GIRLS GOLF: Legacy earns moment in limelight at Oakland County D-I tourney
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BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
WATERFORD TWP. — Veronica Haque, Bailey Compton and Sophie Kollin have more in common than being three of Oakland County’s top golfers.
They all fall in line of talented legacy as well.
Haque, a freshman from Rochester, follows in the footsteps of her older sister, Jazmin, who placed in the top 15 at the prestigious Oakland County Division I Tournament the past two years and was All-State last season.
Compton, a junior from Rochester Stoney Creek, is the younger sister of Devon Compton, the 2010 Michigan Miss Golf winner and state champion who placed at the county meet all four years of her career.
Kollin is the younger sister of Max Kollin. The junior saw her older sibling win the Division 1 state crown in 2010 and place at the county championships three years running.
The trio also shared another common thread Wednesday on the links of Pontiac Country Club. All three shot a 3-over round of 75 to share medalist honors in a field of 89 golfers.
“I heard my sister just called (my parents),” laughed Haque. “I wonder what her reaction was?
“It feels nice. I was just trying to do my best,” added Haque, who didn’t expect to be in the running in the star-studded field of golfers. “This will give me more confidence.”
For Compton, Wednesday’s co-medalist honors helps her escape from the shadows of several other highly-touted golfers that have hailed from the Rochester area, in particular her sister Devon Compton who is now at the University of Michigan.
“It feels really exciting. You kind of want to make your own name for herself, because you don’t want to live behind a name,” said Compton, who expectedly has drawn comparisons to her older sibling. “(At the same time), it’s really neat that I can follow in the footsteps.”
While Haque, Compton and Kollin all made their mark in their respective families and for their schools, Birmingham Seaholm’s group did the same for their storied program.
Seaholm finally won its first D-I county title in its illustrious history by the slimmest of margins, collecting a play-five, count-four team score of 325, just ahead of Birmingham Detroit Country Day’s 326. Troy was third with 327, followed by Rochester Stoney Creek (329) and defending champion Farmington Hills Mercy (336) in the top five in the 18-team standings.
Just 11 strokes separated the f top five teams, while four strokes separated the top four in perhaps the closest D-I county tourney in history.
South Lyon placed sixth with 339, while Novi (344), North Farmington-Harrison Unified (345), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (350), Lake Orion (360), Milford (361), Rochester (367), Rochester Adams (370), Bloomfield Hills (370), Oxford (372), Birmingham Marian (383), Clarkston (389) and South Lyon East (425) rounded out the field.
Seaholm was missing perhaps its top golfer, Rachel Wilson, out with an injury, but banded together to win the crown. Previously, Seaholm won the D-II county title in 2006 and had placed in the top five at the D-I county tournament several times over the years.
In many seasons, Seaholm coach Leon Braisted did not compete with his best golfers, but saw a very committed group this year who wanted to become the Maples’ first to win the D-I county title.
“They were all committed to playing,” smiled Braisted. “We had been second 3-4 times and we won the D-II county 9-10 years ago. (The girls) said this was one they wanted to win. They wanted to come out here and send a message that we can play. It is the first time that all five of them have played together since the first league meet, which we lost to Stoney Creek. It’s awesome and a great feeling.”
A total of 15 golfers broke 80 on the day, with Troy’s Jennifer Cui (77) and Detroit Country Day’s Ellie Miller (77) finishing in a tie for fourth. Four golfers tied for sixth with 78s, including Chole Guschewski of Stoney Creek, Caroline Harding of South Lyon, Cordelia Chan of Cranbrook and Katelyn Henry of Novi.
Mercy’s Julia Shaw (79), Cranbrook’s Greer Clausen, Milford’s Gabby Brackrog and Seaholm’s Allegra Cunningham all tied for 10th with rounds of 79.
Megan Lam (80), Jordan Michalak (81) and Jamie Greene (85) aided Seaholm’s winning total.
“We finally won it,” added Braisted.
Country Day’s runner-up trophy is perhaps the Yellowjackets best finish, at least in the past two decades.
“It was just one stroke (off),” sighed Peggy Steffan, Country Day’s coach. “We’ll take second. That’s still impressive for this meet.”
Troy coach John Getzan entered the tournament with a really young team, losing key players to graduation and another that moved to Taiwan.
“To come here and place this well against this competition is great. We were coming off a 311 at the Farmington Tournament, which was a school record, and now we shoot 327 and place third at the county. That’s a good sign,” smiled Getzan. “We are really starting to play some really good golf. We’ve got two sophomores, a junior and a freshman playing in our top-five. I can’t complain about that considering how young we are this season.”
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FOR MORE GOLF COVERAGE: http://northoaklandsports.com/?s=Golf&x=9&y=14
Have photos or video of this event that you wish to share? E-mail pertinent information to www.northoaklandsports.com Senior Editor Dan Stickradt at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or e-mail results@northoaklandsports.com.
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