Rain won’t keep Kishwaukee from cruising to Lincoln Highway title

ROCK FALLS – Kishwaukee came away from the first day of the 98th Ladies Lincoln Highway at Rock River Golf and Pool with a 20-point lead over second-place Timber Creek and a 40-point lead over a host of clubs battling it out for third.

On Saturday, that lead only grew, as Kishwaukee claimed the team title with a +151. Timber Creek was second with a +106. Prophet Hills with a +68 took third.

The two clubs dominated the field over the two-day best-against-bogey tournament, with all eight flight winners and the overall top two coming from those two clubs.

The overall winner was Kishwaukee’s Sue Ellett, who posted matching +17s Friday and Saturday to finish +34.

“I thought I played really solid golf,” Ellett said. “I drove the ball well, hit a lot of greens, didn’t really put myself in any stressful situations, so that helps you just get points, which is what Lincoln Highway is all about.”

On Friday, Ellett played the back nine at +9, a feat she matched Saturday.

“I think since those holes were built in the 1960s, those greens are a little bigger, there’s a little more landing area, you don’t have to be quite as precise on that side,” she said. “Once you cross the road, you have to be very, very precise to get pars. I think my par-3 play was the key. I think I played all the par-3s even par or better, so I didn’t lose any points on the par-3s.”

In fact, over the course of the two days, Ellett played the five par-3 holes in one-under-par, getting a birdie Friday at the 127-yard uphill No. 7 and getting even par on each par-3 the rest of the way.

Her only bogey of the second round came at No. 1, carding a five on the 240-yard par-4. But she was able to close out her round with plus signs on each hole from there out.

She came in two points ahead of teammate Kim Kester, who put up a +18 Saturday to follow her +14 round on Friday.

Mya Groza finished with a +29 to be the third-flight winner, Allison Yohanan was the second-flight runner up at +17, Jan Nissen was the fifth-flight winner at +20, Donna Martin was the sixth-flight winner at +15, and Deb Schiavi was the seventh-flight winner at +19.

Timber Creek had four flight winners, as Bella Heintzelman took first-flight honors with a +23. After a +13 day on Friday, she birdied No. 11 and took par on No. 12 to add +2 to her total through three holes, then gave one of those back on No. 13. She found her stride later in the round with eight straight plus holes.

“What wasn’t working for me were my tee shots,” she said. “My miss was left, so that wasn’t helping me. Out here you want to be in the fairways. What was working for me was my approach shots and the mental game.”

Katie Drew was the second-flight winner at +27, getting her Saturday off to a strong start with a +7 through her first nine holes.

Nikki Masini was the fourth-flight winner with a +14. She didn’t put one in the plus column on Saturday until a par on the 282-yard par-4 No. 16, then gave that back with a double bogey one hole later, but another par before making the turn and a +5 after the turn put her at +6 for the day.

“I feel like I did pretty well this morning,” she said. “The front nine, I just kind of evened it out, didn’t get too many points, but even though it poured down rain on the back nine, I still came out with a few points.”

Deb Cuvelier took eighth-flight honors, shooting a -5 over her first five holes Saturday before fighting her way back into positive territory from there.

Barb Curia added a sixth-flight runner up with her +7 on Saturday to finish at +6 for the weekend.

For some of the golfers who had early tee times Saturday, there were at least a few holes of dry golf before the rain came. But for the top golfers with later tee times Saturday, the trip around the course was made in what at times was heavy rain, with puddles forming on cart paths and water filling the cups at some of the holes.

“When we started it wasn’t as bad, and I’ve played in rain before, I’ve played in hail, I’ve played in everything,” Heintzelman said. “Today wasn’t that much of a difference for me. I just played my game.”

Prophet Hills was paced by Shelley Felske, whose +13 for the day including a +8 on the back nine to put her at +21 for the tournament, making her the first-flight runner up.

“It had to be the rain, because I was putting really good in the rain,” Felske said. “Otherwise, it was just a good day.”

Cathy Verhulst was a +15 for Prophet Hills, with Karen Wiersema +11, and Donna Moore and Kris Zschiesche both +8. Prophet Hills had another flight runner-up in the seventh flight, where Corri Kelly’s +1 put her in a playoff with Indian Oaks’ Jenny Frances, which Kelly won on the third playoff hole.

Indian Oaks shot a +59, paced by Beth Haag who shot +22 for the tournament and was third-flight runner up. Jacki Johnson shot +15 and Lauren Frances shot +13, with Frances shooting a +12 on Saturday when she played the back nine in 37 strokes.

Rock River shot a +44 on the home course, with Ellie Wasson’s +18 earning her fifth-flight runner up honors. Deena Simester added a +13 and Sandi Ivey shot a +8.

Lake Carroll was +37 as a team, with Diane Schipkowski shooting +16 to lead the way. Athena Peterson was eight-flight runner up at +6.

Sunset got a +12 from Ali Scheidecker to finish at +31 as a team. Colleen Miller was +9 and Dana Hanson was +8.

Deer Valley shot a +32 as a team, paced by Meredith Adams’ +15 and a +9 from Donna Brooks.

Prairie View finished at +20, as Joanna Sharp shot a +14 and Sharon Dexter added a +6. Dexter, who shot a -2 on Friday, turned things around to go +8 Saturday.