PINCONNING, MI – Driving through a downpour on the way to the golf course, Bay City Western coach Nicole Freed didn’t like how things looked.
But her first sight at Green Hills told her it was going to be a good day.
“I pulled in at 7:40 this morning and the girls weren’t supposed to get there until 8,” she said. “But Kayla Montcalm was already there, sitting in the parking lot in her car. She said she was super nervous and just wanted to think everything through.
“There was no reason for her to be that nervous. She played her heart out.”
Fronted by a school-record round by Montcalm, the Warriors braved the elements and the five-team field to capture the team title at the 30th annual Bay County Girls Golf Championship.
The Warriors carded a tournament-record total of 361, besting the previous mark set by Bay City Central in 2017 by a single stroke.
Montcalm, the junior who successfully defended her individual Bay County crown with a round of 83, had a premonition it would be a big day for the Warriors. She said she had a dream about playing the course before rising early and quickly getting on site.
“I made sure to be the first one there,” Montcalm said. “I just wanted to take it all in, get to the putting green early, and take advantage of all the time I had.
“I was so worried about this tournament, it’s all I could think about.”
Montcalm carded 44 on the front and 39 on the back, highlighted by a tee shot to within 5 inches on the par-3 No. 16 hole and a tap-in birdie. Her round tied the school’s tournament low, set by Megan Steinpres in 2010 and matched by Nicole Skrzypczak – now coach Nicole Freed – in 2012. The 83 is tied for the seventh-best round in tournament history.
Sporting highlighter pink sweatshirts that made them pop on a dreary day, the Warriors put up dazzling numbers on their record-setting day. Grace Navelgas shot 90 for runner-up honors while freshman Brinley Bailey carded 93, Shaelin Ulbricht 97, Sarah Luptowski 96 and Julia Budzinski 100. All six Western players earned first- or second-team All-Bay County honors.
The Warriors not only defended their title but remarkably diced a whopping 47 strokes off their winning total from a year ago. It was their best team score in the Bay County event by 26 strokes.
“It feels like the change from last year to this year has been drastic,” Montcalm said. “We can all see our scores going down, so everybody is putting in the effort to get lower scores. We saw the outcome of that today.”
The team title was Western’s seventh in the past 14 seasons, a dramatic turn for a program that went the first 16 years of the Bay County Championship without winning a crown.
“They’re always at the range and fighting over my time to watch them and work on their game,” said Freed, the fourth-year coach. “Even when it gets frustrating, they’re out playing golf every day and sticking with it.
“And every time they come in and say ‘That was my personal best!’ it makes me so happy.”
The Warriors needed a sparkling round to fend off runner-up John Glenn. The Bobcats came in with a team score of 395, the best ever for a team that didn’t win the championship.
Glenn was paced by Lauren Atkins with a 93, good for fourth place on the individual leaderboard and first-team all-County. Alli Caldwell shot 96 and Kate Cataline 100 for second-team honors while Olivia Duprey added 106 and Kahlan Dutkiewicz 107 for the Bobcats.
Bay City Central finished third at 431, getting a second-team All-County round of 99 from Kallie Kaczmarek. Reagan Schacher scored 104, Natalya Ziolkowski 110 and Layla Cookin 118 for the Wolves.
Essexville Garber placed fourth at 436, highlighted by a third-place showing from first-team all-County performer Gracie Socier at 92. Marissa Espinoza garnered second-team accolades at 100 while Marlee Garwick came in at 115 and Adalynne Causley and Aubree Gross at 129.
Pinconning scored 453, fronted by first-teamer Sarah Yaros at 95 and second-teamer Elley Shoultes at 99.
2025 All-Bay County
Girls Golf Team
FIRST TEAM
Kayla Montcalm, Western 83
Grace Navelgas, Western 90
Gracie Socier, Garber 92
Brinley Bailey, Western 93
Lauren Atkins, Glenn 93
Sarah Luptowski, Western 95
Sarah Jaros, Pinconning 95
SECOND TEAM
Alli Caldwell, Glenn 96
Shaelin Ulbricht, Western 97
Elley Shoultes, Pinconning 99
Kallie Kaczmarek, Central 99
Julia Budzinski, Western 100
Kate Cataline, Glenn 100
Marissa Espinoza, Garber 100
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