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.)
No Heartbreak This Time as Rochester Rises
October 15, 2016
By Tom Kendra
Special for Second Half
EAST LANSING – Every high school golf coach reminds his or her team that “every stroke counts.”
The exception is Rochester girls golf coach Jeff Haney, because his team has learned that lesson first-hand over the past three seasons.
Rochester missed out on making it to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Division 1 Final by four strokes in 2013, then by two strokes in 2014 and, last year, the Falcons lost out to Traverse City West for the championship on a fifth-player score tie-breaker.
That cumulative heartbreak fueled plenty of extra desire this fall for Rochester, which certainly made every stroke count in a 21-shot victory over Novi for the Division 1 title Saturday at windswept Forest Akers East in East Lansing.
“Oh yes, because of what’s happened the past few years, it’s very easy for me to get their attention on the importance of every single shot,” said Haney, who guided the Falcons to their third Finals championship in the past nine years, and fourth overall. “These girls have all shaved strokes off their average from the start of the year, which is why we were able to win it.”
Rochester registered the lowest team scores in the 18-team field on both Friday (310) and Saturday (308), for a 618 total. Novi was second at 639, followed by Bloomfield Hills (648), 2015 champion Traverse City West (652) and Saline (661).
The Falcons were paced by senior standout and fifth-place individual Brooke Busse (73-75-148), but the real secret to their success was depth. Exhibit A was the Falcons’ fifth golfer, junior Keri Yang (83-83-166), whose total was 15 shots better than any other team’s No. 5 player.
Senior Veronica Haque (75-75-150) placed eighth overall and was followed closely by her freshman sister, Savannah Haque (79-79-158), and senior Erica Yang (84-79-163).
“I’m just very relieved that it’s over and that we did it,” said Busse, who was part of all three years of Finals-related heartbreak for the Falcons. “We knew we could do it, and we were really focused on staying positive. A big key is that we putted better (Saturday), and that’s why we shaved a few strokes off our total from the first day.”
Rochester actually extended its lead in Saturday’s final round, just the opposite of last year when unranked Traverse City West charged from five strokes back to tie for the top spot, eventually winning on the tie-breaker. Since neither Rochester nor Traverse City West had a senior in their lineup last fall, the stage was set for a rematch.
While the lower half of the West lineup struggled, sophomore Anika Dy certainly did her part for the Titans.
Dy, who placed second last year as a freshman, finished 1-under par with rounds of 72 and 71 for a 143 total, two shots better than Clarkston senior Meghan Deardorff (74-71-145) and Bloomfield Hills sophomore Mikaela Schulz (72-73-145).
Novi senior Alexa Hatz (147) shot a sizzling 3-under par 69 on Saturday – the best round of the tournament – which moved her up to fourth overall and powered her team to a surprising second-place overall finish. Also placing in the top 10 for the Wildcats was junior Abby Livingston, who shot 151 and tied for ninth.
Other individuals in the top 10 were Grand Blanc senior Cammi Lucia (149) and Ann Arbor Skyline senior Jami Laude (149), who tied for sixth, and Lake Orion senior Moyea Russell (151) and Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior Lauren Ingle (151), who tied for ninth.
But the story of the weekend was the continued surge by Rochester, which just one week ago set the state girls golf record for postseason scoring with a 289 total at Twin Lakes Golf Course in Oakland Township.
That Regional performance was an incredible achievement for a Rochester program that has had plenty of highlights in recent years. The Falcons have finished in the top 10 at the Finals 16 times over the past 21 years, with four MHSAA titles (the others coming in 2002, 2008 and 2009) and three runner-up finishes (2005, 2007 and 2015).
Haney said it was huge to validate that Regional performance by staying hot and winning the program’s first Finals title in seven years.
“It’s a big relief to tell you the truth,” said Haney, whose team was able to handle the increasing winds on Saturday, which were more of a factor on the more open East course than Forest Akers West. “There are some great teams and great individuals in Division 1 that we battle with all the time. This team definitely earned it.”
PHOTO: (Top) Rochester's Veronica Haque putts during Saturday's second round at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Final. (Middle) Traverse City West's Anika Dy watches a drive during her round; she finished as individual medalist. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)