Mustangs best South Lyon
Kennedy pacesMarian to first Oakland County D1 title
The list of accomplishments are really starting to pile up for the Birmingham Marian girls golf program.
And now you can add an Oakland County Division 1 Golf Championship to that list.
On Wednesday, the Mustangs banded together to shoot a 327 team score, besting runner-up South Lyon by seven shots en route to their first D1 county championship at Fieldstone Golf Club in Auburn Hills.
Marian placed two in the top 10 and all four of its golfers shot 90 or better. Senior Shannon Kennedy led the way with a 72, five strokes better than any other golfer on the course, to earn tournament medalist honors. The defending Division 3 individual state champion had her sights set on a county championship.
“I’ve never won this tournament and this was one of my goals coming into my senior year,” said Kennedy, who also won an individual state championship in Division 2 as a freshman in 2017. “I hit the ball well today. I struggled a bit on the greens but they were playing tough. The course was playing tough today.”
Kennedy is one of three senior tri-captains who, along with junior Ashley Carroll, were on a mission to capture a Division 1 county title. Caroll shot an 80 to earn herself a top-10 finish. Lauren Sass (85) and Sarah Kuredjian (90) also scored for their team.
“This morning we had no inclination of where we’d finish,” Marian assistant coach David Sass said. “I told the girls to just go out and play a round of golf. We’ve just got a lot of depth. I tell the girls, ‘It doesn’tmatter where you play, every score counts.’ Everyone has to make their shots.”
Generally, head coach Leon Braisted mixes his teams up and sends different groups to different tournaments. But
this group of seniorsmade it a priority to win this county championship.
“It means everything to us,” Kennedy said. “We’ve never really sent our (top four players) to counties before. That’s not how we do it. But we got together and said, ‘Let’s give it a shot andwin this.’ It’s our senior year and there are only a few tournaments lef t. We really wanted to win this.”
South Lyon, last year’s Division 2 state runner-up, was second with a team score of 334. Katie Potter and Gabby Tapp both fired a 77 to finish tied for second overall. Tapp was the Division 2 state medalist a year ago.
Rochester Adams (335) finished third, led by Laura Liu (78), Alyssa Fodale (81) and Grace Wang (82). Troy (353), Cranbrook (360), Bloomfield Hills (363), Seaholm (379), Mercy (379), Troy Athens (379), Lake Orion (397) and Rochester (397) rounded out the top 10.
Marian, which won the Catholic High School League title on Monday, will now set their sights on the regional tournament next week.
“Our goal from Day 1 was to win states again, go back-to-back,” Sass said. “It’s a great group of girls, they all get along. The camaraderie on this team is insane. We’re having a lot of fun. These three seniors have played together for four years and I know they want towin it again and go out right.”
Oakland County Division 1 Tournament
(at Fieldstone Golf Club in Auburn Hills, par 72)
TEAM SCORES: Birmingham Marian 327, South Lyon 334, Rochester Adams 335, Troy 353, Cranbrook 360, Bloomfield
Hills 363, Birmingham Seaholm 379, Farmington Hills Mercy 379, Troy Athens 382, Lake Orion 397, Rochester 397, Stoney Creek 400, South Lyon East 411, Clarkston 411, Detroit Country Day
423, Notre Dame Prep 427, Walled Lake Northern 429, Birmingham Groves 435 TOP 10 INDIVIDUALS: Shannon Kennedy, Marian 72; Katie Potter, South Lyon
77; Gabby Tapp, South Lyon 77; Laura Liu, Adams 78; Natasha Samsonov, Cranbrook 78; Ashley Carroll, Marian 80; Jenny Liu, Troy 80; Riley Hayden, Troy
80; Ashley Cong, Cranbrook 80; Alyssa Fodale, Adams 81; Olivia Hemmila, Athens 81; Grace Wang, Adams 82.