Preview: Legendary Opportunities Await
October 17, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
No doubt, this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Girls Golf Finals will provide unforgettable moments for everyone who takes part.
But there also are a number of storylines heading in that could prove memorable in statewide lore for seasons to come.
At least three reigning champions appear in the hunt to repeat – Traverse City West in Division 1, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern in Division 2 and Harbor Springs in Division 4. But West must fend off Northville – arguably the most impressive team this regular season in any division – while Forest Hills Northern just finished second at its Regional to Muskegon Reeths-Puffer and Harbor Springs faces a Division 4 field that includes reigning Division 3 champion Macomb Lutheran North.
For sure, we’ll say good-bye to two of the most accomplished individuals in state girls golf history. West’s Anika Dy and Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Danielle Staskowski will attempt to finish their high school careers with fourth MHSAA Finals individual championships – they’ve both won titles the last two years after Dy finished runner-up in Division 1 as a freshman and Staskowski began her prep run with a fourth place in Division 3 in 2015.
Only three others have won three Lower Peninsula championships since the first Finals in 1973 – Maple City Glen Lake’s Nichole Cox (2014-16), Okemos’ Elle Nichols (2011-13) and Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Kate Loy (1993-95).
Play begins at 10 a.m. both Friday and Saturday. See below for golfers to watch at all four Finals, and come back Saturday evening for coverage of all four championship tournaments on Second Half. Click for a list of all Finals qualifiers and Regional scores from last week.
LP Division 1 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top-ranked: 1. Northville, 2. Bloomfield Hills, 3. Traverse City West.
The Division 1 field is loaded with talented teams, especially representing the southeastern part of the state – 13 of 18 qualifiers are from Livingston, Oakland, Macomb or Wayne counties. But Traverse City West is the reigning Finals champion – and has won two of the last three seasons.
Northville: The Mustangs are undefeated this season playing many of the best teams in Division 1, with an incredible 291 in August setting a program scoring record. All five starters for this weekend were part of last season’s fourth-place Finals finish. Northville tied Hartland with the lowest Regional score in LPD1 last week, shooting a 326 at Travis Pointe in Saline to finish 21 strokes ahead of runner-up and No. 5-ranked Plymouth. Mariella Simoncini is the only senior among the top five, and she was the Regional individual runner-up.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks finished second by two strokes to No. 8 Clarkston at the Regional at Clarkston’s Pine Knob, shooting a 336, and remain No. 2 in the rankings. They won their second straight Oakland County Division 1 championship earlier this fall and bring back this weekend the four scorers from last season’s seventh-place finisher. Senior Mikaela Schulz was fourth individually a year ago and won the Regional title last week with a 74, four strokes ahead of sophomore teammate and runner-up Sanju Swamy.
Traverse City West: Senior Anika Dy will lead the Titans into this weekend seeking a third straight individual championship to go with a third team title. She won last year’s Final by eight strokes, while now-sophomore sister Anci Dy tied for sixth. Senior Jillian Ellul also returns from last year’s top five, and together they finished first, second and third, respectively as West shot a 335 to win last week’s Regional at The Meadows by 23 strokes.
Other individuals of note: Seven of last season’s top 10 are back this weekend. Rochester junior Savannah Haque was last year’s runner-up and also a key contributor when her team won Division 1 in 2016. Utica Eisenhower sophomore Ariel Chang tied Anci Dy for sixth last season, and Brighton senior Annie Pietila came in eighth and will play at the Finals for the fourth time. Ann Arbor Pioneer sophomore Amaya Melendez also had a big debut in 2017, tying for ninth. She joined Anika Dy and Schulz among Regional champs last week, along with Hartland senior Sydney Bradford, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior Domitille Chambon and Grosse Pointe South sophomore Audrey Becker. Brighton sophomore Maggie Pietila came in second to Bradford at Hartland Glen, with her 75 one of the lowest Regional scores division-wide as well.
LP Division 2 at Michigan State's Forest Akers West
Top-ranked: 1. Muskegon Reeths-Puffer, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 3. Bloomfield Hills Marian.
Forest Hills Northern won its first championship last fall since 1982 and was ranked No. 1 all this season until Monday. Reeths-Puffer is shooting not only for its first championship, but first top-two finish after missing the latter by just a stroke a year ago. Marian was last season’s runner-up, achieving its first top-two finish, and could take another step this weekend as well.
Muskegon Reeths-Puffer: Karina VanDuinen was third at last year’s Final and Avery Howard was sixth, and they with also-returning senior Emma Veihl and junior Abby Fansler give the Rockets one of the most tournament-tested teams in the field. Scarier yet, freshman Karlie VanDuinen led the way at the Regional with her winning 70 the second-lowest score last week in the entire division as the team shot a 310 to best Forest Hills Northern. Older sister Karina won the Division 2 individual championship as a freshman in 2015, and Howard also placed as a sophomore in 2016.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: Senior Kay Zubkus and sophomores Lilia Henkel and Anna Fay are back from the team that won last season’s championship by 13 strokes – Henkel finishing seventh and Zubkus tying for 10th individually. The Huskies finished seventh strokes back of Reeths-Puffer last week at Grand Rapids’ Thornapple Pointe, with Zubkus second, Henkel third and Fay tied for sixth. Zubkus’ 72 was the third-lowest Regional score division-wide.
Bloomfield Hills Marian: Reigning Finals individual champion Shannon Kennedy leads four players back from last season’s second-place finisher as they look to make program history. She shot a two-round 146 last season as a freshman to clear the field by three strokes, and she was the Regional medalist at Huron Meadows in Brighton last week by two strokes with a 77. Zink, a senior, and Hudson, a junior, took fifth and tied for sixth, respectively, at the Regional, and sophomore Lauren Sass had the second-best score among the team’s returnees at last year’s Final.
More individuals of note: St. Joseph senior Cailey Rooker finished ninth last season and fourth as a sophomore, and won last week’s Regional at Coldwater Golf Course by seven strokes shooting an 80. Okemos freshman Allison Cui is shooting under par for the season and won last week’s Regional at The Emerald in St. Johns with a 69, 13 strokes ahead of the field. Petoskey junior Ashley Lamb and South Lyon senior Julia Vess also earned Regional championships.
LP Division 3 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East
Top-ranked: 1. Flint Powers Catholic, 2. Grand Rapids South Christian, 3. Freeland.
Powers is playing for its first championship since 2008, South Christian for its first since 2009, and Freeland for its first title and first top-two finish ever. Last season’s champion, Macomb Lutheran North, is in Division 4 this fall after finishing three strokes better than the Sailors in 2017. Unranked Spring Lake – third last season but champion for three straight from 2014-16 – shot the division’s lowest Regional score last week, 356.
Flint Powers Catholic: The Chargers finished third in 2016 and fifth last season, and return this weekend with four of their top five from a year ago plus a standout freshman. Sophomore Jolie Brochu tied for eighth at last season’s final and junior Maggie Knight missed the individual top 10 by a stroke in 2016. They led Powers to last week’s Regional title at Owosso Country Club, won with a tie-breaker against Freeland. Brochu finished first individually, Knight was third, with senior Gina Canavesio seventh, freshman Allie Sexton ninth and junior Olivia Canaday 10th.
Grand Rapids South Christian: The Sailors are headed to the Finals for the 23rd straight season and just missed another title a year ago as now-senior Natalie Samdal finished fourth individually to lead the way. Junior Maddie Wieringa and senior Ashley Keen also were part of that runner-up Finals effort, and all three finished among the top 10 as South Christian won last week’s Regional at Pigeon Creek in West Olive with a 363.
Freeland: Senior Olivia Pumford took 10th at last season’s Final as an individual qualifier and will be joined this weekend by the rest of the Falcons, who just missed winning the Regional (see above) but still shot what tied for the second-lowest score in the division last week. Pumford took first at the Regional as all five Freeland golfers finished among the top 12; senior Alyssa Argyle was fifth, senior Lily Beyer sixth and sophomore Lydia Beck eighth.
Other individuals of note: Pontiac Notre Dame Prep senior Danielle Staskowski has won the last two Division 3 championships, by eight strokes last fall and in a playoff hole as a sophomore. She shot a 75 last week at Pontiac Country Club to win her Regional by a stroke over Goodrich senior Elizabeth Gibbs. Senior Hannah Klein tied for sixth at the Final last season in leading Spring Lake to its third-place team finish, and she tied for 10th as a sophomore in 2016. She too was a Regional champion last week, as was Hastings junior Rayna Honsowitz, Marshall junior Karlee Malone and Carleton Airport sophomore Kristen Reed.
LP Division 4 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top-ranked: 1. North Muskegon, 2. Harbor Springs, 3. Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian.
Harbor Springs is coming off last season’s first MHSAA girls golf championship, an 11-stroke victory. North Muskegon and NorthPointe Christian both are playing for their first titles – NorthPointe finished runner-up in 2013, while North Muskegon is seeking to place among the top two for the first time. Macomb Lutheran North is unranked but won in 2016 and then took first in 2017 in Division 3 – with three players from that team coming back this weekend.
North Muskegon: The Norsemen finished sixth in 2015, 11th in 2016 and fourth a year ago, and will go after their first title with all five scorers back from last season’s team. Senior Abby Grevel tied for eighth individually at the 2017 Final, and she’s joined by three more seniors and a sophomore. They won last week’s Regional at The Mines in Grand Rapids with a 344, 11 strokes better than the field, with Grevel second, senior Lindsay Bliss third and sophomore Georgie Kersman seventh.
Harbor Springs: Four of last season’s top five are back seeking a repeat run, with senior Madi Bezilla leading after tying for third individually a year ago. The team’s top four last season all shot within 10 strokes of one another at the Final, and that balance reigns as the Rams shot the division’s lowest Regional score last week, 353, with all four scorers between 80-90. Bezilla was first, junior Evie Garver was second, sophomore Jacque O’Neill was third and senior Callie O’Neill came in eighth.
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian: The Mustangs are looking to make a jump from 13th last season and third at last week’s Regional, which also included No. 5 Kalamazoo Hackett in the runner-up spot after North Muskegon. Three of last season’s top five lead the way, with sophomore Sabrina Langerak coming in fourth and junior Lauren Slottke fifth at the Regional.
Other individuals of note: Six of last season’s top 10 will be back this weekend, led by reigning champion Alissa Fish of Brooklyn Columbia Central. She won by two strokes last year as a junior, and claimed last week’s Regional title at Concord Hills by eight strokes. Jackson Lumen Christi senior Hillary Ziemba tied for third last year, Shepherd senior Morgan Yates tied for sixth, and Kalamazoo Hackett senior Emily Stull was 10th. All three won Regional titles last week, as did Macomb Lutheran North senior Kaity Rittner – who finished fifth in LPD3 in 2017.
PHOTOS: (Top) Traverse City West’s Anika Dy unloads a drive during last season’s LPD1 Final. (Middle) Pontiac Notre Dame Prep’s Danielle Staskowski stands at the front of the line of top individual finishers in LPD3 in 2017. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Hartland's Rohrhoff Inspires with Golf Success as She Aspires to Encourage Others
By
Tom Lang
Special for MHSAA.com
October 27, 2026
Payton Rohrhoff showed up early in life, being born 10 weeks earlier than doctors expected.
She’s not sure if her premature birth led to her cerebral palsy, but her life-long physical condition certainly did not keep her from showing up early in junior golf as well. And the Hartland junior has continued to handle her challenges very well on and off the golf course, notably tying for eighth at the Oct. 16-17 Lower Peninsula Division 1 Golf Final.
Cerebral palsy has caused Rohrhoff’s right leg to be shorter and retain less muscle mass than her left leg – which makes it more difficult for a right-handed golfer to push off with her right side to create maximum power.
Yet, the high school junior has held Hartland’s No. 1 position since she joined the girls golf program as a freshman. Another highlight this season was setting a 9-hole school record with a 34 at Dunham Hills in her team’s dual with Brighton. The previous record was 36.
“Coach told me at the beginning of the season what I had to do to break the school record, so it was always in my head at points,” Rohrhoff said. “Getting that school record and doing it by two shots, that happened because I stayed present on each shot. Other times I tried I was probably thinking too far ahead.”
More importantly, Rohrhoff leads not just her team – but highly influences others in the sport and in life – by showing how a difficult physical condition should never stop someone from being kind, brave, enduring and a hard worker.
“I had lots of players, but also a coach come up to me a few times this season to say she thought I was such an inspiration to her and said to keep working hard and keep going,” Rohrhoff said. “Something like that is really important to me, because I really do want to make an impact on other people’s lives.”
Her limp is visible as she walks with an unusual gait that might make it look like she’s in constant pain – but those who watch her compete also experience her genuinely kind spirit, great golf skills and knowledge, her maturity, Christian faith and her bubbling personality (to name just a few positives).
Perhaps a fellow competitor and now great friend, all-state golfer Cam Baker from three-time state champion Northville (who tied for 11th individually at the LPD1 Final), said it best:
“My first time playing with Payton was three years ago in the GAM Jr. Stroke play event,” Baker shared. “Her positive attitude, half-glass full personality was contagious. Not only was she an awesome golfer, but she loved the game, and it showed through that entire day.
“I have learned so much watching her play and spending time with her. She has taught me to always smile and to never take things for granted. She is constantly working on getting better and stronger. Payton is the true definition of a go-getter that doesn’t let anything stop her from achieving her dreams.”
Other Rohrhoff highlights from 2026 have included:
- Winning the Regional with a 72 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East, tying the 18-hole school record.
- Tying for third in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association all-conference standings with a preseason and postseason total of 76-74-150.
- Moving up from 24th in 2025 to that tie for eighth at the LPD1 Final, where her 36-hole score of 155 was the school’s best ever at a Final by 10 shots.
- Winning over the summer her fourth-consecutive Women’s Member Championship at Forest Dunes – which included a hole-in-one on The Loop’s 5th hole.
- Being interviewed on Golf Channel about cerebral palsy when she attended the Folds of Honor Collegiate at American Dunes.
Payton said she’s had at least two surgeries to help with functions hindered by the cerebral palsy. She also wears a 1-inch heel lift in her right shoe.
“The one (surgery) I had when I was 4 years old was pretty small (in scope), but then I grew a bunch so they had to do it again (at age 12), but it was a lot more complicated,” she described. “It was a heel cord lengthening, an extension, because I used to walk straight up on my toe. So, they got me more flat-footed.
“Cerebral palsy is in your brain. You’re born with it. A lot of people are in wheelchairs, or it affects half their body. With some people it affects both their legs. A lot of people, it’s one leg and one arm. For me it’s just my right leg.”
Rohrhoff has never been wheelchair-bound but didn’t walk until she was almost 2 years old.
“My balance on my left leg is definitely better, and my right calf has always been smaller since I had surgery in sixth grade, but I’m going to a strength trainer, and I think that’s helped both sides,” she added. “But I definitely use my left side more than my right.”
Rohrhoff said while other sports she tried didn’t work out, she can walk the golf course with anyone and could do 36 holes in one day if needed. That isn’t typical until college golf, which she would like to play one day.
Hartland coach Ethan Hawker agrees Rohrhoff can reach any goal she pursues.
“She’s an amazing golfer, for any coach,” he said. “She’s a dream. She loves the game. She puts in the time. She’s the kind of teammate that any coach would want. Team culture is a big deal for Hartland. We want to win, don’t get me wrong. But having a group of girls that support each other, that’s what it’s all about.
“Payton defines that every day. She has from the very beginning. She’s the kind of leader I want, and she’s really good at golf.”
Due to lessened power generated from her right side, “I don’t hit it crazy far,” Rohrhoff said. “I have worked a ton on hitting it further (with a strength coach), but I definitely could work more on that, especially before I go into college.”
Rohrhoff said at this point her short game is her strength. Hawker also noted her high golf IQ, and that’s of course a major plus as well.
Rohrhoff’s biggest support system is her parents and her younger sister Morgan, who also plays on the Hartland golf team. They’ve been integral in supporting Payton every step of the way.
Rohrhoff doesn’t appear to worry about what others think of her physical challenges. In fact, most of the time she feels only support from other teenagers, in the same way she wants to be an encouragement to others.
“I’ve made so many friends through golf,” she said. “I’ve met my best friend through this sport. There’s so many great people always there to support me and encourage me to do my best.”
Likewise, she doesn’t hear many whispers from inquisitive others who notice her limp during play.
“But I think my parents hear more of the questions than I do,” she said. “I think other people’s parents ask. Some girls ask me directly, but I think it’s more the parents that notice than the athletes do.
“I just want to use it as something to help me to do what I can to encourage other people. Before, I tried to hide it, but now I think I can definitely encourage people and help them keep working to do their best, no matter what. That started the most when I got to high school. That really showed me that this sport is for me.”
Cam Baker’s father, Casey Baker, quickly observed how Payton positively affects young people like his daughter.
“I immediately noticed her positive attitude and infectious smile,” he said about the first time Rohrhoff played in a match with Cam. “Even after bad shots, she would just brush them off and not let it affect her.
"My daughter has become good friends with Payton, and she’s been such a positive influence. If Payton can go through life not complaining and just dealing with what she does, then what does Cam have to complain about? Payton is such a uniquely positive influence on my daughter and so many other young women."
PHOTOS (Top) Hartland’s Payton Rohrhoff tees off during high school competition. (Middle) Rohrhoff stands next to her bag for a photo. (Below) Rohrhoff watches a putt on its way to the hole. (Action shots by Dan Zeppa. Posed shot courtesy of MI Golf Journal.)