BRIGHTON — In one group, there was a state runner-up wrestler.
In the next, there was a quarterback who guided his team into the second round of the state football playoffs.
The following group included a two-time state championship snowboarder.
Elsewhere on the course was a two-time all-Livingston County basketball player and four members of a Howell hockey team that rose to the No. 1 ranking in the state last winter.
Who says golfers aren’t athletes?
Golf isn’t the primary sport for many of the accomplished athletes representing Livingston County teams in the KLAA postseason tournament on Thursday, May 28, at Kensington Metropark Golf Course, but they’re not just out there hacking around the ball for something fun to do in the spring.
These kids can play.
A Brighton team led by a basketball standout and a former hockey player won the KLAA championship with a record two-round total of 575. The Bulldogs shot 295 Thursday in the second of two league tournaments.
Senior Adam Forcier, who used to play hockey, shot 69 to tie Howell hockey senior Oliver Heikkinen for first place in Thursday’s round and win the overall individual championship with a 139.
“The athleticism, you may not think it plays into golf, but it really does, just with the mindset,” Forcier said. “You need to keep grinding, no matter what.”
Senior Brandon Lovejoy, Brighton’s best basketball player the past two seasons, shot 74 Thursday and finished tied for second in the league with a 143. The Bulldogs’ lineup also included sophomore Dom D’Agosta, who led the county with 1,679 passing yards last fall.
Brighton coach James Dewling has always coveted multi-sport athletes, beginning the program’s turnaround with 2021 state champion Davis Codd. Codd played in the Ontario Hockey League before playing two seasons of pro hockey in the ECHL.
“There’s just a different level of composure,” Dewling said. “There’s also a different level of being a teammate, knowing your role on the team. Maybe you’re the star on one team and you’re a role guy on another team. When you do that, you become a really well-rounded individual and it breeds more competitiveness.”
Playing golf allowed Heikkinen a couple more months to be teammates with guys who were part of a tight-knit Howell hockey team that went 26-2 last winter, winning 26 consecutive games.
“I think half our team, to be honest, is from hockey,” Heikkinen said. “It’s just fun. We have a tight team and group. The chemistry is pretty good.”
The lessons learned on the rink translate well to the golf course.
“Just the mental aspect of being tough,” Heikkinen said. “You have a bad hole, you’ve just got to stay strong and stay in it.”
Howell’s team also includes all-state hockey forward Marco Wolf and two-time state champion snowboarder Anson Forsyth, who qualified for the state golf tournament as an individual.
“If you’re athletic, it helps transfer over to golf,” Howell coach Jeff Hughey said. “We’ve always had a lot of hockey players on my team. A lot of times, they have that hockey mentality, especially when the weather’s bad, to grind it through.”
One of the players for Hartland was sophomore Jase Sensor, who was the Division 1 runner-up at 113 pounds in March. The Eagles’ best player, junior Aidan Oake, is a basketball player.
“They can play,” Hartland coach Nathan Oake said. “COVID did this. Everybody had a timeout and they didn’t have the ability to do their preferred sport, so they were on the golf course. A lot of talent developed in that little period. It’s pretty cool.”
Perhaps the fortitude learned on the basketball court — or, more likely, the preaching of his coaching father — helped Aidan Oake overcome a double bogey on No. 2 to shoot 71, the third-best score in Thursday’s round. Oake needed three whacks to get the ball out of deep rough on the left side of the fairway on his second hole.
“That was a tough one,” Oake said. “You’ve just got to move on. There’s really nothing you can do about it. The past is the past. One good shot at a time, knowing when to be aggressive to get one back, staying present, not worrying about the past.”
The Bulldogs broke the KLAA tournament of 587 they set in 2023. They won by 27 strokes over Livonia Stevenson.
Grady Bissett finished fourth with a 145 and Mitchell Stoll tied for ninth with a 149 for Brighton.
KLAA boys golf
TWO-ROUND TOTALS
Team scoring: 1. Brighton 575; 2. Livonia Stevenson 602; 3. Hartland 604; 4. Howell 622; 5. Novi 630; 6. Northville 631; 7. Plymouth 642; 8. Salem 652; 9. Canton 653; 10. Dearborn 660; 11. Livonia Churchill 711; 12. Belleville 714; 13. Westland John Glenn 752; 14. Livonia Franklin 762.
Top individuals: Adam Forcier (Brighton) 139, Brandon Lovejoy (Brighton) 143, Joshua Kovie (Stevenson) 143, Grady Bissett (Brighton) 145, Ashton Higham (Stevenson) 147, Colin Riehl (Novi) 147, Carson Kouba (Canton) 147, Oliver Heikkinen (Howell) 148, Aidan Oake (Hartland) 149, Mitchell Stoll (Brighton) 149, Michael Maurin (Hartland) 150, Liam Kastamo (Hartland) 152.
POSTSEASON TOURNAMENT
Team scoring: 1. Brighton 295; 2. Hartland 300; 3. Livonia Stevenson 301; 4. Howell 309; 5. Novi 313; 6. Plymouth 319; 7. Northville 322; 8. Dearborn 327; 9. Canton 334; 10. Salem 342; 11. Belleville 354; 12. Livonia Churchill 371; 13. Westland John Glenn 378; 14. Livonia Franklin 396.
Top individuals: Oliver Heikkinen (Howell) 69, Adam Forcier (Brighton) 69, Aidan Oake (Hartland) 71, Colin Riehl (Novi) 72, Ashton Higham (Stevenson) 73, Brandon Lovejoy (Brighton) 74, Joshua Kovie (Stevenson) 74, Owen McGlinch (Stevenson) 74, Michael Maurin (Hartland) 75, Carson Kouba (Canton) 75.
Contact Bill Khan at wkhan@livingstondaily.com. Follow him on X @BillKhan
This article originally appeared on Livingston Daily: Livingston County teams prove golfers are athletes in KLAA tournament
Reporting by Bill Khan, Livingston Daily / Livingston Daily
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
