Resilient McDonald bounces back for Barrington
Bailee McDonald is one of the top rebounders for coach Babbi Barreiro's Barrington girls basketball team. The Fillies senior knows how to rebound in other ways, too.
McDonald, who came back from foot surgery earlier this summer, was not exactly thrilled with her score of 50 in a Mid-Suburban League tri-meet last week against Prospect and Palatine at Makray Memorial.
How did she rebound?
How about a career-best and medalist round of 39 at Rob Roy Golf Course in Prospect Heights on Wednesday afternoon?
McDonald helped lead Barrington to a sizzling score of 161, the best posted by an MSL squad this season.
Host Hersey was second with a 173 followed by Hoffman Estates (213).
"That (173) was a good score for us," said Hersey coach Dan Vesper. "But when a team shoots a 161, that's tough to beat.
"If I'm going to lose, I'd much rather lose to a team playing its best. And on top of that, they (Barrington) are real sweethearts. All my girls had a good time playing with them."
The Fillies (5-1) had a great time collectively bouncing back from their 184 score last week.
Following McDonald were Reena Sulkar (40), Shivani Majmudar (41) and Allie Quinn (41).
"Everything was clicking," said Fillies coach Jodi Schoeck of her team's performance. "The mojo was going. The biorhythms were on."
McDonald was on her mental game, recording 4 pars, a birdie on the par-3 No. 3 and a sand save for par on No. 5 despite hitting the ball into water.
"The key was hitting the ball straight because it's a narrow course," said McDonald, who was encouraged to play the sport by her father, Tim. "And to stay focused.
"I like basketball a lot but when I started golf I was decent at it so I figured I might as well keep going with it. It's a game you can play for a long time in your life."
Sulkar has been playing since she was 8 years old, starting at Catigny Youth Links in Wheaton while growing up in Naperville.
Her family moved to Barrington in the summer prior to eighth grade. Sulkar shot a 74 in a Chick Evans qualifier this summer as part of the Mid-American Junior Golf Tour.
"I used to do dance and soccer but I really like the individual aspect of golf," said Sulkar, who owns a 4.6 GPA and plans to major in engineering or medicine in college. "I like the high school season because it extends your golf season past summer competition."
On the opening day of the season, Sulkar fired a 68 at Bonnie-Dundee to set a tournament record for the Barrington Invite.
Sulkar's round on Wednesday included 3 pars and a birdie on No. 6.
"If I blame one thing, it would be that my putting was off,' Sulkar said. "And that is usually my strength. I think it's because we were coming from Makray where the greens are faster. But there is still a lot of matches left and time to improve. This is a team effort."
"Reena had been our medalist or tied for it in every meet so far," Schoeck said. "She is always right on the money for us.
"Bailee had a rough day last week and got down to business this week. She did what she knows how to do and really showed some leadership. It takes character to come back from a meet where you don't meet your expectations (falling 184 to 180 to Prospect at Makray). The girls showed their heart today."
Hersey sophomore Megan Kopeny showed her usual steady play, carding a 40 with 5 pars. "My drives and iron play were my strengths," said Kopeny, who fired a personal best 39 earlier in the season. "My putting was not so good. The greens were a little faster than normal."
"Megan doesn't swing like a sophomore and she doesn't act like one," Vesper said. "She is mentally tough and loves the game so much. It's great to know we have her on the team two more years after this one."
Jasmin Lee (43), Maggie Anderson (44) and Lexi Heidkamp (46) completed the scoring for Hersey, which now owns a 3-3 record in the MSL.
Hoffman Estates was led by Aashna Singh (50), Haenah Kim (51), Maeve Prusnick (55) and CeCe Meyer (57).
Fremd wins tri-meet: Led by medalist Jaehee Hur (37), who chipped in for eagle on the No. 3 par-5 hole at Palatine Hills, the host Vikings (168) remained undefeated (4-0) defeating Schaumburg (208) and Wheeling.
Haezi Jung (39), AnnMarie O'Sullivan (47) and Kristina Ferrari (45) rounded out the Vikes' scorecard while Schaumburg was led by Jennifer Cappello (47), Gianna Fanelli (53), Yumi Otsu (54) and Trinity Corwin (54).