Brighton’s boys golf team has won back-to-back regional championships for the first time since 1998, doing so in record-breaking fashion.
The Bulldogs shot 2-under-par 286 at Polo Fields Golf and Country Club in Ann Arbor for the lowest score in regional competition by a Livingston County team. Brighton’s 1997 team held the previous record with a 288 on its home course at Oak Pointe Country Club.
It’s the third time in program history Brighton has won consecutive regional titles. The Bulldogs won in 1991 and 1992, 1997 and 1998 and now in 2025 and 2026.
The Bulldogs made history by overcoming a slow start to their day.
“We had it 7-over at one point early on,” Brighton coach James Dewling said. “The team battled back and shot under par at regionals. Top to bottom, every player contributed. Our four counting scores all had something today they should be proud of in the way they played.”
Junior Grady Bissett and senior Brandon Lovejoy led the way, tying for first place with 2-under-par 70s. The last Brighton player to win medalist at regionals was Tommy Conway in 2009.
“It’s fitting for those guys to tie and share a lifetime memory of being co-medalists at regionals,” Dewling said. “That’s pretty special stuff you don’t forget.”
Senior Mitchell Stoll tied for third with a 72, while senior Adam Forcier tied for seventh with a 74 to complete Brighton’s score.
South Lyon shot 301 and Saline 306 to earn the other two berths in the state finals, which will be held June 5 and 6 at Ferris State University’s Katke Course.
Division 2 at Dearborn Country Club
Pinckney finished eighth with a score of 350. Freshman Ben Karolak placed 14th with an 84 and junior Emmett Edin was 20th with an 85 to lead the Pirates.
Division 2 at The Emerald
Fowlerville placed 12th with a 354. Sophomore Axel Daavettila was 11th with a 79 and junior Tommy Cox was 38th with an 85 for the Gladiators.
Division 3 at Washtenaw Golf Club
Charyl Stockwell shot 392, its lowest score in seven appearances at regionals, to place 16th. Junior Owen Smith was 26th with a 90 for the Sentinels.
Girls soccer
Hartland 7, Lakeland 0
Izzy Armstrong scored twice and the Eagles had production from recent junior varsity callups in their playoff opener.
Freshman Kylie Daavettila scored the last goal and freshman Jill Smilowski assisted on a goal by Emma Abbott. Hartland’s other goals were by Claire L’Esperance, Elise L’Esperance and Gracie Kastamo.
Hartland registered its eighth consecutive shutout.
“We started off a little slowly,” Hartland coach Andrew Kartsounes said. “It took us a little while to get our feet under us. Once we started scoring, everything was fine. We were able to go deep into our roster and get almost everybody some decent playing time. That’s something you can’t always do during the tournament and it’s probably not something we’re going to be able to do in the future.”
Hartland will host Bloomfield Hills in the district championship game at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 28.
Track and field
Larry Steeb Memorial Meet
Hartland’s girls 1,600-meter relay team became only the second in Livingston County history to break four minutes, posting a second-place time of 3 minutes, 59.01 seconds with the team of Layla Foguth, Reese Messenger, Elliana Neuer and Hannah DePestel.
They broke the school record of 4:02.90 set at the 2019 state finals by Lauren Smith, Emerson Sargeant, Ella Gardner and Lindsey Strutz. The county record of 3:54.21 was set by Brighton’s Cassidy Newburg, Maddie Brown, Maggie Samanich and Erin Dowd at regionals in 2016.
Howell senior Emma Kanka won discus with a throw of 127 feet, 6 inches and took second in shot put at 34-8.75. Pinckney junior Davea Crowe was second in the 100 hurdles in 15.84 and third in the 300 hurdles in 45.98.
Hartland’s Ava Goodman was second in the 1,600 in 5:24.76
In the boys meet, Pinckney’s Sam Burtts was second in the 110 hurdles in 15.07.
Softball
Chelsea 4, Fowlerville 1
Rylee Gulledge allowed only six hits and no walks for Fowlerville (17-13) in a Division 2 pre-district loss.
Napoleon 10-10, Pinckney 8-9
Pinckney junior Addison Wroblewski went 4-for-7 in the doubleheader, boosting her batting average to a county-leading .504. Hailey DuRussel was 2-for-4 with three RBIs in the second game for the Pirates.
Baseball
Howell 0-2, Milford 1-1
Johnny Cove doubled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning in the nightcap to give Howell the split.
Pinckney 10-8, Ann Arbor Huron 0-7
Pinckney’s Henry Taube capped an outstanding day at the plate by hitting a two-out triple to score the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning in the second game. Taube was 2-for-3 with three RBIs in the first game and 3-for-5 with three RBIs in the nightcap.
Jax Raymond was 3-for-3 with two doubles in the opener, while Owen Zylka was 4-for-5 with two doubles in the second game for the Pirates.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Brighton boys golf wins regional with record low score
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
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