Preview: Golf Finals Celebrations Could Include Pair (or More) by 1st-Time Champions
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 15, 2026
Two new team champions are guaranteed during this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals – and if rankings are right, two teams will raise first-place trophies for the first time.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in Division 2 and Bath in Division 4 entered the postseason with top spots in the weekly coaches polls, and both are pursuing their first Finals titles.
At the same time, Northville is the lead contender in Division 1 after winning the last two championships, and Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian also is playing to repeat – but in Division 3 after winning in Division 4 a year ago.
Play begins both Friday and Saturday at 10 a.m., and live scoring is available through iWanamaker. See the Girls Golf page for qualifiers, results and more from all four divisions. Below is a glance at several team and individual contenders:
Division 1 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top-ranked: 1. Northville, 2. Macomb Dakota, 3. Okemos.
Northville is coming off its second-straight Division 1 championship and claimed last season’s by 29 strokes ahead of Dakota, which is expected to be the main challenger again as it seeks a first Finals championship in this sport. Okemos also is seeking a first Finals title after finishing third a year ago, only two strokes behind Dakota.
Northville: The Mustangs have been ranked No. 1 all but two weeks this season and return their top three from last year’s championship run – senior Naaz Gill, who finished fourth, and juniors Cam Baker and McKenzie Stevens, who tied for seventh. All three tied for eighth at the 2024 Final, as well. Baker finished second, Stevens third, Gill sixth and sophomore Katie Lis fifth as Northville won their Regional last week at nearby Salem Hills by 46 strokes.
Macomb Dakota: Last year’s runner-up finish was Dakota’s highest at a Final, and the Cougars will attempt to take the next step returning four from their 2025 lineup. Senior Marissa Monteith finished second last season and senior Angelina Accuso finished just outside the top 10, and they placed first and fifth, respectively, as Dakota won the Regional at Oakland Township’s Twin Lakes by 39 strokes. Junior Dakota Cooper and freshman Chloe Viars placed fourth and seventh, respectively, at the Regional, and sophomore Madison Mangeno also is returning from last year’s Finals five.
Okemos: The Wolves also will bring back five of six golfers who carded rounds during last season’s championship tournament, where sophomore Saisha Patil placed third and junior Anika Srivastava finished fifth. Okemos is seeking its best team finish since placing second in Division 2 in 2013, and won the Regional at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East by 12 strokes with Patil second, Srivastava third, junior Zoey McArdle tied for eighth and sophomore Ishika Shah tied for 13th. Senior Emma O’Shea tied for 16th and played both rounds at last season’s Final.
Individuals: Utica Eisenhower junior Emanuella Micakovic and White Lake Lakeland sophomore Abigail Ngo also are back after placing sixth and tied for seventh, respectively, in 2025, giving this field eight of its top 10 back but with a new champion guaranteed. Plymouth junior Lauren Abuel was the champion last week at Salem Hills after defeating Northville’s Baker in a playoff, and she was joined among Regional winners by Monteith, Portage Central senior Olivia Griswold, Dearborn senior Calyssa Post, Troy freshman Hannah Kim and Hartland junior Payton Rohrhoff. Utica freshman Victoria McCulloch also could be in the mix; she tied Monteith at their Regional before they went to a playoff.
Division 2 at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 3. Battle Creek Harper Creek.
Dexter ended Farmington Hills Mercy’s three-year title run last fall, but Mercy could be back in the hunt ranked No. 4 entering the postseason. Forest Hills Central is seeking its first championship in this sport after tying for third a year ago, and Cranbrook finished second a year ago and in 2023 and is seeking its first team title since placing first in Division 3 in 2021. Harper Creek did not qualify for the Final as a team, finishing fourth at its Regional.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central: The Rangers return their top four from last season’s Finals run and won the Regional last week at Eldorado in Mason by 51 strokes. Junior Alivia Offer tied for sixth last season and led the most recent Regional barrage finishing first and followed by senior Caroline Vandervelde in second, junior Camille Tierney and freshman Abigail Offer tied for third and junior Glenna Rinckey tied for seventh.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes also won their Regional last week, at Pine Knob in Clarkston, by 51 strokes. Senior Josie Vandenhaute finished first, senior Brianna Giudici was second, sophomore Alaina Tato was third and senior Maddie Anderson placed fourth. Vandenhaute and Giudici both played in last season’s Final, Giudici tying for 19th individually.
Farmington Hills Mercy: Senior Megan Guerrera was the medalist at last week’s Regional at Farmington Hills Golf Club and is joined by junior Claire Bores as returning golfers from last season’s sixth-place Finals finisher – which was keyed by Guerrera’s tie for fourth individually. Freshman Carolyn Watson also played a huge role as Mercy finished second at the Regional, placing fifth.
Individuals: Half of last season’s top 10 individual finishers will be back in the field this weekend, with reigning champion Sophia McCollum leading the way coming off a Regional runner-up finish at Muskegon’s Lincoln Golf Club. She, Guerrera and Alivia Offer also are part of that group along with Lowell senior Kaila Richards and Dexter junior Maddy Manning, who tied for eighth a year ago, and Grand Rapids Christian sophomore Eleanor O’Grady was the Division 3 individual runner-up last season. Joining Offer, Vandenhaute, O’Grady and Guerrera as Regional champions last week were Battle Creek Harper Creek junior Haley Willi and South Lyon freshman Presley Kiehler.
Division 3 at Katke at Ferris State University
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, 2. Montague, 3. Flint Powers Catholic.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central has won the last three Division 3 championships but missed qualifying for this weekend by five strokes. Enter NorthPointe, last season’s Division 4 champion, and Montague, which finished fourth in Division 4 a year ago. Powers finished 15th in Division 3 last year and is expected to make a run at the title, and No. 4-ranked Lansing Catholic also is in the mix after finishing second to NorthPointe by a stroke in Division 4 last season.
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian: Three of the team’s top four finishers from last season’s Final will bring that experience to Big Rapids, with sophomore Izzy Duflo having tied for fourth in Division 4 last year. NorthPointe won the Regional last week at Willow Woods in Portland by 47 strokes, with Duflo the medalist, freshman Avery Klein fourth, senior Clara Velting tied for seventh and junior Aila Ellis tied for 17th.
Montague: The Wildcats are seeking their first Finals title since winning Division 4 back-to-back in 2020 and 2021, and they finished 10 strokes behind NorthPointe a year ago. Four of last season’s golfers are back leading this run, with senior Molly Mulder winning last week’s Regional at nearby Old Channel Trail in a playoff and followed by junior Marguerite O’Connell in third and senior Addi Smith in seventh. Senior Brynlee Kessler also is back from last fall’s lineup.
Flint Powers Catholic: The Chargers are seeking their first Finals championship since 2018 and return three golfers from last season’s top five. Powers won the Regional at Cracklewood in Macomb with junior McKenna Kelly tied for second, sophomore Isabelle Mark fourth, junior Laney Applegate tied for eighth and senior Emma Darmafall 10th. Kelly, Applegate and Darmafall were part of the 2025 title pursuit.
Individuals: With O’Grady in Division 2, Detroit Country Day senior Halle Heineman is the highest returning placer from a year ago after tying for seventh. Williamston senior Paige Radebach returns after placing ninth, and Goodrich senior Brookelyn Webb also is back after finishing 10th. Owosso sophomore Samantha Ross joins the mix after tying for eighth in Division 2 last fall. Ross, Webb and Radebach joined Mulder and Duflo as Regional champs last week, as did Pinckney senior Katelyn Sanchez.
Division 4 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top-ranked: 1. Bath, 2. Kalamazoo Christian, 3. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett.
Bath finished sixth last season and only two teams (Elk Rapids and Napoleon) that finished ahead of the Bees are in the field this weekend. While Bath is seeking its first championship, Kalamazoo Christian is hoping to earn its second after finishing first in 2024 and seventh a year ago. Liggett also is seeking a first Finals championship in this sport.
Bath: Sophomores Addilyn Duflo and Hattie Lalonde, senior Sophia Perales and junior Mya Vietzke were the team’s leading scorers at last year’s Final, and all four are back with Duflo also coming off a runner-up individual finish. The Bees won their Regional last week at Forest Akers East by 20 strokes ahead of Liggett as Duflo placed first, Perales third and Lalonde tied for fifth.
Kalamazoo Christian: Senior Lillian Locker and juniors Rylee Slater and Sydney Early are returning from last season’s Finals lineup, and Locker also played a Finals round for the championship-winning team in 2024. She and Early shared last week’s medalist honor at their Regional at Cascades in Jackson, with Slater sixth and senior Oliva Hanel tied for ninth.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights are back at the Finals for the first time in several seasons thanks to a Regional round that while second to Bath at Forest Akers East was the third-lowest in all of Division 4. Sophomore Olivia Robinson and freshman Maria Saqqa tied for eighth at the Regional, and lone senior Natalie Greene placed 10th.
Individuals: Despite three contending teams moving into Division 3 this season, this tournament will still welcome back four of last season’s top 10 finishers with Duflo joined by Byron junior Adalen Brown (third), Elk Rapids sophomore Piper Smith (tied for fourth) and Fowler senior Noelle Krepps (seventh). Duflo, Locker and Early were joined as Regional champions last week by Piper, Krepps, Cass City senior Lindsey Langenburg and Napoleon junior Katelyn Ault.
PHOTO Detroit Country Day’s Halle Heineman lines up a putt during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Recent Whiteford Grad Ovall Leading Bobcats' Inaugural Girls Golf Team
By
Doug Donnelly
Special for MHSAA.com
September 2, 2026
Addison Ovall might be the youngest varsity head coach in the state of Michigan this fall.
Ovall, who graduated in June from Ottawa Lake Whiteford, had barely taken off her cap and gown when she found herself as the new head coach of the Bobcats girls golf team. She’s also a pioneer of sorts – she helped lead the crusade for Whiteford to field a team in that sport for the first time.
The five girls on the squad tee it up for the first time Tuesday.
“I always wanted to start a girls golf team while I was a student here, but there didn’t seem much interest in it,” Ovall said. “Once I graduated, I shared my story about having played on the boys team and I think that garnered some interest. It’s something I’ve always wanted.”
Ovall was going to golf in college, but a traffic crash during which she suffered a broken wrist put those plans on the backburner. For now, her work on the course is dedicated to helping five novice golfers learn the game.
“That just led me here to coach,” she said.
Ovall learned the game when she was a kid from her father.
“Ever since I was little, I had a club in my hand,” she said. “It seems like I’ve been playing forever.”
She started high school in Toledo and played on a girls golf team as a freshman at St. Ursula Academy, a private school in northwest Ohio. She moved to Whiteford as a junior and was set to be a one-person golf team in the fall of 2025 with her mom as the head coach. That’s when she was injured in the crash and couldn’t continue the season.
Whiteford athletic director Miranda Green went through the MHSAA to get clearance for Ovall to join the boys team in the spring.
“She had played in one competition in girls golf, then got hurt,” Green said. “I had to write a letter to the MHSAA, and she was approved to play on the boys team, but she had to sit one match. She was excited to still be able to play.”
Ovall said it was a difficult transition.
“It was terrifying, to be honest,” she said. “I had to hit from the men's tees, had to learn everything, but I think it made me a better golfer and a better person overall. I met new people, which was cool. I had college opportunities, which was awesome.”
Her season was hampered by the wrist injury, but she didn’t let it stop her. It did get in the way of playing at the college level, however.
“It was sort of difficult, but I was better off for it,” she said.
While still in high school she started lobbying other girls in school to sign up for golf.
“Toward the end of the year we had girls start showing interest in it,” she said. “That was really cool. When the school asked me to come back to coach, I was pretty nervous. I didn’t think anyone was going to come to tryouts.”
She ended up having five girls join the squad, which gives them enough to compete in dual matches and tournaments.
“It’s just been fun to get to know the girls,” she said. “We are a very young team. We are just starting out so we are trying to see what our strengths and weaknesses are.”
While the first match isn’t until next week, they have been playing daily at Whiteford Valley Golf Club, the same home course the Whiteford boys team plays on. Ovall said they typically spend an hour on the driving range, then chipping and putting for the last 45 minutes of practice. One day a week, the girls play nine holes.
“It is good to see how the game is coming together and to see what we need to improve on,” she said.
Because there are so few members on the team, Ovall can spend about 15 minutes with each golfer daily.
“After we play a round, the next day I will focus on what their biggest weaknesses were on the course,” she said.
Ovall said teaching the game is a rewarding experience.
“We have one girl who is an experienced golfer, but everyone else is really brand new to the game,” she said. “We want them to go out and have fun. We’re all able to hit the ball, which is good. Right now, we just keep going over everything getting ready for that first tournament and going over all of the rules. We’ve had a month to prepare.”
Charlie Weiser is one of the freshmen on the team. She said she decided to go out for golf because her whole family golfs. The team is getting to know the rules and having fun together, she said. In practice, she likes to focus on driving and putting, but is getting pretty good with her 8-iron.
“I just started at the beginning of summer, but it’s been going pretty good,” she said. “There have been good days and bad days.”
Green said she didn’t have any apprehension about turning the new program over to Ovall.
“Honestly, it was a no-brainer,” she said. “She is the perfect person to do it. I’m excited for her. Hopefully she can keep the program growing.”
Doug Donnelly has served as a news and sports reporter at the Adrian Daily Telegram and the Monroe News for 30 years, including 10 years as city editor in Monroe. He's written a book on high school basketball in Monroe County and compiles record books for various schools in southeast Michigan. He is now publisher and editor of The Blissfield Advance, a weekly newspaper. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for Jackson, Washtenaw, Hillsdale, Lenawee and Monroe counties.
PHOTOS (Top) This fall’s Whiteford girls golf team is the school’s first. Top row: Coach Addison Ovall. Middle row: Grace Grosteffon and Avee Ingram. Bottom row: Addy Emch, Charlie Weiser and Brenna Allen. (Below) Ovall. (Photos by Doug Donnelly.)