While I was there today to watch many of the best high school golf teams in the state, the golf scores were stunning. Novi Catholic Central has steamrolled to multiple victories this year but in this tournament, they finished out of the top five as the play was stellar. Oakland Press video team and individual stories are below.
Team Video results with interviewshttp://youtu.be/t9Ib5Eo6hrU
Individual Results http://youtu.be/M_ZzM_3nQo8
BOYS GOLF: Lake Orion ties for first in loaded field at Oakland Hills
Kyle Gaines, of Brother Rice, reacts to a missed putt during the Azure Dynamic tournament at Oakland Hills North, Monday May 6, 2013. (Oakland Press Photo:Vaughn Gurganian) 
Glenn Piot, of Catholic Central, watches his drive during the Azure Dynamic tournament at Oakland Hills North, Monday May 6, 2013. (Oakland Press Photo:Vaughn Gurganian) 
Keegan Balk, of Cranbrook High School, watches his drive during the Azure Dynamic tournament at Oakland Hills North, Monday May 6, 2013. (Oakland Press Photo:Vaughn Gurganian) There was a lot of incentive to play well at a tournament as loaded as Monday’s, and when the dust settled it was Lake Orion and Northville which emerged victorious. Both teams shot a 288 on the day, though it was Northville that took home the first place prize having won the fifth-golfer tiebreaker.
Local talents such as Novi Detroit Catholic Central and Birmingham Brother Rice, the No. 1 and 6 ranked teams in Division 1, respectively, were both in the field, but the tournament also drew in other top-ranked teams from all over the state such as Muskegon Mona Shores and Battle Creek Lakeview.
The distance traveled by teams such as these proves how important coaches across the state view the tournament in preparing their teams for the state tournament, which begins in three weeks, as well as the level of gratitude teams show towards a rare opportunity to play at Oakland Hills.
Lake Orion was led by senior Alex Waelchli, who shot a 3-under par 67, which was enough for a four way-split for medalist honors with Brandon Barrows of Rochester Adams, Andrew Sarokin of Northville, and Andrew Walker of Battle Creek Lakeview.
Lake Orion coach Monty Gallaher was very pleased with Alex and the rest of his teams performance amongst such a talented field of teams.
“We played well, this was as good or better than the state field, so to compete against these guys and, you know, have a 288 score — I was just hoping for something in the 290s — so yeah that’s a great score,” he said.
For Waelchli, the key to his success was playing mistake-free golf and taking advantage of the excellently-maintained greens at Oakland Hills to make some of the putts that he’s been missing so far this season.
“I’ve been struggling with my putting a little bit but today I really started making putts and I was getting the ball up and down,” Waelchli said. “You know, I didn’t really make any bad mistakes. I kept the ball the ball in play, so I was able to score well.”
Following Northville and Lake Orion on the scoreboard was Rochester Adams, which took third place at 289, Muskegon Mona Shores was in fourth with a score of 291, while Lakeland and Battle Creek Lakeview were fifth at 292.
Rochester Adams sophomore Brandon Barrows, managed to shoot his field leading 67 despite a double bogey on his scorecard, an impressive feat.
Although he is a local player, this was his first time playing Oakland Hills, and he obviously adjusted his game well to the course.
“(Oakland Hills) was different,” Barrows said. “It was a little shorter than I expected, I had always heard it was a little bit longer but they moved some of the tees up which made it a little easier to play. But all-around I played good today and just struck the ball well.”
Catholic Central shot an uncharacteristically high score of 296, but one can rest assured it’ll be back and looking to win it all come state tournament time.
Lake Orion, on the other hand looks ready to make a run for a title right now. The Dragons played great and they had a fun time doing it.
“The course was immaculate,” Gallaher said. “Thank you so much to Oakland Hills and for Leon (Braisted of Birmingham Seaholm) for putting it on, it’s such a great tournament.”
NexTee Invitational
(at Oakland Hills, par 70)
TEAMS — Northville 288; Lake Orion 288; Rochester Adams 289; Muskegon Mona Shores 291; Lakeland 292; Battle Creek Lake View 292; Saline 294; U-D Jesuit 294; Novi Detroit Catholic Central 296; Novi 296; Lumen Christi 297; Birmingham Brother Rice 300; Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook 300; Rochester Hills Stoney Creek 300; Clarkston 301; Howell 303; Plymouth 305; Birmingham Detroit Country Day 306; Brighton 309; Hartland 311; Rochester 311; Farmington 313; Troy 313; Orchard Lake St. Mary’s 313; Milford 315; Bloomfield Hills Andover 322; Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 325; Birmingham Seaholm 333
INDIVIDUALS — Alex Waelchli (Lake Orion) 67; Brandon Barrows (Rochester Adams) 67; Andrew Walker (Battle Creek Lakeview) 67; Andrew Sarokin (Northville) 67; John Fortuna (Bloomfield Hills Lahser) 68; Chad Lyons (Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central) 68; Kyle Rodes (Plymouth) 68; Nick Mitter (Brighton) 69; Griffin Beeler (Lake Orion) 70; Eric Busa (Rochester Adams) 70; Ian Martin (Saline) 70; Justin Pahl (Lakeland) 70; Reed Hymewich (Muskegon Mona Shores) 70
Last Updated: 5/6/2013 10:33:42 PM EST
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