Other than coaches, it might be fair to say I might have seen more Detroit area prep golf than anyone in 2013. I covered 13 events this past season and saw many players at 4-5 including the majors. For me, the majors consisted of; the NexTee at Oakland Hills; The County Tournament; The Catholic Tournament in Ann Arbor or Conference Tournaments; The Regionals and the State Finals. One thing I will consider that the coaches did not is junior golf play and will factor it in as just one component such as AJGA play, Top 50 or Meijer Adams Tour play and state tournaments. While I agree with most of the list, there are some exceptions. Some players will go down the list and some players omitted will like what I saw.
Alex Kleckner (Jr.), Lakeland —
Alex Kleckner is on the list as one of three Lakeland Eagle juniors that have made this team a formidable foe. The state runner up in Division 1 in 2013, Kleckner put together a second day round of 69 in the state tournament to force a tie and a playoff with eventual state champion, Kyle Rodes of Plymouth. Kleckner also finished with scores at his regional with a 73 and finished in the top 25 at the AJGA Coca-Cola Classic with a three round score of 235 (79-77-79) Kleckner finished the season with a tournament average of 74.2 and has started to gain the attention of Division 1 colleges. Kleckner was the lone Oakland County golfer
Justin Pahl (Jr.), Lakeland — A key contributor to the Lakeland squad all season, Pahl finished with a 76.2 average and will be one of the key leaders for the Eagles next season. Pahl carded a 70 at the very tough NexTee classic at Oakland Hills North course against top competition. Shortly after the Division 1 state tournament, Pahl advanced to the Sweet 16 of the Michigan Pro Am and will team with Kleckner to help form a very experienced Lakeland squad in 2014. He is playing top level golf this summer including AJGA events at Boyne (75-80-76- 231) and will play the Randy Wise in August.
Alex Waelchi (Sr.) Lake Orion — In my opinion, if there was a Mr. Golf for Oakland County, he is the player to strongly consider. A first team selection by coaches for division one, he put together strong rounds including co-medalist honors at the NexTee Classic and won it outright at The Oakland County Tournament. Waelchli also carded a 75 at the Regionals and put together a first round score of 73 at Boyne during recent AJGA play. Waelchi will play for coach Russ Cunningham at Oakland University next year.
“Basically he’s been our No. 1 player since he was a freshman and he’s one of the hardest working players I’ve ever had and that was the case from the time he was a freshman until he was a senior,” said Lake Orion coach Monty Gallaher. “His scoring average for the second half of this year was a 73, and Oakland Hills on May 6 (67) was the turning point of his season. He was doing everything the right way, he’s a great student and both seniors, Alex and Mason (Gorris) were mirrors of each other as far as leadership goes and they showed that even though you start slow, you can finish strong.”
Mason Gorris (Sr) Lake Orion- I call him the mayor because he is one well spoken young man. Not only could he give Tim Tebow a run for his money at being a wordsmith, he can flat out play. When the dragons were down early in the season, his scores at Pontiac Country Club (74) and the Regional at Boulder Pointe (76) showed what steady golf this young man can play.
Kyle Gaines (Sr.), Birmingham Brother Rice — Gaines is a real good player and cranks out solid scores as he was medalist several times this year including sharing the honors with Jeremy Ball at the Catholic Championships. He carded 76's at both the Oakland County Championships and at the NexTee but was always around the leaders. A key contributor to Brother Rice’s 2012 state championship squad, Gaines followed a strong junior campaign with another impressive season in his senior year. Gaines finished with an average of 75, and had a season best round of 68 at Lyon Oaks, where he won the individual regional title, finishing four shots under par and won by five strokes. The UD Mercy Titans have a superb golfer in Gaines..
“ He’s grown so much over the past few years,” said Brother Rice coach Dan Bumpus. “He just really grew a lot between his sophomore and junior year and played a big role on the state championship team last year. He continued his play this year and really took on the role of the team’s captain and stepped up behind the scenes as well.”
Eric Busa (Sr.) Rochester Adams — Eric Busa is green and white through and through. When MSU did not offer him a golf scholarship, Busa decided to forgo several golf scholarships to attend MSU next year as a student and possibly a walk-on. Coach Casey Lubahn may have missed out on Busa. A winner multiple times in junior golf tournaments, he shot 70 at the NexTee Classic and followed up with a 74 at the County Tournament and a 71 at the Regionals held at Boulder Pointe. Hopefully Busa finds s place to play golf collegiately because a program will be lucky to have him. “He was our senior captain, a four-year player, and was very consistent, steady and reliable for us,” said Picot. “He was a battler who was going to battle for us shot for shot. He’s mentally strong and he was our grinder, he kept the team focused, but loose all season long and was a true leader for us on and off the golf course and in the classroom.”
Brandon Barrows (So.) Rochester Adams - Barrows is a player with all the talent in the world and lives on the Bald Mountain Golf Course which his family owns. With that background, Barrows has put it all together to become a force in Michigan high school golf. He has played in scores of junior tournaments and his scoring highlight was at the NexTee Classic where he was co-medalist carding a 67. After missing time in the middle of the season, he put together rounds of 76 at the regionals and a lackluster 80-77 at MSU in the Division One finals. Barrows recent
(74-71-71) to finish in third place at the Coca-Cola Classic behind only Henry Do and Will Grimmer who put together a round of 59 just one week later. “He’s got all the talent that he needs,” said Picot. “He just needs to know how to hone it better but he’s got all of the tools. As far as talent is concerned, he’s got all of the talent in the world. He Just finished in third place at the Coca Cola Classic in Boyne with a big field of players and he’s the youngest player to ever play in the Michigan Open.
Garret Buckley (Jr.), Novi — Buckley is really only one or two rounds away from being on the all-state team next season. He has the consist part of his golf game down. With scores ranging from 74 to 77 in several competitive rounds I could track him in, he is always a name to put on the leaderboard.
“Garret’s been one of those kids that don’t come along too often and he’s just a very, very solid player and he can get streaky hot where not very many people can match him,” said Novi coach Brad Huss. “He leads by example, he’s got a real nice personality and tons of energy and is a kid that gets everyone going because he’s always pumped up. He loves golf and loves the competitiveness and everybody feeds off of it.”
Michael Busse (Fr.) Rochester — A breathe of fresh air, Busse is one of several young Falcons that will form Paul Marti's core the next few years. Growing up at Katke Cousins where his father is the head PGA Pro, he has honed his game at two great courses and has played a lot of junior golf to hone his skills. He played well in the regionals at Boulder Pointe and with his teammates and fellow OAA members pushing each other, Busse and the league will be on top of their games. He is quickly climbing up the Junior Golf Scoreboard rankings.
At the Oakland County tournament at Pontiac Country Club, Busse finished with a score of 74 to give him a third-place finish for the tournament and should help lead a Rochester team that will return all of its starters from this season next year. “It’s pretty incredible, he was consistent all year long and I was really impressed with his composure,” said Rochester coach Paul Marti. “I think the most impressive thing was his all-around game, he doesn’t have a lot of weaknesses. But what stood out the most was his composure and if he’d have a bad shot, he’d have the ability to bounce back which was very impressive for a 15-year-old kid.”
Spencer Lendzion (Sr.), Stoney Creek — The team MVP for the Cougars in each of the last two years and the senior captain this past spring, Lendzion is somewhat inconsistent as he drifts from 72 one tournament to 84 the next. But when he is on, the Cougars took off. . Lendzion posted a season-best round of 71 at Oakland Hills North and also had a strong round of 73 at Birmingham Country Club, as he was named Division 1 honorable mention. At the Coca-Cola Classic, he carded scores of 79-80-72 for a 41st place finish. Lenzion will play golf for Mark Engel at the University of Detroit Mercy next year.
“His leadership clearly stood out,” said Stoney Creek coach Ryan Slade. “I thought that he wasn’t necessarily the biggest vocal leader, but the kids just saw how he goes about his daily routine for practice and that was something that the kids got to see and they followed suit with his leadership and practice regimen. He’s a strong competitor. A lot of kids with golf, they’re one-sport athletes, but Spencer played basketball as well and that showed his ability to compete and grind for us. He always just kept competing.”
Rishi Patel (Jr.), Birmingham Detroit Country Day —. Patel is a golfer on the rise as he consistently cards scores in the 70's. His 71 at Fieldstone was huge as few high school players go under par at that course. He put together rounds of 75-79 in the state finals at MSU East and finished 30th at the Coca-Cola Classic at Boyne with scores of (79-76-76). His rankings in Junior Golf Scoreboard show him rising as he sits at 25th with more junior play in front of him this summer.
Glenn Piot (Soph.), Novi Detroit Catholic Central — After a good finish to his freshman season, Piot followed with a very good sophomore season, where he put together an 18-hole average of just over 76. Piot was excellent for the Shamrocks this season. As a first team Division One selection, he was on the leaderboard of every tournament he played. He carded a 79 at the County Tournament and was ver consistent. He shot 78 at the Holiday Inn Express Tournament and had a 74-77 at the Division One finals. He tested himself against the finest players in the Midwest and finished 20th at the Coca-C0la Classic with a finish of (72-77-77).
James Kneen- (Jr.)Lakeland-
The third of Hugh Felts junior dynamo golfers, Kneen played very well the entire season. Kneen did not go low in the big tournaments but consistently carded scores in the 70's including 74-80 at Forest Akers West. He also carded a super finish at Boyne earlier in July.
HONORABLE MENTION:
Charlie Green- Sr. Novi Catholic Central- Jeremy Ball (Jr.) Birmingham Brother Rice; Jameson Collar (Sr.) Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest; Dylan Deogun (So.) Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood; Johnny Fortuna (Sr.) Bloomfield Hills Lahser; John VanNoord (Jr.) Auburn Hills Oakland Christian David Smith (Everest Collegiate)
Last Updated: 7/27/2013 7:33:49 PM EST
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