West Bloomfield Golfer Helps Cranbrook Kingswood Make Amazing Comeback

It was a double tiebreaker for the Michigan High School Athletic Association State Championship held in October at Grand Valley State University's Meadows Golf Course in Allendale, MI. 

Cranbrook Kingswood found their practice round rained out when they arrived on Thursday. They came out of the first day of competition a seemingly insurmountable 13 strokes behind rival Detroit Country Day, but the Cranes overcame the deficit to tie Detroit Country Day and finished as runners up in a scorecard playoff, using the fifth player's score, which is typically the "throw out" score in high school and collegiate golf. 

The Cranes claimed first and second place individually, with Cordelia Chan capturing medalist honors with scores of 78-79. Senior captain Greer Clausen finished second overall, with scores of 83-77 in the field of 90 players. Clausen was disappointed to see the season end, but is excited to see the renaissance of Cranbrook Kingswood golf.  

“We couldn't have gotten closer to winning this year, but I'm so excited for next year's team," she said. "Cordelia will be coming back as a team captain. Molly Wiener is only a sophomore and has already contributed at both regionals and states, and also was part of our only team tournament win this year, the Marian hosted tournament at Fox Hills in Plymouth." 

At that tournament, the Cranes played their two most experienced players (Clausen and Chan) and their three least experienced (Wiener, Alaya Margulis and Reilly Knoer), and won by 10 strokes, beating the teams that ultimately ended up becoming the Division 1 (Plymouth), Division 2 (Seaholm) and Division 3 (Detroit Country Day) Champions. 

"Next year’s team is going to be amazing, especially with the younger players like Molly, Alayna and Reilly working hard on their games and their strength during the off-season," said Clausen. 

A Cranbrook sophomore, Wiener only began playing golf in eighth grade and was the youngest player to participate in the state tournament.  She is a determined athlete who received her varsity letter in her freshman year and would ultimately like to play college golf.  

"There is no doubt that she'll achieve that goal," Clausen said. "She is very focused and hardest worker that I've ever encountered. Her improvement this year has been proof of that. I'm very proud of her and the whole team."

“I am willing to work so hard at golf because I love so much about the sport," Wiener said. "the camaraderie with my team and other people who golf, the sportsmanship, the rules and the protocol. My parents, Jenny and Steve Wiener support my playing golf because they know I want golf to be something I play for the rest of my life.”

Ultimately, Wiener wants to attend  and play for the University of Michigan where her older brother, Will, attends. Wiener knows she will have to continue diligently working on her golf skills in order to achieve golf success at the collegiate level and is determined to help Cranbrook Kingswood  beat Country Day next year.

Source: Press release