Some positive vibes went a long way for Clarkston’s girls golf team Wednesday afternoon.
Expected or not, the Wolves left Fieldstone Golf Club in Auburn Hills as winners of this year’s Oakland County D1 championship.
“I know they have it in them, but we’ve just been neck-and-neck with Adams all season,” Clarkston head coach Lezlie Hallman said. “I don’t know if they thought, ‘Oh, Adams is going to win,’ or what but they played as a team yesterday. It was really nice.”
The Highlanders entered as the No. 3 team in the latest MIGCA D1 poll, with Troy at No. 6 and Clarkston just a spot behind the Colts. The top-10 teams in D2 were well represented at Fieldstone, too, with Farmington Hills Mercy (No. 2), South Lyon (3) and Cranbrook-Kingswood (4) all present.
But it was Clarkston who won it all with a team score of 341, followed by Adams and Mercy each with scores of 343.
Lake Orion followed in fourth with a 348, and the Cranes, last year’s winner, recorded a 354. The rest of the top-10 teams continued with Seaholm (357), South Lyon (365), Stoney Creek (373), and finally Troy and Orchard Lake St. Mary’s tied with a 374.
Lily Fishtahler, who shot an 88 as a junior at last year’s tourney when the Wolves took sixth, had a team-best 81 on Wednesday, tied with Adams’ Leah Blackmore for sixth individually.
“I thought my round was decent,” Fishtahler said. “The wind definitely had an impact on it; the weather wasn’t great. I thought my score was fine, but it was still an improvement from last year, so that was a bonus.”
She spoke about what a close-knit bunch this year’s team is having grown up together, lived in the same neighborhood, and are capable of relying on one another. The bond helps them stick together when they get on the links.
Clarkston’s Lily Fishtahler chips a ball onto the green during as a junior at the Oakland County D1 championship on Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2025 at Fieldstone Golf Club. Fishtahler shot a team-best 81 to help the Wolves win this year’s county meet on Wednesday. (BRYAN EVERSON – MediaNews Group, file)
“We try to tell each other every day (you’re eventually going to) have a bad round, but it’s going to be OK (knowing you) have the support from coaches and each other,” Fishtahler continued. “You just have to remember your next shot is your best shot. But yeah, we know we have to stay relaxed and know that no matter what our team’s gonna be with us.”
Hallman, in her 12th season as head coach, knows the talent is there, and her main responsibility is to manage that mindset of the girls, which has taken a step forward from the previous fall. “I think if they are just more relaxed … that’s my purpose,” she said. “They all have swing coaches, and dads or uncles or grandparents that golf. I’m there to talk them off the ledge when they’re having a bad time, make them laugh and loosen up a little bit instead of dwelling on the negative. I said (to them that) the last thing you should be thinking about before you hit the ball is where you want it to go, not, ‘I hope it goes in the water over there or in the trees,’ that kind of thing. Because then, sure enough, it’s going to go in the water or the trees. Where you want it to go, visualize that and do it.”
Behind Fishtahler from the Wolves, sophomore Reese Hukka finished with an 83, senior Grace Johnson had an 87, sophomore Braelynn Clancy ended with a 90 and senior Ava Ebling recorded a 94.
This marks the second time in three seasons Clarkston has captured the county title. They also did it in 2024 when Lily’s older sister Lauren was part of the team and the Wolves also went on to also take first at regionals.
“(Lily’s) just a really good golfer, and she’s been that way for four years,” Hallman remarked. “She’s improved immensely, but even when it was her and her sister, they weren’t competing against each other, but they just know golf.”
A healthy dose of freshman amongst the top of the leaderboard was a sign that competition should remain strong in the coming seasons. Both Mercy’s Carolyn Watson and South Lyon’s Presley Kiehler led the way as individuals with a score of 75. After that, Lakeland sophomore Abigail Ngo, Mercy senior Megan Guerrera and Troy freshman Hannah Kim came in all with scores of 78.
Following Fishtahler and Blackmore were Lake Orion senior Olivia Connor and South Lyon East junior Eve Laskoff tied for eighth with an 82, then Hukka and Adams junior Saanvi Gupta both at 83.
The improvement from a chipping and putting perspective — Hallman had nothing but praise for her team’s driving ability, calling it breathtaking — also paired with their mental fortitude has the Wolves looking like a strong contender at states this season. They finished ninth in D1 in 2025.
“We can do it,” Hallman said. “We have the capability, it’s just that we all need to be on the same mindset so to speak, and play the course, don’t let it play you.”
Fishtahler believes that victory Wednesday gives them a boosted chance, adding, “We’ve only beat Adams once this year, so knowing we beat them (when we) all didn’t really play to our best potential opened our eyes (to the idea) we can definitely win, and it just gave us a lot and showed us we can do it if we put our minds to it.”
Clarkston, Adams and others will be back for another round on Tuesday at Fieldstone for a competition involving all teams from the OAA Red and White Divisions.