Girls Golf: After tough finish, Geneva's Reese Clark settles for fourth at sectionals

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Getting in the clubhouse, or at least finished with the round and socially distanced waiting by the 18th green, proved key Tuesday at the Class 2A Rolling Meadows Sectional at Arlington Lakes Golf Club.

New Trier’s Audrey Tir bogeyed the 18th hole to complete her 6-over round of 74.

That left her two shots behind Glenbrook South senior Maria Perakis and tied with Geneva junior Reese Clark, who both had three holes left.

On a blustery day that forced players to club up or down by three or four clubs, both Perakis and Clark found trouble down the stretch.

Perakis double bogeyed 16 to fall into a tie with Tir and Clark, then hit long on the par 3 17th that led to a triple bogey to take her out of contention.

Clark parred both holes to head to the par 5 18th still tied for the lead. But she pulled her drive into long grass by a pond, took an unplayable and eventually double bogeyed the hole — leaving Tir as the sectional champ.

“I was shocked at how high the scores were,” Clark said. “I thought someone would definitely shoot in the 60s. With the wind pushing it so far to the right (on 18), I didn’t think there was any way it would go (in the hazard). I was mistaken. But I still have next year and wanted to try to qualify hypothetically for state and I did. That was the goal.”

Perakis, who will play college golf at Bradley, led most of the day. She birdied No. 3 while shooting 1-over on the front before bogeys on 11, 12 and 14.

“For her career as a high school golfer this isn’t how she wanted to end it,” Glenbrook South coach Thomas Cieplik said. “She played really well for three quarters of the round. Even the holes she struggled on she still hit great shots. Just with this wind and some of the shots that were left greenside made it difficult ups and downs. She had a phenomenal high school career and I’m excited to see what she can do in college.”

Glenbrook North senior Claire Choi finished second. She played the back first and ended her round with a birdie on the par 4 ninth, sinking a 7-foot left-to-right putt.

Choi shot the best round of her season.

“There were a lot of ups and downs throughout the day but overall it was a pretty good round for me and I’m happy with how I played today,” Choi said.

West Chicago senior Kendall Farm tied for sixth with a 79, one of just seven players to break 80.

New Trier won the team title at 314. Loyola finished second with a 338 followed by St. Charles North (349), St. Francis (353), Prospect (355), St. Ignatius (370), Fenwick (371) and York (374).

St. Charles North coach Steven Dodd said his No. 5 player Grace Wallace had a strong round with her 89, joined by Catie Nekola (83), Isabella Spinazze (88) and Aleksa Gizewicz (89) for counting scores.

The North Stars won both conference and regional championships.

“To come in here we had to play exceptionally well to compete with New Trier and Loyola,” Dodd said. “I’m not at all disappointed with how today turned out. The wind caused a lot of numbers to be a lot higher than anticipated. It caused a lot of holes to play very difficult.”

St. Francis took fourth behind Kathernine Lemke (82), Sarah Grivetti (88), Carly Chriske (91) and Katherine Lilly (92).

Bri Arzbaecher paced Prospect with an 80. Teammate Abby Knott carded an 87, Bella Peshek a 91 and Josie Kaczkowski 97.

“The course played very difficult,” Prospect coach Brad Rathe said. “There’s a ton of water and out of bounds and when the wind is blowing like that it’s hard to aim at places that you don’t want to end up but if you aim straight it can go all the way off the fairway and into a hazard. Conditions were certainly tough but that’s what you get in October.”

Audrey Matias posted an 87 to lead York.