around us. The conditions were awful, and half of it was playing golf, but half the battle was dealing with the conditions out there. It was really hard, but we did it. We were willing to battle through it.”
Catholic Central opened with a 334 and led Lutheran North and Williamston by 18 strokes heading into the final round.
“It was important to play well the first day and it felt good, but we came into today with the mentality that we’re going first day again,” Napieralski said. “We are all even, straight up.”
Timpf fired a first-day 74 and was tied with Spring Lake’s Zoe Dull entering the final 18 holes. Dull and Grand Rapids Christian’s Lillian O’Grady both finished with two-day totals of 149 to tie for second.
“I know I didn’t play my best golf yesterday, and I just really tried to block it out of my head and know that I am capable of going low,” Timpf said. “Since it was my senior year and last high school tournament, it just really meant the world to me to come out here. I've been working all four years to try and accomplish this goal, and to just come back from where I started today and end up winning is super special.”
Timpf recorded a double-bogey on her first hole, but recovered with four straight birdies on the back nine.
“After the first hole I thought that I’m not going to win this if I don't start making some putts,” Timpf said. “I started draining a bunch of birdie putts, especially on the back nine, and that got it going for me.
Williamston was tied with Lutheran North entering Saturday, and the two teams were still knotted on the back nine.
“What my girls did the last hour and a half is kind of a blur to me,” Hornets coach Brian Kent said. “We started making putts, we started making chips and I thought for the first time in school history we are in the top five and might get state runner-up.”
The Hornets shot a 333, the lowest in the final round. This was their first top-two Finals finish.
“I'm proud of my team,” Kent said. “I knew on day one of practice that we had a special team, but this is not what I thought. This course is tough on a good day, let alone with these conditions. We all had to play the same conditions, but they were hitting greens and fairways all day long and that's what saved us.”
Leading the way for Williamston was junior Nicole Schafer, who finished fourth overall with rounds of 77 and 73.
Freshman Paige Radebach and seniors Ellie Thorburn and Allison Kane rounded out the top four.
PHOTOS (Top) Grand Rapids Catholic Central's Ava Wisinski follows a shot during the weekend's LP Divison 3 Final. (Middle) Macomb Lutheran North's Lauren Timpf putts during her run to a third medalist honor. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)