Manistique Shines on Graduation Day
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 30, 2015
ISHPEMING — It was a day Manistique senior Hailey Hoholik will remember for a long time as she led the Emeralds to their first Upper Peninsula Division 2 golf title in five years on Friday.
The Manistique girls finished with 419 strokes, followed by two-time defending champion Iron Mountain at 460 and Hancock with 496 at Wawonowin Country Club.
Hoholik also was crowned U.P. individual champion with 99 strokes, just hours before her high school graduation.
“We’ve been practicing all phases of the game,” said Hoholik, who will attend Lake Superior State University this fall. “My short game isn’t bad, but it could use a little more work. My tee shots were good. I was getting a lot of distance. The weather conditions were also good. It rained a little in the beginning, otherwise it wasn’t bad. There wasn’t much wind.”
Westwood’s Lauren Farley was runner-up at 102. She was followed by Manistique junior Rachel Ryan (104) and Emeralds sophomore teammate Lauren Page (106).
We certainly had a balanced effort,” said Emeralds’ coach Deb Taylor. “The girls worked hard for this all year, especially this past week. I think this is big for our golf program and our school. Hopefully, this will help motivate the girls.”
Hoholik became the first individual champion for the Manistique girls program since 2002, when Janelle Kemppainen earned medalist honors. Hoholik placed fourth in Division 1 a year ago, hitting a 97 on the Marquette Golf & Country Club’s Heritage course.
On Friday, however, Hoholik shot 50 through the halfway point and followed that with a 49 through the final nine holes at Wawonowin.
“Hailey kept her driver in her bag, which probably helped,” Taylor said. “Hailey is my niece and I’m very proud of her. In fact, I’m proud of all the girls. Rachel and Lauren should be solid for us next year. I’m already looking forward to next season.”
All five Manistique golfers earned All-U.P. honors by placing among the top 10. Iron Mountain’s Kathyrn Brown placed fifth with 108 strokes and Hancock’s McKenna Monticello was sixth at 109.
Manistique senior Maggie Morrison and Iron Mountain’s Cassie Feira shared seventh at 110, followed by West Iron County’s Madeline Waara at 112 and Manistique sophomore Brooke Whiskin at 113.
PHOTOS: (Top) Manistique poses with its MHSAA championship trophy after winning Friday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Final. (Middle) Manistique’s Hailey Hoholik unloads a drive on the way to earning the medalist honor. (Photos by Keith Shelton).
'Baker's Dozen' Continues Rapid Rise Earning Leland's 1st Trip to Girls Golf Final
By
Tom Spencer
Special for MHSAA.com
October 9, 2026
A lot has changed since Leland High School began offering girls golf just a decade ago.
Starting as a club sport with tremendous support from the Leland Country Club, the Comets began participation in MHSAA competition in 2021. These days, they are among Northern Michigan’s best Division 4 programs – and Tuesday qualified for the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final for the first time.
The Comets have done especially well considering more than 90 percent of their student-athletes had never picked up a club prior to entering high school.
Not many would have thought this rapid rise possible, but the team’s coaches – head coach Grace Keeble and assistant Kathy Wheeler, also a Leland teacher – are not among them.
“I don't think you can write a better script, really,” Keeble said. “I'm really excited for the girls. It is just so magical to be in the same sentence with Traverse City St. Francis and Elk Rapids.”
The Comets placed second to Elk Rapids at their Regional to qualify for next week’s Final. St. Francis also qualified for the LPD4 championship tournament, which will be played at The Meadows on the campus of Grand Valley State University.
“Leland has been very fortunate to have some incredible teams go to states,” Keeble acknowledged, referring to the Comets’ successes on the volleyball court and soccer pitch. “I am honored and excited that these girls get to be added to that list. We've been riding an incredible wave, and I just want to ride it out. I want these girls to just soak it up.”
Leland’s run to the Final started at last year’s Regional, where they fell just shy of advancing.
“We were fourth, and the girls looked at me – and there were three girls who were really close to making it as individuals – and they had a smile on their faces and a determined look, and they said, ‘Coach, we're going to states next year.’ And I looked at them and I said, ‘Let's keep up with the hard work and the determination.’”
With five seniors leading the way and a total of 13 golfers on the roster, the Comets started this fall destined to reach championship weekend. Four seniors – Ariah Amin, Maya Hamelin, Elise Vann and Lillian Conner – were a part of the Comets team that nearly made the Final last year. The fifth senior, Ella Hennessey, is playing her first year of golf. All five seniors took at least a half-dozen strokes off their averages this fall.
“I wholeheartedly believed they could do it,’ said Keeble, a retired teacher and avid golfer. “It’s been kind of a mantra since the end of the season last year. I have 13 magnificent girls, and for the first time ever in this program, a representation from every class, from freshman sophomore, junior and senior.”
Keeble likes to refer to the 13-player roster as her “baker’s dozen” pointing out it took all 13 to get the team where it is today.
“When I saw the magical number 13, I told them they were my baker's dozen, and they kind of just looked at me,” Keeble recalled. “Well, there's 13, and I don't like classifying if you're the number one player or you're my 13th player – you're a member of this team. There are six going to states with five playing and four scores counting, but it took all of them, and it was these seniors leading.”
The rest of the “baker’s dozen” consists of juniors Jaelyn DeFour and Sadie Hill, sophomores Lucy Baldwin, Ella Hamelin, Bryn Waskiewicz, Flora Wengreen and Ellie Yoffy; and Penelope Shank, a freshman.
All 13 golfers will be behind the fire truck as Leland hosts a parade Thursday to send the Comets to Allendale.
Conner, finishing fourth, and Hamelin, sixth, led the way at this week’s Regional, and Amin, 11th, and Vann, 15th, rounded out the scoring. DeFour was right behind the scorers in 17th, allowing the entire team to place among the overall top 20 individuals. That success was despite weather conditions hampering the Comets after they all shot personal bests during their previous most recent tournament in Cadillac, with the team’s top four scores there all under 100 for the first time in program history.
As the Comets prepare for the Final, Keeble has them focused on the upcoming experience, rather than the result. She expects her golfers to always focus on the next hole, even if the last wasn’t so good, and let the results fall where they may.
“I'm not a big believer of putting expectations of where you're going to place,” Keeble noted. “I'd rather have the girls enjoy the experience and come off a course and say, ‘Hey, coach, I just did the best I could.’”
Tom Spencer is a longtime MHSAA-registered basketball and soccer official, and former softball and baseball official, and he also has coached in the northern Lower Peninsula area. He previously has written for the Saginaw News, Bay County Sports Page and Midland Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Manistee, Wexford, Missaukee, Roscommon, Ogemaw, Iosco, Alcona, Oscoda, Crawford, Kalkaska, Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim, Otsego, Montmorency, Alpena, Presque Isle, Cheboygan, Charlevoix and Emmet counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Leland’s Jaelyn Defour tees off on the Sundance Course during Tuesday’s Division 4 Regional at A-Ga-Ming Golf Resort in Kewadin. (Middle) Elise Vann tees off during her Regional round. (Photos by Jan-Michael Stump/Traverse City Record-Eagle.)