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.)
Ontonagon, Chassell Ace Rise in UPD3
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 1, 2018
GLADSTONE — Sometimes it pays for golfers to have short memories.
After struggling in Wednesday’s practice round at Irish Oaks Golf Course, Marli Hietila shook that off in time to earn medalist honors at Thursday’s Upper Peninsula Division 3 Golf Finals.
The Chassell junior shot 88 for her first U.P. title on this warm and humid day, which included a brief downpour.
“My driver helped me a lot today, and my chipping was good,” she said. “I had a couple rough holes, but it turned out pretty good. The downpour made it exciting. We were just starting a hole when it started pouring. The weather conditions could have been better, although it wasn’t too bad. I would have preferred to have it a little cooler.”
Ontonagon captured its first title in seven years with 433 strokes, followed by Crystal Falls Forest Park at 442, Big Bay de Noc 479, Cedarville 498 and Pickford with 501.
“We knew Forest Park would be one of the frontrunners,” said first-year Ontonagon coach Adam Spaulding. “They have their competition and good facilities in their area. Our girls are real good about helping each other out. They played very well today.”
Last year’s champion, Cedarville sophomore Lily Freel, was runner-up this time at 90.
“I definitely didn’t play how I thought I would,” said Freel. “My practice round went real well. I know I can play like that, which makes this pretty disappointing. My shots weren’t as solid as I hoped, and I really struggled reading the greens and misjudged distances. My putting also let me down. Golf is so unpredictable. I consistently shot in the low 80s all year, but didn’t do it on the day it really counted.”
Freel was followed by Powers North Central junior Jadie Linder at 95.
“This was the best I played all year,” said Linder. “My drives went real well, and my putting was better than usual. I didn’t have any expectations coming in and played pretty relaxed. Last year I took sixth in the Finals. I improved a lot from last year.”
Ontonagon’s leader was sophomore Hallie Bobula, who shot 103 and edged Carney-Nadeau eighth-grader Tessa Wagner on a tie-breaker for fourth place.
Also placing in the top 10 individually were Carney-Nadeau senior Breanna Bedgood at 104, Mackinac Island sophomore McKenna Horricks at 105, Ontonagon senior Kinsey Weisinger 106 and Forest Park senior Alina Soha and Rock Mid Peninsula eighth-grader Shaelyn Lampinen both firing 107.
PHOTOS: (Top) Ontonagon’s Izabelle Lutz executes a chip Thursday at the U.P. Division 3 Golf Finals at Gladstone’s Irish Oaks Golf Course. (Middle) Chassell’s Marli Hietila shot 88 to capture girls medalist honors. (Photos by Mike Mattson.)