Interstate 8 Girls Golf Tournament: Kaneland, Katharine Marshall run away with titles

SYCAMORE – It was a truly a “Who’s going to finish second?” kind of day at Sycamore Golf Club.

The Kaneland girls golf team ran away with a second consecutive title at the Interstate 8 Conference Tournament on Tuesday, with Knights junior Katharine Marshall claiming the individual championship by 10 strokes.

Kaneland finished with a team score of 349, followed by Sycamore (402), Ottawa (407), La Salle-Peru (425), Sandwich (467) and Plano (472).

“I don’t normally pay a lot of attention to where I’m at in the standings, I just try and stay focused on my own game, but Coach was letting me know where I was at. I knew I had a pretty good lead on the back nine, but instead of looking for a personal lowest score, I was just trying to stay consistent and finish strong, which I was able to do.”

—  Kaneland's Katharine Marshall

Marshall carded 11 pars and three birdies on the day, finishing with a 1-over-par 72, while other counting scores for the champs came from Julia Skiba (83, fourth place), Aeryn Hwang (96, eighth place) and Grace Algrim (98, 10th place).

“I really putted great today,” Marshall said. “I was able to make a few longer putts, including on No. 9, which really got me going, and I followed that up with a birdie on No. 10. I was 2 under on the back nine, and everything was just clicking.

“I don’t normally pay a lot of attention to where I’m at in the standings, I just try and stay focused on my own game, but Coach was letting me know where I was at. I knew I had a pretty good lead on the back nine, but instead of looking for a personal lowest score, I was just trying to stay consistent and finish strong, which I was able to do.”

Ottawa senior Zoe Harris finished runner-up after tying Sycamore’s Brianna Chamoun with an 82 and winning a back-nine scorecard playoff. Also adding to the Pirates’ third-place finish were Hannah Duggan (102), Caroline Cooney (105) and Brynne Sember (118).

“That thought is always in the back of my head ... ‘I should have,’ ” said a smiling Harris, who only started playing golf last year, when asked about playing at an earlier age. “I said last year my goal was to just break 100, and now that seems really silly when I think about that. My dad and I put a lot of work in the summer for me to get better at the game, and it’s really paid off. Katharine is such a phenomenal player, it was a race for second today.

“My driver was the most consistent part of my game, and with the big fairways here I was able to play my controlled cut a lot more than maybe another course. I was really confident in my game all day and was 6-over after 14, but I had a couple bad holes and kind of limped my way in.

“Overall, I’m really pleased with how I played.”

Behind Chamoun’s third-place finish, the Spartans received a sixth-place 92 from Lauren Cohn, a 110 from Lily Rubeck and a 118 from Isabella Kirchmann.

“I played how I wanted to except for my putting,” Chamoun said. “I three-putted way too many times. I was putting the ball on the greens where I wanted, but from there I just wasn’t hitting the ball hard enough. I was happy with how I drove the ball and my short-iron play, but after that I struggled.

“Overall it was a pretty good day with way better conditions than last year.”

Sandwich senior Alijah Campbell earned all-conference honors for the fourth straight year after shooting an 86 to place fifth. Melody Goldstein (109), Georgia Vehe (124) and Jayden Baumbach (148) also contributed to Sandwich’s score.

“I feel I played a little better in this event than I have the past couple of years,” said Campbell, who finished sixth the past two years. “My putting was a struggle today without a doubt. I just couldn’t seem to sink a putt. I had way too many two putts from [about] 5 feet, and I’m now thinking about how many strokes I could have saved if I just could have made a few of those putts.

“I did hit a lot of greens in regulation, which is something I haven’t been doing very well, and my driving was pretty good. Overall, everything was pretty good, just wish I could have sank a few more putts.”

Morris’ lone entry, sophomore Ella McDonnell, placed seventh with a 93.

La Salle-Peru was paced by Grace Antle’s 99, with Avah Moriarty (105), Allie Thome (105) and Megan McGuire (116) carding counting scores.

Plano was led by senior Faith Malloy’s 98, good for ninth place, followed by Kendal Flodstrom (109), Julianna Olivier (131) and KC Polomchak (134).