New-look Joliet Township Invite a big hit

JOLIET – After utilizing stroke play for its Joliet Township Invite throughout its nearly 20-year history, a new format was introduced this season for the 24 girls golf teams who participated in Saturday’s event at Wedgewood Golf Course.

Instead, a modified Ryder Cup tournament was held with each squad entering three pairs of competitors who played alternate shots on the front nine and a scramble on the back nine.

According to JT coach Jim Grzetich, the new format was quite popular with the large field, which included 10 area teams, as well as many quality programs from the western suburbs.

When all was said and done, Naperville North capitalized on its balance to take top honors with a 224 after combining scores of 74, 75 and 75, which were three of the top six totals.

That offset a 72 from Jessica Benson and Addasyn Zeller of runner-up Edwardsville (235) and a winning 69 from Hannah Kilbane and Athena Kwon of third-place Sandburg (246).

“I think that the girls had fun, and it was also a team-bonding thing,” Grzetich said. “They truly had to work together since they were in a pair. So even if they had a bad shot, they could still help their partner out, so it seemed to be a good idea for this early in the season.”

Among local teams, Lincoln-Way East (259) tied for sixth place while Plainfield North (261) took eighth. Minooka (274), Providence Catholic (277), Plainfield South (286), Lincoln-Way West (292), Plainfield East (296), Lincoln-Way Central (298), JT (308) and Joliet Catholic Academy (322) also competed.

The leading pair for area squads was Plainfield South’s Mandi Granato and Shannon Smith, who tied for seventh with a 77. Plainfield North’s Maddie Dwyer and Julianna Gerdes tied for 10th with an 80 and Providence’s Ellie Bilotta and Izzy Corso tied for 12th with an 81.

Lincoln-Way East’s Hannah Hill and Kerigan McAllister and Plainfield North’s Abby Daniels and MacKenzie Woledowski both shot an 82 to tie for 14th while JT’s Morgan Anderson and Maddy Palmer fired an 84 to tie for 17th.

Lincoln-Way East also received an 87 from Sam Bollman and Maddy Herbert and a 90 from Jessica Loera and Grace Wilk for its 259.

“We have some nice returning veterans and some up and coming golfers,” Griffins coach Mary McGivern said. “We’re really optimistic since we’re getting better every day and our goal is to just keep improving and being able to play our best golf at the end of the season.

“This let them work as a team and learn from each other there. And it kind of took a little bit of the pressure off of them on every shot. The alternate shot provided difficulties and that’s what golf does, it puts you in tough situations and you have to work your way through it.”

The coach of the area’s other team that also finished in the top third of the field, Plainfield North’s Jonathan Seibert, also liked what he’s seen from his squad thus far.

“We have three seniors who are going to lead us,” Seibert said. “We have some areas where we need to improve, but as the year goes on, I see us getting better. I think this format was good since you have to work on the team and the girls had a lot of fun. It’s good to let them go out and help each other since it builds some of that team spirit, and we’re doing that.”

Minooka was led by an 88 from Rachel Kirkolis and Abby Pettigrew, the team of Kayla Faron and Lauren Goggins contributed a 91, and Megan Chiappetta and Grace Feigl had a 95.

“The girls have put in a lot of hard work over the summer and it’s exciting to see the progress that they’ve made,” Indians coach Joe Host said. “We have a lot of girls who had the opportunity to play last year underneath our four seniors. So this is their time to step up and take control of the program and I’m very impressed with what I’ve seen from them so far.”

Providence coach Jim Barker is encouraged by what he’s seen during the early going.

“We have a core group of veterans and although we’re younger with a little less experience, we’ll still be a strong team in the area,” Barker said. “There were two different things today. Alternate shot really challenged them because you have to stay in the game mentally and physically and scramble took a little pressure off since they got to play a true team game.”

Plainfield East received a 91 from Alexis Garcia and Gabby Lester and a 95 from Melody Dinnon and Taylor Withner, Lincoln-Way West was led by a 92 from Mia Bruno and Sarah Scheer, Lincoln-Way Central’s top score was a 94 from Fiona Hunt and Sydney Miron and JCA’s top pairing of Gianna Totani and Isabel Westberg finished with a 96.