GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The MHSSA Girls Golf State Championships were in full swing at courses across West Michigan and this year, the weather was friendly to help the players have some good performances.
In division one, Caledonia was making an apperance in the finals, trying to claim a the title for the first time since 2002 when they won it all. They shaved off eight strokes from their round one score, shooting 342 in the final round to finish the tournament in 2nd place behind Northville.
Romeo freshman Tula Puzzuoli finished second individually (150) and Caledonia senior Copelin O’Krangley took third (152). Rochester senior Madison Yang and junior Ananya Kumar were fourth (157) and fifth (160), respectively. Grand Ledge senior Isabel Kelly and Grand Blanc senior Sadie Kondel tied for sixth (161).
In division two, Spring Lake senior Zoe Dull was the state finalist runner up. She shot (146) +1 over par over the two-day stretch. She gained some momentum in the back nine to move up the rankings and stay thereto bring home some hardware!
After Lowell's team gained their first Conference title in over 30 years, Lowell was ready to keep it going to the state finals. Lowell was 3rd overall as a team. A big part was their senior leadership and having three score in the top 25.
Lowell was lead by seniors Elle Sluss (164) Leah Krieger (171) and Hannah Flickinger (204). Some good performances from junior Elyse Veldman (172) and sophomore Kaila Richards helped Lowell accomplish what hasn't been done in quite some time.
In division three, Catholic Central finished with a two-day total of 652, well ahead of runner up Detroit Country Day, which had 717 strokes. Williamston, the team runner-up last year, recorded a 722 for third place, and Goodrich, which came in ranked No. 2, took fourth place at 727 ahead of Grand Rapids South Christian at 730. The Cougars earned back to back state titles with the win on Saturday.
The D3 individual title also went to a West Michigan native. Lilian O'Grady from Grand Rapids Christian brought home the title after shooting 145 over the two days. She was the only golfer under par (-2) during the final round. She closed out a 145 (75-70) for a nine-stroke win over second place Averie Pumford of Freeland. O’Grady was the runner-up in 2023 and has one more season ahead of her at Grand Rapids Christian.
In division four, Kalamazoo Christian was led by senior Jordyn Bonnema, who shot a two-day score of 157 (78-79) to place fourth individually. She was followed by senior Kennedy Gernaat, who finished with a 181 (88-93) to tie for 10th.
The Comets slept Friday night on an eight-stroke lead over Lansing Catholic and a nine-shot advantage on Brooklyn Columbia Central, and didn’t flinch the second in pulling away from the field.
Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian was runner-up with a final total of 748 (381-367), securing second place over Columbia Central (376-372) via the fifth-golfer tiebreaker.
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