The Corporal B. High School Invitational

Novi Detroit Catholic Central won the Corporal B. Invitational in late April, finishing with a 4-player team score of 300, ahead of Traverse City West at 307, Brighton at 309, Grand Rapids Christian scoring 310, with a T5 finish for Forest Hills Northern and Traverse City St. Francis at 312.

Traditionally, most of the top programs and individuals, regardless of division, are invited. All four defending state champions were in the field: DCC (Div. 1), Orchard Lake St. Mary (D2), St. Francis (D3) and Clarkston Everest (D4). Three more state runners up played too.

DCC junior Jack Whitmore earned medalist honors with a 71. Runner up Michael Houtteman of Glen Lake score a 72. Houtteman told participants he has been accepted into the U.S. Naval Academy – whose men’s golf team plays at American Dunes each fall in the Folds of Honor Collegiate event which airs annually on The Golf Channel. 

Three players tied for third place shooting 73: Will Pollack (Forest Hills Northern), Cruz Beckstrom (Mona Shores) and Winslow Robinson (TC West).

“The Corporal B only invites the top players and teams from the previous year in Michigan,” said DCC coach Michael Fras. “Our team considers this a "major" of the season.  Jack Whitmore has been one of our top 3 players the past two seasons.  He is capable of going low any round.” 

American Dunes Golf Club hosted the annual The Corporal B. Invitational, one of Michigan's most sought-after boys’ high school golf tournament invitations. The event is named in memory of U.S. Corporal Brock Bucklin, who gave his life in Balad, Iraq on May 31, 2006. Corporal Bucklin was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment, 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.

The Corporal B. Invitational hopes to showcase outstanding high school golf talent, but also serves a greater purpose: to educate, honor, and support the families of American heroes by its recognition of the Folds of Honor organization’s goals and mission – to support families of fallen military with education scholarships.

Each team plays in honor of a past military hero. DCC picked Sgt. Wilfred E. Racine, U. S. Army. Wilfred graduated from Catholic Central High School in 1933 and enlisted on March 19, 1942. He was awarded a Silver Star Medal for gallantry in action. 

High School Rankings, as of April 30 (Corporal B. participants have **):

Division 1

1 Detroit Catholic Central **

2 Traverse City West **

3 Brighton **

4 Rochester Adams **

5 Flushing

6 Grand Blanc 

7 Rockford

8 Forest Hills Northern **

9 Midland

10 Saline

Division 2

1 Grand Rapids Christian **

2 Chelsea 

3 Orchard Lake St. Mary **

4 GR South Christian 

5 Holland Christian

6 Cranbrook-Kingswood

7 BC Harper Creek

8 Forest Hills Eastern

9 Gull Lake

10 Freeland

Division 3

1 Jackson Lumen Christi **

2 Trav. City St. Francis **

3 Ann Arbor Greenhills

4 NorthPointe Christian

5 Kalamazoo Christian

6 Grosse Ile

7 Chesaning

8 Millington

9 Tawas

10 Essexville-Garber

Division 4

1 Saginaw Nouvel Catholic

2 Hillsdale Academy

3 Saugatuck

4 Grandville Calvin Christian

5 W Mich. Christian

6 Kalamazoo Hackett

7 Everest Collegiate ** 

8 Oakland Christian

9 Plymouth Christian

10 Leland