BY DAN STICKRADT
CORRESPONDENT
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
WATERFORD — A little depth never hurts.
Just ask Rochester’s girls golf team.
The Falcons, the top-ranked team in Division 1, captured their eighth straight tournament win on the season Wednesday at Pontiac Country Club despite missing one of their top golfers to injury.
Rochester, averaging 304.5 through nine tournaments this season, shot a 310 to slip past the rest of the 19-school field that featured 11 state-ranked squads.
“I could not be more pleased,” said Rochester coach Jeff Haney, whose team captured its first county crown since 2009. “The really cool thing about this group is that last year, there were just four of them. I’m thinking that maybe that experience helped them. They are character kids, so I guess I’m not surprised that they stepped up.”
Rochester was missing senior Brooke Bussey, normally the Falcons’ No. 2 golfer who was out with a minor injury suffered in an auto accident.
“We have a lot of goals this season. One of them was to win this tournament because the seniors on this team have never won the county,” added Haney. “We’ve come close and been in the top 10 the past couple of years, but we haven’t won this in 6-7 years.”
Senior Erika Yang led Rochester with a one-over 73. Freshman Savannah Haque (77), senior Veronica Haque (79) and junior Keri Yang (81) also competed for Rochester.
Bloomfield Hills finished eight strokes back at 318. Clarkston claimed third with a play-five, count-four team score of 325, while Lake Orion (337), Pontiac Notre Dame Prep (342), South Lyon East (346), Troy Athens (348), Novi (348), Birmingham Seaholm (356) and Birmingham Marian (359) rounded out the top 10.
Athens junior Shikha Jha shot a career-best, two-under round of 70 to claim medalist honors at the prestigious tournament.
“This is the best score that I have had,” smiled Jha. “I really feel that once we started to play, it felt really comfortable. I really felt good with my approach shots today. I’m really happy. I don’t think there was any one (hole) where I really played well. I think when I got my first par, it gave me (confidence).”
Moyea Russell of Lake Orion and Bloomfield Hills’ Mikaela Schulz tied for second with rounds of 71. Clarkston’s Meaghan Deardorff (72), Notre Dame Prep’s Danielle Staskowski (73), Rochester’s Erika Yang (73), South Lyon’s Elizabeth Harding (75), Rochester Stoney Creek’s Lauren Ingle (76), Marian’s Alexandra Robb (76), Rochester’s Savannah Haque (77), Bloomfield Hills’ Abbey Pierce (77) and Farmington Hills Mercy Mia Sooch (77) followed in the top 10 in the leaderboard standings.
A total of 13 golfers in the 97-player field broke 80.
Besides Rochester, Novi (No. 4 Division 1), Bloomfield Hills (No. 6 D-1), Farmington Hills Mercy (No. 7 D-1), Lake Orion (No. 8 D-1), South Lyon (No. 2 D-2), Birmingham Seaholm (No. 4 D-2), Birmingham Marian (No. 7 D-2), Detroit Country Day (No. 1 D-3), Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood (No. 2 D-3) and Notre Dame Prep (No. 6 D-3) competed in the star-studded field.