Playoff Runs End for Edsel, Dearborn High

The season came to a close for both Dearborn-area golf squads competing in the Division I regional round Thursday at the University of Michigan Golf Course.

's team score of 366, and 's total score of 346 were not nearly enough to finish in the top three and advance to next week's state final at Katke-Cousins Golf Course on the campus of Oakland University.

Ann Arbor Huron (316), Plymouth (330) and Saline (330) earned the right to compete in the finals.

"We knew going in that we would have to putt well to compete today," Edsel coach Pete Kotsogiannis said. "We didn't do that today. Still, this was a great experience for us. It's a great team we have here with a lot of high-character young men, with a really good work ethic.

"I'm proud of these guys. I really am."

Tommy Prato paced the T-Birds with an 83, while Robert Neff (88), Vincent Mercado (97), Nick Boileau (98) and Greg Barbour (99) rounded out the scoring for Edsel.

Dearborn High might not have qualified as a team, but Evan Bowser's 73 was good enough to propel him into a three-man play-off for medalist honors at the event and into the Division 1 state finals.

"It was tough out there with the wind," Bowser said. "That makes it really tough."

Regardless, Bowser drove the ball perfectly down the center of fairway on the first play-off hole–the par 5 No. 1–after watching his two competitors do the same.

"I was last to hit, and after I saw them drive the ball into a pretty good position I knew that a par wasn't probably going to be good enough to win it," Bowser said. "I was thinking birdie."

Bowser tried for the green in two, but left his second shot just short of the putting surface, but still in good position.

His competitors found trouble left and in the green-side bunker.

Bowser's third shot–a short chip–came to a rest fewer than two feet from the hole.

A tap-in birdie secured medalist honors for the talented junior–and, more importantly, sent him to the Division 1 state finals on a high note.

"It's bittersweet for the team as a whole because we didn't get out, but we also knew that Evan had a real chance to get out as an individual," Dearborn coach Howard Inch said. "And to see all the rest of the team rally around him was really neat. It just shows the kind of team and teamwork these kids have with each other."

Bowser's 73 highlighted the squad's event, but solid contributions from Alex Hamm (82), John Marcon (93), Omar Mullan (98) and Matthew Januszkowski (99) rounded out the score.

Bowser tees it up June 17-18 for a shot at a state title in the Division 1 state finals at Katke-Cousins on the campus of Oakland University.