Preview: One More Swing at History
October 17, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A year ago, many eyes turned to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final as Muskegon Mona Shores attempted, and completed, a quest to become the first in Lower Peninsula history to win four straight girls golf team championships.
Many will be watching Division 2 again this weekend as Okemos' Elle Nichols attempts to become only the second in the Lower Peninsula to win three consecutive individual titles.
That's obviously one of the most significant storylines heading into this weekend, but every Final has more than a few. Below are contenders to watch and the stories behind their successes so far. Play begins Friday morning and finishes Saturday afternoon. Click for more information including all qualifiers and Regional results.
Division 1 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West
Top ranked: No.1 Troy, No. 2 Plymouth, No. 3 Saline.
Plymouth won its first MHSAA team championship in 2012; could this weekend be Troy’s turn to do the same? The Colts have been in the hunt before but never finished among the top two at a Final. Saline’s best player now was its third-best in 2010 when her team won its most recent of three MHSAA titles.
Troy: The Colts are favored to win their first MHSAA championship after missing the Finals completely a year ago – although senior Amanda McCafferty played on the team that finished fifth in Division 1 in 2011. She and all four teammates shot 90 or better and posted the best Regional score (333 at Dearborn Country Club) in Division 1, with sophomore Naomi Kim (78) placing fifth and sophomore Jennifer Cui (79) sixth individually.
Plymouth: The reigning champ comes into the weekend with three of its top five from last season’s championship run – junior Sydney Murphy, sophomore Katie Chipman and senior Kayla Whatley – and all three finished among the top eight individuals at the Regional at the University of Michigan. The Wildcats were ranked 10th only two weeks ago, but shot the second-lowest Regional score (335) in Division 1.
Saline: The Hornets finished second to Plymouth at the U-M Regional, but by only four strokes and should be similarly dangerous this weekend. Regional medalist Emily White, a senior, tied for sixth at last season’s Finals in leading Saline to a seventh-place team finish. Sophomore Samantha Kellstrom and senior Stacy Cruze followed White as the next best shooters during that Finals run, and they finished third and 18th, respectively, at last week’s Regional.
Other individuals of note: Holt’s Pader Her finished just four strokes off the individual lead at last season's Final. She shot a 69 at her Regional last week at East Kentwood to win by seven strokes over the Falcons’ Sarah White, who tied with Saline’s White and Grosse Pointe South’s Lily Pendy for sixth at last season’s Final. Grosse Pointe South certainly could be in the hunt as a team, led by seniors Pendy and Tenley Shield, who finished first and tied for third, respectively, at the Dearborn Regional; Shield finished fifth at last season’s Final. Troy Athens senior Jennifer Yang, Ann Arbor Skyline freshman Jamie Laude and Dearborn junior Elayna Bowser joined all of those players in shooting 76 or better at Regionals.
Division 2 at Michigan State’s Forest Akers East
Top ranked: No. 1 Birmingham Seaholm, No. 2 South Lyon, No. 3 Okemos.
Seaholm was the last team to win a Division 2 title before Mona Shores won the last four keyed by an incredible class that graduated in the spring. South Lyon and Okemos are ranked next, and both are seeking their first finishes among the top two at an MHSAA Final.
Reigning individual champion: Elle Nichols, Okemos.
Birmingham Seaholm: Strength throughout the lineup and consistency make Seaholm tough to catch off its game; the Maples finished fourth at the 2012 Final despite no individuals among the top 10, and four of those players will be starting again this weekend. All five from this season’s lineup finished among the top 11 at the Regional at Holly’s Heather Highlands, led by senior Megan Lam and sophomore Jordan Michalak shooting 80 and tying for third. Lam missed the individual top 10 at last season’s Final by only four strokes.
South Lyon: Two starters are back from last season’s team that tied for fifth at the Final, and they were two of the team’s top shooters as it carded a 329 to win the Regional at Ypsilanti’s Pine View Golf Course by 51 strokes. Three-year starters Caroline Harding (a junior) and Allison Ranusch (a senior) finished first and fourth, respectively, individually at the Regional, and all five in the lineup finished among the top eight (sophomore Priscilla Harding followed Caroline among the team’s best, in third place).
Okemos: With another individual win this weekend, senior Elle Nichols can join Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Katie Loy (1993-95) as the only three-time Finals champions in Lower Peninsula girls golf history. Nichols won a three-player tie-breaker to claim the title last year, when she led the Chieftains to third place as a team along with returnees Sydney Williams and Jessica Kim among others. All five of this season's starters finished among the top 20 at the Regional at Mason’s El Dorado, with champion Nichols followed by tied-for-sixth senior Carly Bullock.
Other individuals of note: One more from last season’s top 10 also will play this weekend; Fenton senior Samantha Moss finished fourth at the Final and is coming off the Regional title at Heather Highlands. Midland Dow senior Kharissa Carras shot a 75 to win her Regional at Midland’s Currie West, and Traverse City Central junior Amelia Pazetti finished only one stroke back at that tournament.
Division 3 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State
Top ranked: No. 1 Detroit Country Day, No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, No. 3 Grand Rapids South Christian.
Given its prowess in other sports, it might surprise to find out Country Day has never won an MHSAA girls golf championship – although the Yellowjackets, in tying for third, came within four strokes of earning their first last season. Runner-up Cranbrook-Kingswood was only two strokes back of champion Forest Hills Eastern, and South Christian usually is in the hunt – the Sailors have finished first or second in five of the last seven Division 3 Finals.
Detroit Country Day: The top three and fifth shooter from last season’s close Finals call all are back in the lineup this weekend, led by senior Ellie Miller – who tied for seventh individually and was runner-up at last week’s Regional at Pontiac’s Fieldstone. The other three returnees from 2012 – senior Monika Hedni, junior Nicole Junn and sophomore Simran Brar – all finished among the top 11 at the Regional as Country Day edged Cranbrook-Kingswood by a stroke.
Cranbrook-Kingswood: The Cranes obviously hope to reverse that Regional finish and also return to the Final with heavy hitters in senior Greer Clausen and junior Cordelia Chan – Chan tied for second individually last season and Clausen was sixth. Chan won the Regional at Fieldstone and Clausen was third, with all five in the lineup tying for 21st or better.
Grand Rapids South Christian: Only one starter is back from the team that finished sixth in Division 3 in 2012. But senior Megan Wierenga was the team’s low scorer last season and also was a starter on the runner-up team in 2011. She won the Regional at Byron Center’s Railside Country Club by a stroke, with senior Grace Elenbaas tying for seventh and sophomore Nicole Hoekwater tying for ninth.
Others individuals of note: Forest Hills Eastern junior Henna Singh is the lone holdover from last season’s MHSAA champion team, and she was the leader of that group coming in fifth individually. She won the Regional at Cedar Springs’ Cedar Chase by four strokes last week. Hastings senior Kylie Nemetz tied for seventh individually at the 2012 Final and is back as an individual qualifier. She and senior teammate Katie Brown both finished among the top seven at Railside.
Division 4 at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley
Top ranked: No. 1 Flint Powers Catholic, No. 2 Grosse Ile, No. 3 Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian.
After failing to make the Finals last season, Flint Powers is the favorite to unseat three-time reigning champion Lansing Catholic, to which the Chargers finished runner-up in 2011. Grosse Ile is playing for its third title in five seasons – the Red Devils won Division 4 in 2009 and Division 3 in 2011 – and NorthPointe is seeking its first top-two Finals finish after missing second place by three strokes last season.
Flint Powers: Senior Kristen Wolfe did make last season’s Final as an individual qualifier and missed the top 10 by two strokes. She finished second at the Regional at Bay City Country Club, with senior Morgan Zloto third and junior Reanna Barth tied for sixth. Zloto joined Wolfe in scoring for the 2011 team that finished second at the Final.
Grosse Ile: Back in Division 4 after also tying for third in Division 3 a year ago, Grosse Ile can boast three of its top five from that contender led by seniors Emily Bargardi and Katherine Kuzmiak. Bargardi finished second at the Regional at Grosse Ile’s West Shore Country Club, and Kuzmiak – who tied for seventh individually at the 2012 Division 3 Final – finished third at the Regional as all five Red Devils placed among the top eight.
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian: Monica Koert finished seventh individually at last season’s Division 4 Final and leads three returning starters. She finished first and juniors Molly Antor and Allison Starr finished third and seventh, respectively, at the Regional at Eastern Hills in Kalamazoo as the team beat last season’s Finals runner-up Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central by 11 strokes.
Other individuals of note: Lansing Catholic senior Jacqueline Setas will close out a career that’s included three team championships and three individual finishes of fourth or higher. She faced Muskegon Catholic Central’s Aya Johnson in a tie-breaker for first last season before finishing runner-up, and will be the heavy favorite to end her high school career with a medalist honor. Farwell junior Bria Colosky and Hanover-Horton senior Megan Klintworth were two of three who tied for ninth individually at last season’s Final, and both are coming off strong Regional finishes; Klintworth won at Jackson’s Cacades Golf Course, and Colosky finished runner-up at Manistee National to Maple City Glen Lake freshman Nicole Cox.
PHOTO: Okemos’ Elle Nichols poses with an MHSAA trophy after winning the individual championship at the 2011 Lower Peninsula Division 2 Final. She finished first in Division 2 last season as well. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
Top Talent Teeing Off in Upper Peninsula
May 10, 2017
By Dennis Grall
Special for Second Half
ESCANABA - With golf courses like TimberStone, Greywalls and Sweetgrass already ranked among the best in Michigan, and Sage Run expected to join that list soon, Upper Peninsula golf is becoming increasingly high class.
Also contributing are some quality golfers past and present. Scott Hebert and Becky Iverson are already in the Michigan Golf Hall of Fame, and Syd Wells is in the Wisconsin Golf Hall of Fame and a prime nominee for the Michigan golf hall.
Players like Mike Nagy, twin brothers Dan and Dave Ellis, Carley Saint-Onge and Avery Rochester have made an impact, and now high school products like Hunter Eichhorn, Bryce Douglas and others are making similar strides.
Eichhorn, a senior at Carney-Nadeau High School, was the Wisconsin Golf Association's junior player of the year in 2016, played in the national Junior Amateur and has a golf scholarship to Marquette University. Douglas, a senior at Gladstone High School, has a golf scholarship to University of Detroit Mercy.
Thursday they were joined in a threesome at the Escanaba Invitational at Escanaba Country Club by Escanaba High School senior John Kositzky, who has committed to play golf at Wisconsin Lutheran University, a Division III school in Milwaukee.
Heading the female ranks is Paxton Johnson, an Escanaba High School sophomore southpaw who has similar potential.
Wisconsin Lutheran coach Adam Volbrecht attended Thursday's six-school tournament and walked with Kositzky's college-bound trio.
"I was very impressed. I saw some really good golf," Volbrecht said, surprise obvious in his voice. "If you think it is good, it is way better than you think."
He was particularly impressed by Eichhorn, who went birdie-birdie-bogey-eagle on the last four holes of the front nine en route to a 4-under par medalist round of 67. "Hunter is as good a junior golfer as I've seen," he said, adding the overall performances were stronger than he saw in a Milwaukee area tourney the previous day.
He was amazed to see the level of golf on display since Upper Peninsula weather has not made it easy for golfers to hit the links this spring. "It is a big transition jumping right out of winter and going under par," he said. "I saw some very good golf without there being a really good reason for it (because of tough weather conditions Thursday and all spring)."
Volbrecht also liked the fact many of the players he saw are multiple-sport athletes. Eichhorn was an all-conference basketball marksman, Douglas is a former football player and Kositzky actually was attracted to Wisconsin Lutheran to play football before deciding on golf. "There are some benefits to being well-rounded," said the WLU coach.
Volbrecht also enjoyed seeing numerous fans watching the first medal-play event of the season, noting "the Upper Peninsula golf culture. Golf is important up here."
Eichhorn, a three-time U.P. Division 3 individual champion, was excited to play with Douglas and Kositzky. "It was a great challenge. I like playing in bigger meets because I know they will push me to play even better. With great competition you've got to lock in a little more," he said, indicating stiffer competition will help prepare him for the challenge of playing at Marquette, which just won the Big East Conference title and graduates only one senior.
Douglas, who beat Eichhorn in one meet last spring and was fourth in the Upper Peninsula Golf Association men's tournament last year, shot 71 on Thursday. "It was really fun competing with them today. It narrows my focus. You want to do better," he said.
"(Eichhorn) is the best player at our level. Of course you want to compare your game to his game." Douglas said. "It will give me an idea what it will be like to play college golf and will get me ready for what is to come."
Douglas plans to play in the UPGA again and will try to qualify for the Michigan Open, the Michigan Amateur and the United States Open.
Kositzky posted a 78 in the chilly, windy conditions and welcomed the chance to test his game against better players.
"Playing with guys like that, you want to try to keep up with them. I tried to stick to my game plan, but they influence you a little bit," he said. "It gives you that focus."
Escanaba High School coach Brian Robinette, himself a former state junior golf champion and Olivet College Hall of Fame golfer, was elated to see such a talented field of prep golfers.
"From the high school standpoint, golf is becoming cool again," he said, indicating a recent decline in girls golf has been a concern. "Getting kids comfortable on the course is a key. Our adult golf population needs to embrace the kids on the course."
Robinette said players like Nagy (Manistique), Saint Onge and Rochester (both graduates of Marquette) "have paved the way. They are high level, top-tier players."
He said having today's preps see what some of the recent standouts have achieved "gets the competitive nature going for these kids. There is really magnificent talent up here."
He also noted the impact of the Road to the LPGA's Symetra Tour visiting Sweetgrass the past six years as a huge bonus.
Robinette said players like Eichhorn and Douglas can use their length to make the transition to college golf. "(Douglas) will see some stud golfers, but his ceiling is pretty high."
He said Johnson, the reigning U.P. Division 1 girls champion, "has the drive to play beyond high school. She has her golf life mapped out. She can launch the ball with her driver, so now you're talking pars and birdies."
Robinette said South Dakota State University golf coach Casey VanDamme, a native of Perkins, also has been beneficial to U.P. golfers.
"It doesn't take much to find talent if you care to look," Robinette said of college coaches noticing the quality of players in the Upper Peninsula. "The U.P. is on a lot of people's radar."
Denny Grall retired in 2012 after 39 years at the Escanaba Daily Press and four at the Green Bay Press-Gazette, plus 15 months for WLST radio in Escanaba; he served as the Daily Press sports editor from 1970-80 and 1984-2012, and as interim during the 2016-17 school year. Grall was inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in 2002 and serves as its executive secretary. E-mail him at [email protected] with story ideas for the Upper Peninsula.
PHOTOS: (Top) A college-bound trio of Upper Peninsula high school golfers played in the top threesome at Escanaba Country Club on Thursday. They included, from left, John Kositzky of Escanaba, Bryce Douglas of Gladstone and Hunter Eichhorn of Carney-Nadeau. Eichhorn, headed to Marquette University, was medalist with a 4-under-par 67. (Middle) Escanaba High School sophomore Paxton Johnson prepares to hit an iron approach to the 17th green Thursday at Escanaba Country Club. She is the reigning Division 1 Upper Peninsula girls champion and a potential college prospect. (Below) Bryce Douglas of Gladstone places the ball on the 17th green Thursday at Escanaba Country Club. The University of Detroit recruit posted par 71 in the Escanaba Invitational. (Photos by Dennis Grall.)