Battle Creek’s Bedford Valley hosts the Division 1 girls golf Finals, with Northville chasing a third straight title

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — The Lower Peninsula’s Division 1 girls golf championship is being decided in Battle Creek this weekend, as Bedford Valley Golf Club hosts the two-day MHSAA Finals on Friday and Saturday. Both rounds are set for a 10 a.m. shotgun start.

The field holds 18 teams and 18 individual qualifiers, according to the MHSAA’s Division 1 qualifier list. Northville, winner of the last two Division 1 titles, arrives ranked No. 1 after shooting 290 as a team at its Regional, where juniors Cam Baker and McKenzie Stevens carded 69 and 70.

Macomb Dakota, ranked second, and Okemos, ranked third, are the likeliest challengers. Neither has won a Finals championship in girls golf, MHSAA.com senior editor Geoff Kimmerly wrote in his Oct. 15 preview. Northville beat Dakota by 29 strokes for last fall’s title, and MLive’s Oct. 15 rundown also tabbed the Mustangs as the favorite to repeat.

The individual race will crown someone new. Eight of last year’s top 10 finishers are back, but the reigning Division 1 medalist is not in the field, the MHSAA preview said. Regional champions include Plymouth junior Lauren Abuel, who won hers in a playoff against Baker, and Macomb Dakota senior Marissa Monteith, last year’s runner-up.

The nearest qualifying team to Battle Creek is Portage Central, which posted a 338 at its Regional. Senior Olivia Griswold, a Regional champion, led the Mustangs with a 77, the qualifier list shows.

Calhoun County has a stake one division over. Harper Creek junior Haley Willi won her Division 2 Regional and plays this weekend at Michigan State’s Forest Akers West, though the Beavers did not qualify as a team after placing fourth at that Regional, according to the MHSAA.

Fans pay $10 per car, per day, at the parking lot entrance, under the MHSAA’s Finals rules. Spectator golf carts are not allowed, though the course and the Finals manager can approve carts case by case for people with mobility-related disabilities. Alcohol and tobacco, including e-cigarettes, are banned on the grounds. Live scores are posted through the iWanamaker app. Bedford Valley’s number is (269) 965-3385.

The course gets another state final next spring: the MHSAA’s tournament manual lists Bedford Valley as the site of the Division 4 boys golf Finals on June 11–12, 2027.

Sources:
MHSAA, Girls Golf home page (2026 LP Finals sites and dates; live scoring), https://www.mhsaa.com/sports/girls-golf
Geoff Kimmerly, MHSAA.com, “Preview: Golf Finals Celebrations Could Include Pair (or More) by 1st-Time Champions,” Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.mhsaa.com/sports/girls-golf/stories/preview-golf-finals-celebrations-could-include-pair-or-more-1st-time
MHSAA, “2026 Division 1 Girls LP Golf Finals Qualifiers” (team and individual Regional scores), https://www.mhsaa.com/sites/default/files/Golf-Girls/2026-27/Regionals-Results/D1-Program.pdf
MHSAA, “2026 Girls Golf Finals Policies & Procedures” (10 a.m. starts, $10 admission, carts, course phone), https://www.mhsaa.com/sites/default/files/Golf-Girls/2026-27/2026-Girls-Finals-Qualifier-Information.pdf
MHSAA, “2026-27 LP Boys & Girls Golf Participating School Tournament Information” (2027 boys Finals sites), https://www.mhsaa.com/sites/default/files/Golf-Girls/2026-27/2026-27-golf-psti.pdf
MLive, “See Michigan’s girls high school golf leaderboard heading into 2026 state finals,” Oct. 15, 2026, https://www.mlive.com/highschoolsports/2026/10/see-michigans-girls-high-school-golf-leaderboard-heading-into-2026-state-finals.html
Photo: Wojciech Migda, “2010 Women’s British Open FQ – Emma Cabrera-Bello (3).jpg,” via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped and color-adjusted, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:2010_Women%27s_British_Open_FQ_%E2%80%93_Emma_Cabrera-Bello_(3).jpg

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Tags: Battle Creek · Sports · Girls Golf · MHSAA Finals · Bedford Valley · Northville · Portage Central · Harper Creek