The all Oakland County Prep Golf Team has plenty of underclassman firepower and the depth of Oakland Christian is a great place to start.
Doc Johnson’s team runs five players deep and two of his players played well enough to earn my all-county honors.
Tyler Coyne (Jr.) helped the Lancers win the Division Four Title and the County Title defeating the county power players Novi Catholic Central, Birmingham Brother Rice and others. He consistently shoots in the 70’s and his scrambling game helped keep his team in holes that frustrated his opponents who thought the 'roadrunner ' had been caught. He shot 81 on opening day of the State Division 4 finals at the Meadows at Grand Valley University but scrambled to shoot 74 on day two to make sure Ann Arbor Greenhills did not close the gap in Oakland Christians first State title in prep golf.
Another Lancer, junior Zach Preuss is used to the rigors of competing in big time golf and after winning medalist honors in division four last year, he was hoping to earn the daily double of repeating as both medalist and team champion and added State Team Champion to his resume. Preuss selfless manner allowed a senior to play as the number one seed this year. Another consistent shooter in the 70’s, Preuss is a good putter that can go low when his putter is working. His two day score of (73-78) in the State finals provided an anchor for the Lancers to earn the team title and Zach a fourth place finish overall. Preuss is usually in the money and hopes to win both individual and team titles next year. He, like Coyne is receiving attention from college scouts who would like to fill out their lineup cards with their names for four more years of competitive golf.
Griffen Smith of Cranbrook being interviewed by the MHSAA
Griffen Smith of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook played extremely well at the state tournament at Forest Akers Golf Club in East Lansing at Michigan State University. Smith posted scores of 70 and 71 and won medalist honors for division two by two shots in a pressure packed finals where ten golfers were within 6 shots of his winning title. Smith’s Kingswood team just missed winning the team finals as they came up 17 strokes short of DeWitt who just blew away the Spartans home course. 
Top 10 Players in Division One Finals at Katke Cousins.Ruffino is in the orange polo and Kollin stands to his left. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Francesco Ruffino (soph,) Birmingham Seaholm has arguably the most talent of any prep golfer seen on the links in Oakland County. His drives are usually bombed 300+ yards off the tee and his short game is also magical like Seve’s. The sophomore shot 75-70 at the state finals at a very difficult Katke Cousins golf course and he is an iron machine hitting a lot of greens but just missing on the tricky greens. Still he only finished one stroke out of a play off in the Division 1 final at Katke Cousins. Ruffino’s still raw talent wise and knows he has to work on his putter and when some putts he missed at the County tournament and the State Finals fall in '12, who knows where his talent will take him but I’m guessing the fellow listed below will have some gallery duels next season.
Max Kollin is to the right and is the Division 1 Medalist
The anchorman on this team is Oakland County and Division One medalist Max Kollin. Kollin, a junior from North Farmington was only golfing this weekend as a individual qualifier but he tuned that out and played the course like a conductor instructs his orchestra. He shot a two day total of 73-71 even at a course that was setup to discourage low scores. Still, Max was tied after 36 holes with Kyle Kenkel of Davison who shot 74-70 but Max was hungry. He has the coolness of a surgeon taking your heart out, taking a bite out of it and then putting it back in and having a smile. He rolled in a clutch putt on the 37th hole and won in sudden death and Kollin expected a result no less than the victory. He is a junior and I hope he and Ruffino are paired in a few events next spring. Bring your folding chair and follow them around the ropes. Kollin can go low as he posted a four under 68 at Pontiac Country Club on a short but tricky golf course.
The Coach is Randy ‘Doc’ Johnson of Oakland Christian High School. Randy knew he had a good team as all of his golfers are capable of shooting in the 70’s and five of them did at the Division 4 final at least once. Johnson’s Lancers defeated all the usual suspects at Pontiac Country Club during the County Championships and his teams swept everything. They won their league, the districts, the regional’s and the State Division 1 Title. Never once did they finish second. No wonder he felt comfortable saying that his team could compete with anybody. It ain’t braggin if it’s a fact. Those are my words not Johnson’s. Johnson has another strong team next year and they are practining all summer as a team so beware.
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