Finishing on top: Top-ranked Oakland Christian wins first-ever golf state title
ON TOP: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian captured its first-ever boys golf state championship Saturday at The Meadows Golf Course. Courtesy Photo | Debbie Coyne
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
ALLENDALE — Auburn Hills Oakland Christian has had several quality golf teams over the past two decades. Finally in 2001, the Lancers sailed through the perfect storm.
It all culminated Saturday at the Meadows Golf Course at Grand Valley State
University. The Lancers posted a two-day total of 622 (309-313) to win their first Lower Peninsula Division 4 state championship.
“I told the guys if we go out and do what we did the first day, that we’d be fine,” said Johnson. “But it’s never easy. I think they knew they had a target on their backs. But it was something that they earned and they handled (the pressure) well.”
Oakland Christian led by seven strokes after Friday’s competition ahead of Kalamazoo Hackett (309 to 316) and finished the tournament 11 strokes ahead of league rival Ann Arbor Greenhills, which posted a 633. Saginaw Nouvel Catholic was a distant third at 643, while Kalamazoo Hackett (658), Maple City Glen Lake (658), Muskegon Western Michigan Christian (661), Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian (670), Kalamazoo Christian (671), Manistee Catholic Central(673) and Lake Leelanau St. Mary (680) rounded out the top 10 in the 15-schoolfield.
Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest finished 14th (750).
The Lancers, which has benefitted from tremendous depth, landed three golfers in the top 12 in the medalist standings.
SWINGING FOR GLORY: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian's Nick VanBiesbrouck finished 12th overall to help the Lancers earn the D-4 state crown. Courtesy Photo | Debbie Coyne.
Zach Preuss, the defending state champion who transferred over from Lutheran Northwest to Oakland Christian last summer, was fourth at 151 (73-78) to lead the Lancers.
Tyler Coyne was eighth at 155 (81-74), Nick Vanbiesbrouck tied for 12th at 157 (73-84) and both John VanNoord (82-78—160) and Paul Klemme (85-83—168) posted solid scores for Oakland Christian, which was ranked No. 1 in the state the final six weeks of the season.
Greenhills sophomore Henry Do carded a 141 (74-67) to win the individual crown. Hackett’s Ted Rider was second (148) and Manistee Catholic’s Zack Bialik (151) claimed third. Only 125 strokes separated the top 11 finishers after two days of competition.
“I’m so proud of the kids. They played well all season. We won several tournaments in the (second half) of the season,” said Johnson, who finished his 12th season as head coach of the Lancers. “They won the Division I county against all big schools, they won the league, district, regional and now state. They were very consistent and I think we had a lot of depth. If someone had a bad round, everyone else seemed to pick them up.”
The championship is only the third state title in school history, following the girls basketball Class D crown in the fall of 1992 and the boys soccer Division 4 crown in 2008. The boys golf team’s previous best was fourth in 2004.
“We’ve had some great teams in a lot of sports, but that hasn’t always meant a great tournament run,” reminded Johnson.”For me, I’ve coached boys soccer, boys and girls bowling and boys golf and I have a combined 35 seasons with them and never had a chance to experience anything like this. It’s nice to get the monkey off the back, so to speak. We had the talent this season and the boys came tough.”
For Northwest, which qualified for the state finals despite a rebuilding campaign, the Crusaders were paced by Tom Miller’s 178 (82-96). Spenser Frania followed at 183, Jameson Collar has a 192 and Austin Kindsvater a197 to round.
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Category: Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, High School, High School (M-Z), Prep Wraps, Rochester Hills Lutheran NW
