OLSM Golf News 2010

Golf - News

News | Roster | Schedules--Results | Archives

5/19/2011 -- Golf

Oakland County Boys Golf Championship

By KEITH DUNLAP
Of The Oakland Press

WATERFORD TWP. — This was the definition of a victory for the little guys.

The annual Oakland County high school boys Division I golf tournament on Wednesday featured mostly Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3 squads in the 25-team field, including Birmingham Brother Rice, Novi Detroit Catholic Central and North Farmington, which are ranked No. 1, No. 6 and No. 7 in the state in Division 1, respectively.

But none of those squads or any other state-ranked team in Division 2 or Division 3 that was in the field took home the championship trophy.

Instead, it was a Division 4 team.

Proving it can not only compete with, but beat, the big boys, Auburn Hills Oakland Christian raised plenty of eyebrows by capturing the county tournament with a sizzling team score of 296, three shots better than North Farmington.

Catholic Central took third at 300, Novi finished fourth at 305, while defending county champion Brother Rice finished fifth with a final total of 306.

“(Senior) Nick Vanbiesbrouck told me (on Tuesday) that we were going to win this,” Oakland Christian coach Randy Johnson said. “I thought ‘Wow, that'd be nice.' This exceeds (our expectations).”

Mind you, Oakland Christian is not chopped liver by any stretch of the imagination. The Lancers are ranked No. 2 in the state in Division 4 and are a bona fide contender to win it all in the state's lowest division.

But outlasting so many bigger schools at one of the state's premier tournaments was quite a remarkable achievement.

Leading the way was junior Tyler Coyne, who shot a 71 to lead a group of four Oakland Christian golfers that shot no higher than 76.

Junior and defending individual Division 4 state champion Zach Preuss came in with a 74, Vanbiesbrouck shot a 75 and sophomore Paul Klemme shot a 76 to account for the terrific final team score.

The Lancers shot a team score of 303 this past weekend at a tournament, which at the time was a school record tournament score.

That mark was bettered by seven strokes at the county tournament, and now Oakland Christian will have even greater expectations to win the Division 4 state tournament next month as a result.

“We put that pressure on ourselves last June,” Johnson said. “We had everybody coming back after being 10th in the state. We had Zach transfer in (from Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest). From that point on, we said that our goal should be to win states.”

Also happy with his team's performance was North Farmington coach Bruce Sutton. The Raiders know that in order to qualify for the state tournament for the first time in school history, they'll have to finish in the top-3 at a loaded regional that likely will include Catholic Central, Birmingham Brother Rice and No. 8 Pinckney, barring anything unforeseen at district tournaments.

Beating Brother Rice and Catholic Central on Wednesday should give the Raiders a boost of confidence.

“Very encouraging,” North Farmington coach Bruce Sutton said. “This is our third 18 (hole-tournament) in the past four or five days, and our scores have come down each time. I'm very encouraged.”

It helped North Farmington that junior Max Kollin was in prime form, as he won medalist honors with a 4-under par round of 68.

Kollin was especially hot on the back-nine, firing a 31.

“I tore it up,” Kollin said. “I putted really, really well on the back-nine. I started off with a couple of three-putts and then I recovered from that. Earlier this year, I shot a 30 at Farmington (Hills Golf Club), but I think today was a little bit more legit. It was in a tournament.”

Right behind Kollin was Patrick Luther of Catholic Central, who shot a 70. Coyne was third with his 71, while Pontiac Notre Dame Prep junior Aaron Knutson, Birmingham Detroit Country Day senior Michael Zausmer and Birmingham Seaholm sophomore Francesco Ruffino each shot a 72.

Oakland County Division I tournament

(at Pontiac Country Club, par 72)

TEAMS — Auburn Hills Oakland Christian 296; North Farmington 299; Novi Detroit Catholic Central 300; Novi 305; Birmingham Brother Rice 306; Rochester 309; Lakeland 311; Clarkston 312; Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 313; Milford 314; Troy 316; Rochester Adams 316; Orchard Lake St. Mary's 318; Birmingham Detroit Country Day 319; Birmingham Groves 321; Walled Lake Northern 322; South Lyon 322; Birmingham Seaholm 324; Pontiac Notre Dame Prep 325; Lake Orion 326; Ortonville Brandon 331; Walled Lake Western 335; Farmington 336; West Bloomfield 324; Walled Lake Central 347

INDIVIDUALS — Max Kollin (N. Farmington) 68; Patrick Luther (Catholic Central) 70; Tyler Coyne (O. Christian) 71; Aaron Knutson (ND Prep) 72; Michael Zausmer (Country Day) 72; Francesco Ruffino (Seaholm) 72; Nick Dennis (Brother Rice) 73; Nick Williams (N. Farmington) 74; Brad Kozinski (Novi) 74; Zach Preuss (O. Christian) 74; Nick Vanbiesbrouck (O. Christian) 75; Connor Sexton (Catholic Central) 75; Garret Buckley (Novi) 75; Eric Shyu (Rochester) 75

Prep Golf

No logos, photographs, or graphics on the site may be reproduced without written permission.