The 2012 All County Boys Golf Team

     All-state teams for golf have been coming out for the last month including the coaches, the Oakland Press' Keith Dunlap and now mine. What is a real shame is that for all of the names you put on the list, you always omit some worthy golfers but hopefully they are few and far between. 


Division 1 Team

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Heading off to Indiana this Fall

Max Kollin (Sr.), North Farmington — Max is simply the best high school golfer in Oakland County without apologies to anyone. Kollin's accolades are simply to lengthy to mention. He won the County and Division 1 State Medalist honors in 2011and had top performances in AJGA tournaments in both 2011 and 2012. Earlier this year he won the Azure Dynamics Invitational and shot a 66 at the Oakland Hills North Course against a very strong field. He has had 3rd place finishes at Boyne in 2011 and 2012 and also at the Randy Wise AJGA Tournament at Warwick Hills. In every tournament, he has beat the best in very strong fields. He will play at Indiana for the Hoosiers this fall. He golfed with fellow and current and former State medalists Zach Preuss, Griffen Smith and Aaron Knutson at Pontiac Country Club in a dream foursome at the County tournament in May.





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Friel Will be a Spartan this Fall

Sean Friel (Sr.), Birmingham Brother Rice — Brother Rice pumps out all-state golfers the way Ford Motor punches out new cars and he was the only prep golfer from the county to make the coaches all-state super team. This future Spartan  He averaged just under a 74 in tournaments this year and helped the Warriors to their first state team title in June.

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Eric Shyu (Sr.), Rochester — Shyu has been a rock for the Falcons golf team during his prep career. Coming from a golfing family, his sister was a golfer for the Falcons last year. Shyu won the OAA Division 1 Medalist Tournament. He finished 7th in the state finals for Division 1 in June and is a terrific academic sporting a 3.8 grade-point average

Lucas Belanger (Sr.), Birmingham Brother Rice — Belanger is another golfer coach Dan Bumpus has been able to count on this season and during his high school career. As a veteran leader  for the Warriors, Belanger carded an average score of just over 76. He will attend Queens University in Charlotte.


 Coach Dan Bumpus- Brother Rice- Was captain of the ship for a high school team that has been favored many times to win County or State titles and finally got one. Coach Bump got the 'us' back in his name and getting over the bump makes him a smiling Coach Bumpus. His team is loaded again next year but perhaps not as deep with graduation losses of Belanger and Friel.

Division 2-3-4 Team

Aaron Knutson (Sr.), Pontiac Notre Dame Prep — The Division 3 Champion in 2011 and followed it up as the state runner-up this year. ND Prep finished sixth in the Divison 3 Finals at MSU East in June. He is in the field for the Randy Wise Open at Warwick Hills in August. He has signed to play golf at Detroit Mercy in the fall.

Dave Smith-Everest Christian Academy- Smith made the Division 4 State Finals and played fairly well at MSU West. Coached by his father Dave, Smith will play again for Everest. He is honing his game playing the Top 50 Junior Tour where he has already won at Prestwick Village and had other top ten performances.

 Zach Preuss (Sr.), Auburn Hills Oakland Christian — One of the top players in the state in Division 4 the last three years, Preuss followed up winning the individual state title as a sophomore and finishing fourth last year as a junior by recording a third place finish at this year’s state tournament. Preuss helped Oakland Christian stun the County with the Lancers winning the 2011 County Championship and then following up with a team title.  Named first team all-state in Division 4, Preuss had a 76 tournament average and a 39 average in duals. He’ll play in college at Cornerstone University with Tyler Coyne. This lefty has game and hones his game at his families resort up north.

Michael Ray-Sr. Cranbrook. - The top player for Cranbrook this year. He shot 75-71 as Cranbrook was the State Champion in Division 2 this year. It was no lock to be the low shooter for Cranbrook this year. Griffen Smith and Griffen Deogun made it a three horse race on most days.

Griffen Smith Sr. Cranbrook- Smith was the medalist for Division 2 in 2011 but did not have quite the same year this year. He shot 82-72 in the Division 3 Finals and his final day score showed he still has game. 

 Matt Gump, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood- Coach Gump had a very talented team that did not play to their potential until they got into mid-season form in the regionals and state finals. Gump's squad won the Division 2 title by 27 strokes.

For players with eligibility for 2013, while the top players graduating was an excellent class, the golfers coming back will make for some exciting golf next year.

All Underclassman Team

Charlie Green (Jr.), Novi Detroit Catholic Central — Green is one of the grinders who puts together solid performances nearly everytime he golfs. His scoring average of a tick over 75 for tournament play.  He did win the Catholic League Medalist honors with a top score of 70 at U of M earlier this year. Charlie, do your really live in Ann Arbor?

Brad Kozinski Jr. Novi- Kozinski came from out of nowhere to help the Wildcats win the team title at Pontiac Country Club in May. His team upset Brother Rice, Catholic Central and others and Kozinski won medalist honors.

Kyle Gaines (Jr.), Birmingham Brother Rice — Kyle Gaines was a nice surprise for Coach Bumpus tis spring. He finished with a 76.2 tournament average  Named first team all-state in Division 1 by the golf coaches, Gaines also had five top-10 finishes and finished sixth individually at the state tournament for the Warriors. His 74-75 in the Division 1 Finals trailed only Friel by one shot. He also finished fourth at the Azure Dynamics Invitational at Oakland Hills North against perhaps the toughest field assembled for high school tournament this year including the state finals. 
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Kyle Gaines

Are you getting sick of Brother Rice? Well here comes yet another player from the Warriors.

Jeremy Ball (Soph.), Birmingham Brother Rice — Hasn't  Ball heard of a sophmore slump? No way as he was part of the depth that carried the Warriors to a one shot win in the Division One finals where he posted scores of 79 and 74. Named honorable mention all-state in Division 1, Ball had a 75.3 tournament and five top-10 finishes in tournament play this season. .

Alex Waelchli (Jr.) Lake Orion Alex seems to play very well at many tournaments I see him at and he is getting better each year. He did card an 82 at Boulder Pointe during the Regionals this year and perhaps teammate Mason Gorris will put himself on the all-county list next year.

Eric Busa (Jr.), Rochester Adams — I thought the Highlanders would come out of he Regionals this year to make a run at the State Finals in Division 1 but it was not to be. But Busa is poised to make big strides in 2013.  A big reason why Adams won the OAA Red title this year was because of Busa. He was named honorable mention all-state in Division 1. Busa had an average of 76, nine top-10 finishes. He is cleaning up on the Top 50 Junior Tour and has won already this year.

Kyle Rybicki- Jr.- OLSM- Rybicki put together a solid round of 77 for OLSM at the Regionals at Fieldstone in June. He also won against a weak field at Kensington Metropark junior tournament and plays the Top 50 Tour.

Top Freshman "Rookies"

Nick Senkowski (Fr)- Avondale- Senkowski is really coming on for Coach Maley. Rybicki helped the Yellowjackets make the State Regionals at Fieldstone where he put together a round of 78. He is playing on the Top 50 Tour and is currently 12th in points.

 Brandon Barrows (Fr.), Rochester Adams - Barrows lives on the edge of Bald Mountain Golf Course where his family operates this 18 hole layout and he simply uses golf clubs as his personal magic wand. He qualifies in multiple amateur tournaments from the USGA to Michigan Amateur and in my estimation has a great chance to be a Mr. Golf candidate before its all said and done. He qualified as an individual for the Division 1 state tournament.He plays the AJGA and will be in with the strong field at the Randy Wise Classic at Warwick Hills in August. His scoring of 74.5 is very low and may just get better. He has qualified for the U.S. Amateur for the second straight year also.

Other Top Players to Watch in 2013

Blake Blomberg , Michael Ray,Troy May, Avondale. Jeremy Glod (Jr.), Birmingham Brother Rice; Johnny Fortuna (Jr.), Bloomfield Hills Lahser; Gavin Garris (Jr.), South Lyon; Mason Gorris (Jr.), Lake Orion; Calvin Greer (Jr.), Birmingham Groves; ; Alex Kleckner (Soph.), Lakeland; Jake Kneen (Soph.), Lakeland; ; Justin Pahl (Soph.), Lakeland; Tim Pearche (Jr.), Birmingham Seaholm; Rishi Patal (Soph.), Birmingham Detroit Country Day; ; Matt Sherry, South Lyon East; Ben Van Orman (Sr.), Rochester Adams;