text: Brighton's Annie Pietila is Girls Golfer of the Year
  In only her sophomore year, it's clear that Brighton's Annie Pietila will follow in the footsteps of her sisters.
  Brighton's Annie Pietila is Girls Golfer of the Year In only her sophomore year, it's clear that Brighton's Annie Pietila will follow in the footsteps of her sisters. Check out this story on livingstondaily.com: http://ldpaa.com/2hPCPFZ
  Anthony Odoardi, Livingston Daily Published 8:29 p.m. ET Dec. 14, 2016
  Brighton's Annie Pietila is Livingston Daily's Girls Golfer of the Year for 2016.(Photo: RICHARD LIM / RICHARD LIM PHOTOG)
  BRIGHTON — Most familiar with the Brighton girls golf program hear the name Pietila and it's almost instantly associated with former Bulldogs and current University of Tennessee golf stars Emmie Pietila and Hannah Pietila. If the rest of their young sister Annie's career is anything like her sophomore season, then she will be remembered right there with them.
  Annie, the third of five sisters that have or will come through Brighton, followed up a freshman season in which she was Brighton's No. 2 golfer and an Honorable Mention All-State selection, with a sophomore campaign reminiscent of what her sisters once did.
  Annie transformed to lead the one of the state's top teams and became a no-doubt First Team All-State pick in Division 1, something both of her older sisters achieved in their sophomore years. She also added the first of what could be multiple Livingston Daily Girls Golfer of the Year awards.
  "I talk to her dad, Aaron Pietila, and we go back and forth comparing her to her older sisters, four, five, six years ago, and where they were as sophomores and freshmen," Brighton coach Paul Parsell said. "We try to compare them and have an idea because that's just what coaches and dads do. And yeah, she's definitely in line with them."
  For Annie, that can be both a blessing and a curse.
  A blessing, of course, because her sisters are exceptionally talented golfers that found success at every level. She certainly admires them for that, and knowing others see her in a similar light is surely exciting.
  A blessing also because not only can seek out their help when something in her game might be going awry, but when they return home she also gets to square off against them. How many can say the have two Division I athletes they study the games of and turn to for anything?
  "I tell her, and I told her older sisters, the reason that they are all so good at golf, and that she can be better than her older sisters, is because Hannah and Emmie have the knowledge and pass it down the family," Parsell said. "Those girls (Hannah and Emmie) come home in the summertime and on winter breaks, and they teach the other girls and they play with them. Just playing with D-I golfers like that in your foursome, that will make you better, let alone them being your sisters."
  "Having them there, it's like really competing against two great players, and I'm trying to play up to expectations," Annie said. "All of us are trying to compete, and even my younger sister Maggie, she's 13 and we're are competing. It brings out the best in each other."
  Annie Pietila will try to lead Brighton back to the Division 1 state finals for the school?s 11th time in 12 seasons. Annie Pietila will try to lead Brighton back to the Division 1 state finals for the 11th time in 12 seasons on Friday. (Photo: File Photo)
  It can be a curse, because of what Annie mentioned: the expectations.
  Not many high school golfers enter with the sky-high expectations that followed Annie. For most, it can be impossible to deal with, knowing that everyone immediately expects the same from you, knowing that with each score you post and each swing you take, that it will constantly be compared back.
  Knowing that, in many instances, some expect even more.
  Parsell wasn't shy in stating that he falls into that category.
  Fortunately, Annie has proven through two years of high school that she is not most.
  As a sophomore, she is years ahead of where most are at this stage, her coaching saying that the quality of her game more resembles that of a junior or senior. In 2016, she averaged a score of 39.2 strokes in nine-hole meets — the best mark of all players in the county — and led Brighton to yet another undefeated season in the KLAA West and a regional championship.
  Annie was even better in tournaments with a 77-stroke average per 18 holes. She became champion of the KLAA after shooting a 1-over on the par-71 Fox Hills Golf Course and then added regional medalist to her list of accolades with a 71 at Hartland Glen Golf Course to qualify for states.
  In total, she was the medalist in five of her team's 11 tournaments.
  "A little bit, I guess," said Annie when asked if she has felt the pressure of living up to the legacy left behind by her sisters. "But I try not to think about it too much. I just let it come. I know that I have what they have because they have taught me very well."
  Based on what she's done so far, they sure have.
  But she acknowledges there remains so much room for growth. And so did her coach.
  Although Parsell also doesn't want her to get overly caught up in trying to live up to the name. He said she has to be her own person.
  "She's not her older sisters. She's not her younger sisters. And she realizes that," Parsell said. "She's Annie Pietila. Only she controls what she can do. She knows that and has to continue to get better. Being a sophomore, there is still some maturing she needs to do for her all-around game."
  Annie noted that she will focus this offseason on improving the mental aspects of her game.
  That's what cost her at times this season, like in the Division 1 state meet, where she shot her two highest tournament scores of the season with back-to-back 85s at Forest Akers East Golf Course in East Lansing.
  I know I need to improve that (my mental game) a lot since that is what the game is about," she said. "So I'll play more, and I'll figure out my swing more, which I feel like I'm starting to understand."
  She will continue to grow, adding some height and strength as she ages. And, of course, she will continue to get older and wiser, especially with another full spring and summer of offseason tournaments.
  Parsell is surely counting on it, as he looks to her and Heather Fortushniak to lead a full boat of returners and the addition of some talented freshmen — like the fourth Pietila sister, Maggie — into the 2017 season, which he said, "should be one of our top years."
  "Expectations are there," Parsell said, "and I know she feels them. But that's part of golf, and especially coming out of that family and our program. She looks up to her sisters quite a bit, and I'll be looking to her for the next two years."