Dan Stickradt
Sports Scene
dan.Stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
SOUTH LYON — Sometimes, success breeds success. That’s been the case in South Lyon in recent years with the girls’ golf program.
With a growing pipeline of talent, this year’s squad has been paced by a rare sister combination — or sister trio — which has led to the school’s best stretch of competitive golf. This influx of talent has been a shot in the arm for a program that was not producing top-tier talent until recently.
South Lyon has seen tremendous growth in recent years, and that was capped by its best season in school history in 2014. The Lions were led by the Harding sisters — senior Caroline, junior Elizabeth, and freshman Priscilla — and a host of other rapidly-improving players who have landed South Lyon on the map of girls’ golf powerhouse teams in talent-laden Oakland County.
“We don’t get a ton of country club kids down here at South Lyon. Never have,” admitted veteran South Lyon coach Dan Skatzka. “Most of our girls have never played golf until they get to [middle school]. We have to get them started at that age. Most of them are not playing since age 5. We’ve had kids show up who didn’t really know anything about golf. But in the past couple of years, we’ve been blessed with some nice players and a lot of great athletes — kids that [are coachable]. We can coach them into good, solid players.”
The tide started to change in 2009, when the Lions qualified for the state finals for the first time in school history. The past four seasons, they have had at least one Harding sister in the lineup to continue that success. After never making the cut for the state finals, the Lions have qualified six straight times in Division 2 and in the past couple of seasons have really made their mark.
South Lyon placed 11th in 2009 with a 777 in its first trip to the Division 2 state finals, placed 12th in 2010 with an 807, 13th in 2011 (780), fifth in 2012 (727), fourth in 2013 (702), and second in 2014 (697).
“We had an incredible year this year,” said Skatke. “We accomplished things that we have never accomplished before.
“It was a blessing to have three talented sisters on the team at the same time,” added Skatzke. “They are a great example to all of the other players. But our whole team works hard and it shows. We were ranked No. 1 in the state this year for four weeks. We have never been ranked No. 1 in the state before this season.”
South Lyon went unbeaten in dual matches at 11-0 and finished first at the Mavericks Invitational, the Novi Invitational, and the 24-school KLAA Conference Tournament. The Lions also won the KLAA Central Division and the 12-school Kensington Conference Tournament, finished an all-time best third at the prestigious Oakland County Division I Tournament, and won their first regional in school history, topping the closest competitor by some 80 strokes.
The Lions finished second at the state finals behind perennial state powerhouse Birmingham Seaholm, a team that South Lyon finished ahead of at the county tournament.
“I know we wanted to win more than anything, but we still had a great season. It just didn’t work out this time,” said Caroline Harding, who is the team’s leader in most categories and who has already committed to Division I Michigan State University. “A few years ago, my sisters [and I] talked about that we could be really good in the [season] when we would all be on the team at the same time. It was a great experience getting to play with them and having the season that we did. Our team is like family.”
Skatzke said he never had a trio of siblings on a team before, let alone having them be the cornerstone of the squad.
“I have never had three sisters on our team. And not only sisters, but our top three golfers,” noted Skatzke. “Not too many [coaches] can say they had three [siblings] on their same team making such a big impact.”
And the Hardings have been a big part of the Lions’ dream season. They were also named All-State this year, with Caroline and Priscilla All-State First Team Division 2 and Elizabeth All-State Honorable Mention.
“I remember when Caroline was a freshman, she earned [Hometown Weeklies’] All-Area Team Player of the Year. That was when we were first starting to enjoy success. We qualified the two years before that time, then Caroline came in and helped set the tone. We have now qualified six straight years, and we have been top five the last three years,” said Skatzke.
Junior Lucy Dinsmore and senior Alex Bernas also competed at the state finals this season. The team roster contained 23 players, 19 of whom played in varsity tournaments and earned a varsity letter. Senior Morgan Atari missed the second half of the season with wrist injuries, while juniors Maddie Moriaty and Maddie Spiller, sophomore Mackenzie Seovel, and freshmen Abbie Steetz and Sophie Yergin also enjoyed success.
Seven of the top 10 players will return next season, when the Lions will go after a seventh state finals appearance.
“We had a very deep team,” said Skatzke. “We do not cut players. We will enter [B and C] teams at varsity tournaments and JV tournaments and allow as many players a chance to compete. And we will hire another coach just to make sure that the players not at tournaments will be out practicing. Our job is to develop players; get as many players as possible to play golf. Years ago when we started the program, we had to go out and comb the hallways and try to find players. Now, we have girls like the Harding sisters and a whole bunch of other girls who take golf seriously.”
The Lions’ successful stretch has been more than expected.
“I think we all hoped to do well, but I don’t think we could have [envisioned] having this type of season,” said Caroline Harding, who placed third individually at the state finals, while her siblings also finished in the top 30 at state. “I felt that since we were fourth last season, that we could try to finish higher. Looking back, it was a great season.”
(Daniel Stickradt is a veteran sports journalist in the Detroit area for more than 20 years. He can be reached at dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com or (248) 884-1051. Follow on Twitter @LocalSportsFans.)
