Girls High School Golf Titles Won and History Made
By Tom Lang
EAST LANSING – Detroit has its Big Three; so does Division 1 girls high school golf.
A trio of seniors, the only three to play under par, wrestled neck and neck for two days with Elise Fennell of East Kentwood taking home state medalist honors at 4-under par, 70-70-140. Jessica Jolly of Rockford and Byron Center’s Macie Elzinga, the state champ of Div. 2 last year, tied for runner up at 141. Fennell and Jolly are both headed to Illinois State.
“I was refreshing (the online scoring app) all the time,” Fennel said about the final round. “It was motivation for me. I stayed steady. I made a lot of good par saves just to keep things going, but I got my birdies when I could.”
Rochester Adams came back from 11 strokes down to win its second consecutive Division 1 girls’ golf state title, on a water-soaked late October weekend at Forest Akers West, by a single stroke over runner up Brighton, 669 to 670.
“These girls; championships breeds championships,” Adams coach Jeff Kutschman said. “They have the pedigree, they’ve been working their tails off. We just stuck to it. The girls just played their game without trying to do too much at one time.”
Kutschman gave a ton of praise to Katie Fodale (T-8) for earning four state titles; two in golf and two in downhill skiing – but also was amazed by the fortitude of the injured Olivia Dance, “who was playing on one leg. We were not sure (mid week) if she was going to play because she sprained her ankle really bad. She gutted it out and played through it. She struggled Friday but came back (105-89) so impressive the second day.”
Laura Liu led Adams with a two-day 150, good for a T-4 individually.
Division 2:
At Forest Akers East, Farmington Hills Mercy also won its second consecutive title, with a two-day total 636, ahead of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood at 653. Mercy has four state championships overall with the program’s only coach, Vicki Kowalski, the first dating back to 1999.
Mercy’s top player, junior Maeve Casey, who shot 73 and was second overall, jumped on an airplane after the first round to go play junior hockey at a tournament in Minnesota and skipped the final round.
“For the girls to come through today, counting on a score that didn’t count (in first round), but she (senior Brinlee Nay) came through with the same score she shot yesterday, an 89,” Kowalski said.
Two golfers shot their career best: 70 by Abby Slankster after an 80 the first round – and Macy Morphew with an 81 for her best score ever, after an 85 in first round.
Lauren Davis of Coopersville was medalist and the only player under par, shooting 70-70-140. She will play next at Central Michigan University.
“My putting was super solid, so that was the biggest help for me,” Davis said. “There were sometimes we’d putt through puddles, then by the hole it would be dry. It was definitely tough.”
Division 3:
Grand Rapids Catholic Central shot a two round 673 at The Meadows at Grand Valley State to win the program’s first state championship, ahead of runner up Williamston and defending champion Macomb Lutheran North in third.
North, however, got a third individual state championship from senior Lauren Timpf. She became the 7th golfer in MHSAA Lower Peninsula girls’ golf history to achieve the feat, scoring 5-under-par 67 to finish with a two-round 141.
Division 4:
Mia Melendez, a junior at Ann Arbor Greenhills, set herself up to be the first girls golfer to potentially win four golf state titles by winning number three this year to become the 8th golfer to do so. She came back from a 4-shot deficit after round one by shooting a 69.
Lansing Catholic won the team title ahead of Kalamazoo Christian and Brooklyn Columbia Central.
