A young girls golf team peaked at the right moment Monday.
Four Bulldogs shot career-low tournament scores en route to winning the Bill Miller Invitational at Oak Pointe Country Club.
“It was a great job by all the girls today,” Brighton coach Paul Parsell said. “Especially for such a young team with no seniors. It’s a tremendous accomplishment for the girls.”
Junior Hannah Pietila was the medalist for the second straight year. Her 72 is a career low in high school tournaments.
“It’s awesome,” she said. “I scored better than I played. Some days are just like that I guess. It’s nice to have it in Bill’s name and win it.”
Bill Miller was the Brighton girls coach for 28 seasons before his death in October of 2009. Monday’s tournament was renamed in his honor last year. It’s the 26th year overall for the tournament, formerly known as the Brighton Invitational.
“The girls shot well,” Parsell said. “We had a slight advantage in that it was our home course, but they shot career lows for a tournament. That’s a good accomplishment.”
Sophomore Nicole Myer shot an 83 and tied for seventh overall out of 74 golfers. Freshman Jennica Long shot an 88 and sophomore Jess Geer shot an 89.
“I’m really proud of all of us,” Myer said. “Everyone performed well.”
The Bulldogs had a team score of 332. Greenville was second with a 341, Holt was third with a 350 and Northville and East Lansing tied for fourth with scores of 352.
It was a 15-team tournament, featuring several highly ranked teams in both Division 1 and 2. All but nine teams are ranked, including Saline, which is No. 1 in Division 1.
Brighton is ranked No. 12 in Division 1 by the Michigan Interscholastic Golf Coaches Association.
A few teams in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association which normally compete in the Brighton tournament opted instead to play in a tournament hosted by Milford at Prestwick Village.
“That’s where our regional is going to be played,” Parsell said. “Hartland and Howell were there. It’s an extra chance to play the regional course.”
Brighton opens KLAA West Division play on Wednesday when it hosts Hartland.