Samantha Coleman overcomes pressure, helps Northville girls golf win KLAA championship

The Northville girls golf team has won four-straight Division 1 state championships. 

That happens with the tremendous golfers the Mustangs have had over the years. 

But they also haven't had to deal with too much attrition, relatively speaking. 

Until this past off-season. 

They entered 2022 with just two scorers returning from last year's states team in No. 1 golfer Samantha Coleman and No. 3 Avi Gill. 

Now that they're both seniors, they've been the leaders in the clubhouse. Both on the scorecards and away from the course. They've essentially had to help coach up a new crop of younger golfers. 

And they're still on pace to achieve all of their goals, despite their youth and inexperience.

Coleman shot 8-over par during Friday's Kensington Lakes Activities Association Post-Season tournament at Kensington Metropark in Brighton. That gave her a two-day score of 151, which was good enough to make her the No. 1 golfer on the league's all-conference team. 

What's more, her effort helped the Mustangs edge Brighton by two strokes to win the KLAA championship. 

"It was definitely a lot of pressure," Coleman said. "We've had the same kind of states teams since my freshman year, so we had to move up pretty much the entire JV team, and only Avi and I have experience playing at states, so it was definitely a little bit stressful going into this season, and we're so lucky to have our 3-4-5 step up and play as amazing as they have been doing. It definitely put some pressure on me. But having the teammates that I have makes it that much easier to go out there and compete."

Gill shot a two-day 157, followed by sophomore Sanya Singhal with 159 and junior Meera Sankar with 160. Seniors Ally Zuidema (164 strokes) and Sanjna Singhal (181) rounded out Northville's scores. 

It might be too much to ask the Mustangs to make it a five-peat at the state championship. 

But they should be competitive enough to get out of this week's regional. And once they're at the actual state finals, anything can happen. Weather, the big stage, the stakes. All of it can negatively impact the best teams or even excite the worst teams to perform above their skill level. Especially with the hardware that will be on the line. 

But that doesn't mean Coleman doesn't feel pressure to lead her team once again. 

"I've been golfing my whole life. It's one of those things I've just gotten used to over time," Coleman added. "I'm really competitive so I kind of enjoy the pressure. It makes me play better. It's one of those things you get through hole by hole and shot by shot. And then you have to figure out what the score is in the end."

2022 Kensington Lakes Activities Association champions

East - Livonia Stevenson

West - Brighton

League - Northville

2022 All-Kensington Lakes Activities Association girls golf team

Samantha Coleman, Northville

Abbie Pietila, Brighton

Avi Gill, Northville

Madison Martens, Brighton

Brooke Morris, Plymouth

Sanya Singhal, Northville

Meera Sankar, Northville

Saanvitha Mullapudi, Novi

Lauren Forcier, Brighton

Grace Brees, Livonia Stevenson

Ally Zuidema, Northville

Amelia Gatti, Brighton

Annie Flavin, Plymouth

Anelise Gatti, Brighton

Jillian Smith, Howell

Haele McManes, Novi

Sydney Mazur, Plymouth

Brooklyn Daniels, Hartland

Sydney Rauh, Brighton

Brandon Folsom covers high school sports in metro Detroit for Hometown Life. Follow him on Twitter @folsombrandonj.