DETROIT – The Catholic High School League claimed three Michigan High School Athletic Association golf championships last Saturday.
It was “been there, done that” for Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Clarkston Everest Collegiate.
The Shamrocks won their second Division 1 title in the last three years and seventh in their history, while Everest won Division 4 for the second year in a row and fourth in the last eight years.
For Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Prep, it was a new experience, one that went right down to the narrowest of margins, a one-stroke difference.
“Hard work has paid off,” for Catholic Central in Division 1
Senior Julian Menser shot a 4-under 140 (70-70) in the two-day match at Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley Golf Course to win medalist honors and lead Catholic Central to an eight-stroke victory over defending champ Ann Arbor Skyline.
Senior captain Carson Lloyd shot a 152 and sophomores JackWhitmore, 154, and David Krusinski, 155, to round out the Shamrocks winning 597 team total.
“I’ve had this event circled on my calendar, and I’ve wanted to win this for a long time,” Menser said. “It’s a really strong field and good competition, so it’s exciting to come out on top and know that all my hard work has paid off.”
The next chapter in Menser’s golf biography will be written at Michigan State. “Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to go play golf at Michigan State,” he said. “It’s a dream come true, and I can’t wait to get there.”
Noteworthy: Warren De La Salle finished fifth, 24 strokes behind CC. Sophomore Troy Nguyen shot 143 (71-72), good for third on the Top 10 Individuals list … University of Detroit Jesuit senior Paul Haupt shot 151 for 10th. U-D Jesuit placed 14th.
“I thought it would come,” St. Mary's coach says about Division 2 title
It’d take a mighty wind to blow down the state and league championship banners St. Mary’s has hoisted in a wide-ranging lineup of athletic endeavors in its decades-long history.
Space will have to be made in the glorious array as the result of a gut-wrenching one-stroke victory in the MHSAA Division 2 golf finals played at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West Course.
It was a three-team scramble after the first day’s action. Richland Gull Lake shot 303, the Eaglets 304, and defending champions Grand Rapids Christian, 307.
On the second day, Gull Lake dropped three strokes to 306, St. Mary’s improved by five to 299 and Christian rallied 10 strokes better to 297. The end result: the Eaglets won 603-604.
Leading the way for St. Mary’s was senior Cooper Eaton, who shot a two-day score of 144 (71-73), third overall. Sophomore Blaise Król was next with a 147 (74-73) – seventh – followed by junior Ethan Mukhtar 156 (78-78), sophomore Mikey Karwaski 156 (81-75) and senior Ben Carroll 164 (82-82).
Tom Brecht has coached St. Mary’s since 1996. “I thought it would come,” Brecht said of winning a state title. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be coaching – maybe one or two more years. I’m just very thankful and blessed.”
“It’s surreal,” Eaton said. “It’s a dream come true. All the guys put it together, and it was our day. We really took care of business.”
Noteworthy: Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice ended up 11 strokes off the pace with a 311 team effort. Junior Leandro Pinili (70-72) 142 was second overall.
Everest College 'Best buddies' push each other to Division 4 title
When it comes to the art of teammates getting after one another, no one does it better than juniors Will Pennanen and Parker Stalcup on the Everest Collegiate golf squad.
“We had two of our top guys from last year back and I thought were the best players in Division 4,” coach David Smith said. “They just shot good numbers when the pressure was on. They are best buddies. Parker pushes Will, and Will pushes Parker. They just cheer for each other and encourage and support each other, which makes them both a lot better.”
Pennanen fired a 76 on Friday amid extremely windy conditions and followed that up the next day with an even-par 72 – that featured an eagle on the par 5 501-yard 14th – at The Meadows at Grand Valley State University. His 148 total earned him medalist honors.
Parker Stalcup closed with a final round 74 to finish fourth at 157. The team also scored a 175 from junior Mark Cross and a 190 from sophomore Nolan Alban.
Everest’s 664 total was eight strokes better than runner-up Grandville Calvin Christian. Noteworthy: Royal Oak Shrine’s 720 put it in 11th place. Riverview Gabriel Richard was 16th with a 762 total . . . Allen Park Cabrini sophomore Jake Schembri shot 191, good enough for third among 20 individual qualifiers.
Jackson Lumen Christi’s bid for a Division 3 title fell 18 strokes short of Traverse City St. Francis. Lumen Christi junior Charles Saunders shot 162 for the tenth overall. . . . Ann Arbor Greenhills wound up tenth, 52 strokes behind St. Francis.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected]
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