Dominant Northville returns to top of KLAA girls golf

Posted by Admin September 24, 2024 Golf

Northville wins KLAA postseason girls golf tournament to cap dominant league season

BRIGHTON — Northville’s dominance of KLAA girls golf was put on hold last season, but there doesn’t appear to be an end in sight for the Mustangs now that they’re back on top.

Northville won the KLAA for the sixth time in the past seven years, shooting 302 Tuesday in the postseason tournament at Kensington Metropark Golf Course.

Combined with a 312 in the preseason tournament, the Mustangs won the combined tournament by a whopping 64 strokes over defending-champion Brighton.

Brighton interrupted Northville’s run of title last year, as the Mustangs finished third in the league. Brighton went on to finish second by one shot in the state Division 1 tournament.

Northville rebuilt itself with an infusion of freshman talent that, combined with some key returning veterans, has the Mustangs aiming for a return to state supremacy. They were Division 1 champions four straight years from 2018-21.

“We have two new freshmen and we have upper classmen who have a lot of experience,” Northville co-coach Trish Murray said. “They’ve really kind of gelled together very, very well. The bar’s been raised. They’ve raised the bar.”

One of those freshmen, McKenzie Stevens, has taken the KLAA by storm. Stevens won the preseason tournament with a 75 and tied senior teammate Sanya Singhal for first place in the postseason tournament with a 73 to finish as the overall medalist.

The other freshman, Cam Baker, finished fourth in the KLAA standings with a 161.

“We heard about them coming in,” Murray said. “Tryouts went really well. They have a great resume with a lot of tournament experience. That’s what you want, kids who have played in tough tournaments and can rise to the occasion.”

The Mustangs had the top five scores in the two tournaments, with Plymouth junior Annie Flavin tying for fifth.

Singhal was second with a 150, sophomore Naaz Gill third with a 156 and junior Serena Ku tied for fifth with a 162.

KLAA girls golf

TEAM SCORING

Postseason tournament: Northville 302, Brighton 333, Plymouth 366, Novi 380, Hartland 383, Howell 390, Salem 409, Livonia Churchill 419, Livonia Stevenson 444, Canton 478, Wayne Memorial 525.

Combined scores: Northville 614, Brighton 678, Novi 757, Plymouth 763, Hartland 796, Howell 844, Livonia Churchill 872, Livonia Stevenson 885, Salem 888, Canton 972, Wayne Memorial 1134.

TOP INDIVIDUALS

Postseason tournament: McKenzie Stevens (Northville) 73, Sanya Singhal (Northville) 73, Naaz Gill (Northville) 76, Sydney Rauh (Brighton) 77, Brooke Keller (Howell) 79, Cam Baker (Northville) 80, Annie Flavin (Plymouth) 82, Serena Ku (Northville) 82, Payton Rohrhoff (Hartland) 82, Calyssa Post (Dearborn) 83, Kaila Oprisiu (Brighton) 83, Brooke Resovsky (Salem) 83.

Combined scores: McKenzie Stevens (Northville) 148, Sanya Singhal (Northville) 150, Naaz Gill (Northville) 156, Cam Baker (Northville) 161, Serena Ku (Northville) 162, Annie Flavin (Plymouth) 162, Sydney Rauh (Brighton) 164, Brooke Keller (Howell) 166, Brooke Resovsky (Salem) 167, Calyssa Post (Dearborn) 168.

Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@gannett.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan