Oakland Christian grabs lead at state golf finals
Oxford, Troy, Avondale way off pace
ALLENDALE — Auburn Hills Oakland Christian grabbed a seven-stroke lead after the first day of competition at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 boys golf state finals at The Meadows Golf Course.
The top-ranked Lancers collected a play-five, count-four team score of 319, ahead of Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic (316), Ann Arbor Greenhills (317) and Saginaw Nouvel Catholic (323) in the 15-school field.
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest was 14th (370).
Individually, Zack Bialik of Manistee Catholic Central carded a 69 to take the lead. Defending champion Zach Press and Nick Vanbiesbrouck, both from Oakland Christian, tied for second at 73, while Greenhills’ Henry Do and Hackett’s Ted Rider finished at 74 to tie for fourth.
There were 15 golfers that shot 79 or better.
For Oakland Christian, Tyler Coyne (81), John VanNoord (82) and Paul Klemme (85) aided the Lancers’ effort.
Tom Miller shot an 82 to lead Lutheran Northwest.
DIVISION 1: Top-ranked Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central put together a 297 effort to lead after the first day at Oakland University’s Katke Cousins.
Defending champion Novi Detroit Catholic Central is in second at 304, followed by Birmingham Brother Rice (305), Traverse City Central (309) and Pinckney (310) in a close top five, where 13 strokes is all the difference.
Oxford leads www.northoaklandsports.com area schools with a 319 team score, which is 10th, while Troy is back in 13th at 324.
Pinckney’s Otto Black and Forest Hills Central’s Max Rispler both shot 71 to take the individual lead in a field where only two strokes separated the top nine finishers.
Oxford’s Doug Piesko shot a 77 to finish in the top20 after the first day. J.J. Lewis (78), Nolan Chapman (80), Nick Hocker (8) and Josh Hosking (84) also contributed for the Wildcats.
Troy’s best effort came from James Heichel, who finished at 80. Anthony D’Amico (81), John Graham (81), Christian Harnishfeger (82) and Jeff Holmes (85) followed for Troy.
Individual qualifier Alex Waelchli of Lake Orion is 15 strokes off the lead at 86.
DIVISION 2: DeWitt is backing up its top ranking, as its 292 team score at Michigan State University’s Forest Akers West is 10 strokes ahead of Tecumseh’s 302. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood (303), Richland Gull Lake (306), Big Rapids (306) and Spring Lake (307) are all in a tight race for second.
Auburn Hills Avondale is way back in 14th place at 319, a total of 27 strokes off the pace.
Chris Noble of Niles leads the way with a 68, while Cranbrook’s Griffin Smith, Spring Lake’s Marcus Fry and Tecumseh’s Bobby Thomas all shot 70
Avondale’s Blake Blomberg is in a six-way tie for eighth at 73, only five strokes off the leader.
Spencer Jacobson (81), Troy May (82), Steven Carter (83) and Steven Turner (88) also competed for Avondale.
Category: Auburn Hills Avondale, High School, Lake Orion, Oxford, Prep Wraps, Troy
