GIRLS GOLF: Young golfers from area shine at Next Tee Invitational

GIRLS GOLF: Young golfers from area shine at Next Tee Invitational WITH VIDEO

By KEITH DUNLAP
@kd2578

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — If there is going to be a prominent theme this year for girls golf within Oakland County, it is that are going to be several talented, but young golfers on display.

Of course, that’ll beg the question each day as to what attribute they most display, talented or young.

On Monday in the Next Tee Invitational at Forest Lake Country Club, it was the former.

The scores from young golfers were as scorching as the humidity, and leading the way was Stoney Creek freshman Lauren Ingle, who showed she might have the ability to follow in the footsteps of Devon Compton and Gabby Yurik and be the next great golfer for the Cougars.

Ingle won medalist honors by shooting a blistering score of 71, three shots ahead of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood junior Cordelia Chan, who shot a 74.

“A little bit,” Ingle said when asked if she was surprised. “I wanted to medal, but I played really good today. My putting was really good. I just made a few changes and the stroke is a lot better.”

Other young players who performed well were Birmingham Seaholm sophomores Allegra Cunningham (81) and Jordan Michalak (82), Lake Orion freshman Moyea Russell (82), Troy sophomores Jennifer Cui (84) and Naomi Kim (85) and Troy freshman Sahiba Singh (88).

There was also a lot of success by county teams, since the top-6 finishers in the 24-team field were Oakland County schools.

Seaholm and Stoney Creek tied with identical scores of 336, but Seaholm ended up winning on a fifth-golfer tiebreaker.

In addition to the scores from Cunningham and Michalak, Seaholm got an 85 from senior Megan Lam and an 88 junior Jamie Greene.

One of the top teams this year in Division 2, Seaholm has arguably unmatched depth with 36 players in the program and still won the tournament despite missing arguably its top player, junior Rachel Wilson, who is recovering from a shoulder injury but is expected back soon.

“This is our fourth tournament,” Seaholm head coach Leon Braisted said. “We’ve been in a groove since Wednesday.”

Stoney Creek was right there thanks to Ingle and senior Chloe Guschewski, who shot an 80. Junior Bailey Compton added an 89 for the Cougars.

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood was third with a 348, Troy took fourth at 350, defending Division 1 runner-up Farmington Hills Mercy was fifth with a 351, while Birmingham Detroit Country Day finished sixth after shooting a 353. Lake Orion was ninth at 360.

The happiest golfer to leave the course was East Kentwood’s Mackenzie Keenoy, who recorded a hole-in-one on the 103-yard 10th hole.



Next Tee Invitational

(at Forest Lake Country Club, par 71)

TEAMS — Birmingham Seaholm 336; Stoney Creek 336; Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 348; Troy 350; Farmington Hills Mercy 351; Birmingham Detroit Country Day 353; East Kentwood 356; Plymouth 357; Lake Orion 360; Grosse Pointe South 363.

INDIVIDUALS — Lauren Ingle (Stoney Creek) 71; Cordelia Chan (Cranbrook) 74; Sarah White (East Kentwood) 77; Greer Clausen (Cranbrook) 78; Mackenzie Keenoy (East Kentwood) 78; Lily Pendy (Grosse Pointe South); Chloe Guschewski (Stoney Creek) 80; Sydney Murphy (Plymouth) 81; Ellie Miller (Country Day) 81; Elayna Bowser (Dearborn) 81