Sports
Birmingham Brother Rice wins regional high school golf tournament, moves on to state finals
Seaholm's Ruffino Earns Medalist Honors at Golf Regional
WIXOM — Birmingham Brother Rice won the regional high school golf tournament this week with a team score of 293. They outlasted Detroit Catholic Central (301) and Pinckney (303), and all three teams now advance to the state finals at Katke-Cousins Golf Course on the campus of Oakland University on June 17-18.
"We've had a few scores around there (293)," Brother Rice coach Daniel Bumpus said. "In districts we shot a 285 at Huron Meadows. Earlier this year we played at Katke-Cousins and shot a 292. It's nice to have that in our back pocket, knowing we can play well there. Hopefully that will give us a bit of confidence."
Two Brother Rice golfers finished in the top five. Sean Friel shot a 71 to place third and Lucas Belanger shot a 72 to tie for fourth.
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"It's always nice to see those low scores," Bumpus said. "They've been good throughout the year, so it was nice to see them continue their good play."
Finishing out the scoring for Brother Rice were Nick Dennis, with a 74, and Jeremy Ball with a 76.
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In addition to the top three teams, the top three individuals not on qualifying teams also make the state finals. Joining Birmingham Seaholm sophomore Francesco Ruffino are North Farmington’s Max Kollin, who shot a 73, and Northville’s Nick Zanotti, who shot a 76.
Ruffino said he wasn’t too happy with his overall play Thursday.
Still, he shot a 3-under par 69 at Lyon Oaks Golf Course and earned regional medalist honors and a return trip to the state finals.
“It was frustrating,” Ruffino said. “I had a lot of good looks, but couldn’t really make that many putts. I hit a lot of really poor drives, but I was able to put it together.”
Last year, Ruffino finished as the state runner-up in Division 2. He was four shots behind Petoskey’s Joey Garber.
“He’s awesome,” Seaholm coach Leon O. Braisted III said. “To be runner-up as a freshman is a big accomplishment. He’s got a bright future.”
As a team, Seaholm placed fifth with a score of 318. Tim Pearce shot an 82, RJ Haley shot an 83 and Nick Vick shot an 84.
, meanwhile, tied for 10th with Farmington, shooting a team score of 333.
Scoring for Groves were: Graham Cenko (84), Brian Hittson (85), Nick Pursel (85) and Calvin Green (79).
