EAST LANSING — In July, then 14-year-old Lauren Timpf volunteered to play in the 16-18 age group for the Michigan Girls’ Junior State Amateur Championship and won it, the youngest in the event’s 43-year history.
In the last three weeks, now 15 and a sophomore, she shot a 5-under 64 at the Detroit Golf Club in the Catholic League’s Girls Golf championship, then followed up with a 2-under 70 to lead her Macomb Lutheran North teammates to the Macomb County championship.
Last Friday and Saturday, in the MHSAA Division 3 final at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West Golf Course, she combined an astonishing 6-under 66 and a 1-over 73 for a two-day 5-under 139 to claim the state’s top girls golfer ranking.
So, how did she celebrate the most recent accomplishment?
“We grabbed some food and coffee and drove home,” she says. “At school, they’ll probably put up a banner with my name and ‘State Champion.’ That’ll be nice.”
She admits that Sunday morning, only for a moment, she thought about getting the clubs out. “But I decided to sleep in. And I had a ton of homework to do.”
A year ago, she shot a 71 in the D3 finals, faulting her putting, particularly a pair of 3-foot putts that glanced off the flagstick and cost her the opportunity to win.
That memory made up a large part of her motivation this time around.
“I felt confident in my game coming into the weekend,” she says. “I picked 65 as my goal, a number I felt was doable. I had a 67 on the (Akers) East course so I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it.”
In a shotgun start, she opened on the par 3 12th hole with a birdie and would have had another birdie on the next hole, a par 5. “But I lipped out for a par,” she says. “I was frustrated, but I came back with a birdie and went bogie-free the rest of the round.”
Lauren says her short game was “working well. High school golf plays a lot shorter than in other tournaments. I could hit my drives, then have like a wedge into the green. I was able to go up and down for a birdie on those holes. It was very important.”
She revised her goal for Saturday’s round. “I was at 6 under so I decided to go for 10 under or more.” She started out two under for the first four holes. “Then the winds picked up. A few holes I had to club up three clubs just to make it to the greens. I didn’t make as many putts.”
Lauren’s golf routine won’t change much in the next six weeks. She’ll be preparing for the 54-hole Elite Invitational Nov. 12-14 at the Longleaf Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina.
During the winter months, she’ll spend time in the C. J. Barrymore golf dome in Clinton Township. “I always need to improve every phase of my game. My dad says he and I will try to get down south and play a tournament every month.”
GIRLS GOLF
Cranbrook wins Division 3
Cranbrook won the school’s third Division 3 championship with a two-day total of 694.
Senior Natasha Samsonov shot a two-day total of 163 (79-84), sixth best among the top 10 performers to lead the Cranes. Ashley Cong 175, Sienna Ilitch 175, Katherine Li 196 and Mackenzie Behnke 189 rounded out the squad.
Earlier in the season, Cranbrook won the CHSL Bishop/Central Division trophy and the Oakland County championship.
Other CHSL teams: 4th, Bloomfield Hills Marian 729 (Ashley Carroll’s 81-84 165 was seventh best), 6th, Lutheran North 738, and 16th, Wixom St. Catherine of Siena 816.
Divine Child wins first state title
Seniors Julia Lizak and Zeinab Saad led the Falcons’ quest to win the Division 2 championship. Lizak’s 157 (81-76) and Saad’s 164 (82-82) were seventh and ninth best, respectively, on the top 10 list. Leila Saad shot 173 and Marty Ronayne 197 to account for Divine Child’s winning 691 score, nine strokes better than runner-up Byron Center. The Falcons, a month earlier, won their third straight CHSL Cardinal/AA Division trophy.
Farmington Hills Mercy finished fourth with a 710 total. Freshman Maeve Casey was team-best with (86-82) 168.
Freshman Mia Melendez best in D4
Freshman Mia Melendez shot (72-71) 143 to wind up atop the top 10 individuals in Division 4. Her Ann Arbor Greenhills teammates finished in seventh place with a 764 total. Royal Oak Shrine came in 11th with 798 strokes.
Sophomore Macy Ward, of Orchard Lake St. Mary's, shot (106-109) 215 for 16th place among individual qualifiers.
BOYS TENNIS
Cranbrook repeats
Cranbrook had 30 points to repeat as Division 3 state champ, its sixth crown in the last seven years. Cranbrook’s individual winners included Caden Che in a singles match, and in doubles, the teams of Jacob Coburn and Theodore Taubman, and Ryan Michaels and Andrew Fink.
Ann Arbor Greenhills finished third with 25 points. Mert Oral, Rishi Verma and Chakor Rajendra won three of four singles matches for Greenhills.
Other CHSL entries: In Division 1, Novi Detroit Catholic Central tied for seventh place with 11 points, and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice tied for 10th with nine points.
In Division 2, Sam Owens and Stephen Cibulas won a doubles match to help University of Detroit Jesuit earn fifth place with 19 points.
In Division 4, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett finished second-best with 27 points. Sebastian Courtright, George Anusbigian and Gerry Sherer won their singles matches.
West Bloomfield Frankel Jewish Academy tied for 16th place with three points.
State finals on tap
NOV. 6, BOYS SOCCER: Novi Detroit Catholic Central is the defending Division 1 champion. The Shamrocks are one of 14 CHSL schools in the MHSAA’s four divisions still in the hunt for the main prize, half of them in Division 4.
NOV. 6, BOYS AND GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY: Both are staged at the Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn. The last time a CHSL boys team won a state title was Catholic Central in 2010. The last girls state XC champ was Livonia Ladywood in 1980.
NOV. 19-20, GIRLS SWIMMING: Cranbrook is defending champion in Division 3. Mercy was Division 1 runner-up last year after winning three years in a row. The Marlins a month ago won their 25th Oakland County championship.
NOV. 20, GIRLS VOLLEYBALL: Ranked No. 1 season long, Bloomfield Hills Marian has been, and will continue to be, the center of everyone’s attention as the Mustangs seek to repeat as Division 1 champ. The Marian community will also be keeping an eye on coach Mayssa Cook. At about the same time, she is due to deliver her second child.
NOV. 26-27, FOOTBALL: Eight divisional champions will be crowned at Ford Field. The MHSAA will announce the playoff schedule Sunday evening, Oct 24.
Contact Don Horkey at [email protected].
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