BIG RAPIDS — Brighton is still searching for its first boys golf state championship, but it feels like only a matter of time before the Bulldogs break through.
Brighton finished third behind two private school powerhouses at the state Division 1 finals on Saturday, June 6 at the Ferris State University Katke Course.
It’s the fourth time in the past five seasons that Brighton has finished third in the state tournament. The Bulldogs shot 595, a finals record for a Livingston County team, to finish five shots behind Detroit Catholic Central and three behind Birmingham Brother Rice.
Catholic Central shot 590 and Brother Rice 592. It’s the first time three teams shot under 600 in the finals at any course besides the relatively tame Forest Akers East in East Lansing.
Brighton’s previous low for a state tournament was a 601 last season at Forest Akers West.
“If you would’ve told us at the start of the week we could sign a scoreboard for a 595, I think we would’ve taken it,” Brighton coach James Dewling said.
Junior Grady Bissett led the Bulldogs, shooting 1-under-par 143 to finish in a two-way tie for fourth place, one shot behind tri-leaders Ben Vento of Rochester Adams, AJ Gasper of Flushing and David Han of Midland Dow. Bissett shot 71 and 72.
“Grady’s really turned into what we call a men’s tournament golfer,” Dewling said. “He’s playing golf that defies his age group. His short game and wedges lead to these numbers.”
Before Brighton’s current run of top-three finishes, the Bulldogs had cracked the top three only four times in program history. Brighton was second in Class B in 1967 before taking third in 1970, 1996 and 2009.
“The consistency that shows from a public school to finish in the top three that many times shows the support from our athletic department, the community, the families and the players for what they believe Brighton golf should be,” Dewling said. “It’s a privilege to coach at Brighton.”
Also scoring for Brighton were Adam Forcier with a 150, Brandon Lovejoy with a 152 and Easton Short with a 153.
Hartland, playing in its first state tournament since 2021, finished eighth with a 612.
Junior Aidan Oake tied for 12th with a 146, senior Michael Maurin tied for 20th with a 149, junior Liam Kastamo shot 154 and sophomore Jase Sensor shot 163 for the Eagles.
“It was a great experience,” Hartland coach Nathan Oake said. “They got better today by two and climbed the board one position, so we were proud of them for that. That was the goal.
“As a team, we just needed to be a little bit better to be closer to the top of the leaderboard. Our goal was top five. We fell a little bit short of that, but I’m proud of the effort and battling hard to the end.”
Girls tennis
Division 3 championships
Fowlerville won three matches to finish tied for 13th in its first state finals appearance.
Carly Karlis won 6-3, 5-7, 12-10 at No. 3 singles over Natalie Korotko of Yale. Mya Murawski and Taylor Drenchen won 6-3, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles over Amira El Hadri and Grace Goff of St. Clair. Izzy Cox and Tessa Smith won 6-4, 7-6 (2) at No. 4 doubles over Izabella Cook and Danielle Finkbeiner of Yale.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton third again in state boys golf tournament
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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By Bill Khan, Livingston Daily | USA TODAY Network
