Singhsumalee, Brown each win Naperville championship
The last time Bing Singhsumalee and Jessica Yuen were paired together in a high school girls golf tournament, the Yuen fired a bogey-free 70 to capture the 2013 Class AA tournament.
But Singhsumalee, the Illinois-bound Waubonsie Valley senior who was the overnight leader at the state tournament last year, earned bragging rights Tuesday at the Naperville Country Club.
Singhsumalee fired a 3-over-par 75 at the treacherous layout to earn medalist honors at the McGonagle Naperville City Tournament.
The Warriors' four-year star defeated Yuen, the Neuqua Valley standout junior, by 4 shots for top honors.
Waubonsie Valley, despite having only four players, used anchor 83s from Kayla McHale and Arushi Singh, to augment Singhsumalee in turning back Naperville North 340-362 for the team title.
Benet (375) was third, followed by Neuqua Valley (376), Metea Valley (381) and Naperville Central (394).
"I thought (my score) was pretty good," Singhsumalee said. "I was just hitting fairways and greens. There's always room for improvement. My swing and putting are pretty good right now. You can't ask for more than that."
"We went through a similar situation last year," Waubonsie Valley coach Jack Farner said of having only seven players in the program. "This is nothing new for us. (The girls are) not worried about scores right now; they're just playing their natural game."
"I didn't play the best that I wanted to today," said Yuen, who was runner-up with a 79. "Through nine I was even par, but I had five bogeys in a row on the back."
Returning state qualifiers Isabella Abdullah and Katelyn Kline led their respective schools, Benet and Metea Valley, with an 83 and 87.
"The greens were really fast," Abdullah said.
In the boys championship, Naperville North senior Griffin Brown seemed to play a different course than the other competitors.
The lone player to break 80, Brown was 2-under on his outward nine in fashioning a level-par 72 to win by 9 strokes over Naperville Central senior Scott Dunshire and Metea Valley senior David Lipan.
"I have been hitting the ball great for a while now," Brown said. "I got going, stayed patient and (the putts) started falling."
Brown birdied three of his last four holes on his opening nine.
"That really got me going," Brown said. "I had momentum going into the back nine."
"(Brown) carried us with that score," said Naperville North coach Ryan Hantak, whose squad edged Neuqua Valley 331-334 for the team title.
"Everything was going well for him. He carried the team today."
In a tightly congested team leaderboard, Naperville Central fired a collective 337 to deny Benet by 5 shots for third place.
Metea Valley was 3 shots off the Benet pace; Waubonsie Valley finished with a 351.
"I didn't get off to a very good start, especially on the front nine," said Dunshire, who tied Lipan for runner-up distinction with an 81.