Cranbrook girls golf is on a roll

 

CK Lady Linksters Rebuild from the Ground Up

Bloomfield Hills, MI - September 7, 2013  -  Two years ago, the future seemed uncertain for Cranbrook Kingswood's women's golf program.  After winning the D-3 Regionals, and going to the state tournament in 2010, the team graduated all but one player.

The only returning golfer, Greer Clausen ('14), was medalist at the D-3 Regionals in 2010, but she was only a sophomore in 2011.  “I was afraid we weren’t going to be able to field a team,” Clausen stated.

To complicate matters, Clausen was a dual-sport athlete in the most unique way.  She was also a starting outside hitter on the CK women's volleyball team. Clausen played both sports simultaneously for CK from 2010 through 2012.

The team had to rebuild from the ground up, and rebuild they did.  In 2011, along came Cordelia Chan ('15).  Clausen and Chan are successful junior golfers who play in both regional (Adams Golf and GAM) and national (American Junior Golf Association) events.  The 2011 team was rounded out by Sydney Shuert ('14), Gabby Shuert ('15), Holly Meers ('14), Chase Wonders ('14) and Lily Thompson ('15).  There were no upperclassmen on the team.

None of the players apart from Clausen or Chan had previous tournament experience.  The fact that Clausen was splitting her time between volleyball and golf turned out to be an advantage because it gave the newer golfers a chance to gain experience in dual matches.

CK squeaked their way to a 3rd place finish at Regionals in 2011 at Orchard Lake CC (again lead by Clausen as the tournament medalist), and narrowly made it to the State tournament in East Lansing.  .

It was a brutally windy weekend at Forest Akers West Course , and while the young CK girls did not fare well as a team, Clausen managed to secure All-State honors by finishing in the top ten.  And everyone gained valuable experience.

The team returned in the fall of 2012, a little naive about the huge strides they’d made and how impressive their previous year's accomplishments were.

The 2012 golf season did not begin smoothly.  State Team participant Gabby Shuert incurred a soccer injury that would require surgery, and prevent her from playing for much of the summer.

However the team plugged along.  They still had no seniors, but managed a very successful league record, falling only to D-1 Farmington Hills Mercy by a narrow margin.

2012 Regionals brought another CK victory, with Chan and Clausen finishing 2nd and 3rd respectively.  The young team had secured a spot in the State Tournament yet again, so it was off to Battle Creek.  But more importantly they had gotten a taste of success, and they wanted more.  “It was fun to see the girls realize that we could actually do this,” says Clausen.

An ark would not have been out of place at Bedford Valley that weekend.  It poured rain the entire first day and most of the second day.  

The senior-less Cranes managed to finish as Runners Up (by 2 points) that weekend, with Chan and Clausen achieving All-State honors for finishing in the top ten.  

It’s very early in the 2013 season, but CK is a team to watch.  Clausen and Chan each posted rounds in the 70’s in both of their first-week tournaments.  The team has also won both of their Catholic League matches, including a tightly contested match against Farmington Hills Mercy, a school with a fine golf tradition.  (The Mercy team was started by Meg Mallon, captain of Team USA at the Solheim Cup this year, and her mother.  Incidentally, Clausen received a nice note of congratulations from Ms. Mallon’s brother Paul, who still lives locally).

With everyone returning this year, the team has high hopes, says Clausen.  CK has added two talented sophomores, Molly Wiener and Alayna Margulis.  Clausen has given up volleyball to focus exclusively on golf with the hope of leading this scrappy little team to a State Championship.  But most important of all is that the the Junior Varsity has a record 22 members according to Dr. Darryl Taylor, the JV coach.  That should ensure that women’s golf will go on at CK for many years to come.