Houghton Extends Finals Streak to 5
May 28, 2015
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
IRON MOUNTAIN – When most people think of the Upper Peninsula's Copper Country, snow (huge amounts) and ice hockey come to mind.
Golf likely would not even be on the radar for most people. There is only one 18-hole course – Portage Lake Golf Club is an excellent layout – in the entire region to go with five 9-hole tracks, and the season is just more than five months long, in a good year.
But the Houghton High School girls easily can convince the most serious doubter that golf is a very attractive and popular activity. They showed that again in a big way here Thursday, romping to their fifth straight Upper Peninsula Division 1 golf championship.
The smallest in the nine-school field posted a 416 total to thump perennial contender Marquette by 20 strokes. Third-place Escanaba had 438, and no one else was better than 510.
Adding additional credence to the golf paradise aura is freshman Kaaren Liston of Houghton, who was medalist with a 90 at the very challenging Pine Grove Country Club. She was five strokes ahead of Marquette's Sydney Higgins, the only other entrant to break 100.
"This was a normal spring. It was a bit different," Houghton coach Corey Markham said of the ability to get on the course in mid-April instead of almost a month later in 2014. "The key is getting out and play and work on your game. They strive to get better.
"There is a lot of pride in the streak. There is not a whole lot of pressure."
Liston said her putting was a key, noting only one 3-putt green. "When I needed to make one, I made it. My chips I got close (to the hole). My putting saved me most of the time," she said. Her driving "was iffy. I hit it straight or to the right."
Liston had a key moment on her ninth hole, which was No. 18 after she started on No. 10. She pounded a long drive into the left rough but needed four swings from 110 yards before finally sinking a putt for double-bogey 6.
"I knew I needed to kick it in gear on the next nine," she said of that stumble that left her with a 10-over 46.
Liston spent spring break in Hilton Head, S.C., with her brother Wyatt and Gunnar Stein, who helped Houghton also retain the boys title. "That really helped get my swing in shape," she said.
She did not bring high personal expectations to Pine Grove. "I try to live in the moment, play my game and don't let it get to my head," she said. "This is great. I'm so excited about this. This is the icing on the cake."
Markham said his freshman ace "has a bright future. She is really a strong golfer."
PHOTOS: (Top) The Houghton girls golf team poses with its MHSAA championship trophy, the fifth straight won by the program. (Middle) Kaaren Liston of Houghton chips out of the rough around the green Thursday at the Upper Peninsula Division 1 Final at Iron Mountain Pine Grove Country Club. Liston claimed medalist honors with a 90 to lead the Gremlins. (Below) Sam Henderson of Escanaba blasts out of a bunker on the eighth hole. She shot 112 to help the Eskymos finish third. (Photos by Dennis Grall.)
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.)