Defending champ Prospect likes where it's headed

As the girls golf season wound down, Prospect coach Jim Hamann made a particular comment more than once.

"We are excited about the direction we are going," he has said while watching continuous improvement from his players in the final month.

The Knights also know the directions quite well to the city where they'll swing their clubs this weekend.

For the fifth straight year, they have arrived in Decatur for the Class AA state finals.

And their previous results over the Hickory Point Golf Course have been quite remarkable to say the least.

The Knights were fourth in 2010, second in 2012 and first in 2011 and 2013.

"We've definitely all played the course a ton of times," said Prospect senior Kacie O'Donnell, who fired a team-best 76 to finish second at the Mid-Suburban League meet at Palatine Hills. "We think of it as our second home."

The Knights 'first home,' the Mt. Prospect Golf Club, has not been available all season due to renovations. That situation made this year's success even more impressive.

Not to mention, Prospect graduated three standouts who are now playing Division I golf - Aly Scaccia (Bradley), Kiley Walsh (Illinois State) and Noreen Caporusso (Northern Iowa).

"It's a new group every year," said Hamann after watching his team shoot a season-best 330 to take second place to New Trier (323) at the highly competitive Warren sectional. "These girls have been remarkable."

Those girls (with sectional scores) include senior Isabella Flack (79), O'Donnell (81), sophomore Kate Ponzi (83), senior Emma Dazzo (87), senior Samantha Minasian (91) and sophomore Samantha Accardi (96).

Of the 13 varsity golfers Hamann has sent to the turf this fall, only Ferris State recruit Flack and O'Donnell played a varsity match going into the season.

"This is something no one thought we could do again," O'Donnell said of yet another shot at a state trophy. "It's exciting to be going back again."

Ponzi is coming off a career-best 83 at Bittersweet Golf Club in Gurnee.

"This is really nice," said Ponzi, who a year ago shot a 97 to place 13th in the MSL junior varsity meet as a freshman. "Every one on the team has been so supportive, especially Isabella and Kacie who have been on the varsity so long. They really helped me adjust and it's just fun playing on a team that gets along so well."

Ponzi is one piece of the puzzle Hamann worked on all season to complement the veterans Flack and O'Donnell.

"The state course really fits our other four players' games well," said Hamann, who guided the Knights to a seventh straight MSL crown less than three weeks ago. "We are excited because anything can happen. We've played the course many times and I know Isabella and Kacie will have a dynamite tournament. And the other four girls are doing an awesome job with their roles as well."

"We are happy to be representing Prospect High School with pride and respect in the state finals."

Among the other golfers representing the Mid-Suburban League schools are Barrington sophomore Reena Sulkar (77), Fremd junior Haezi Jung (79), Fremd junior JaeHee Hur (81), Conant junior Megan Nagorzanski (80), Conant senior Carly Bryeans (82) and Elk Grove senior Erin Walz (84).

Sulkar is coming off an impressive third-place finish at the Warren sectional where she shot her 77 with 4 birdies on a rain-soaked layout.

The MSL champ is making her second appearance in Decatur.

"It definitely helps having played there last year," she said. "You know the course a lot better and it makes you more confident."

Hur and Jung, who have been Fremd's top two golfers all fall, are making their first trips to the state finals.

They finished in the top six in the MSL meet, with Hur carding a 79 to tie for fourth while Jung was sixth with an 81.

Bryeans, Nagorzanski and Walz all qualified from the Conant sectional held on their home course (Fox Run in Elk Grove).

Walz never swung a golf club until her freshman year. She went from scoring in the mid 60s at the Par 3 Salt Creek Golf Course to being named to the varsity squad as a sophomore.

This season, she was a co-captain on coach Jon Rowley's Grenadiers along with Sarah Hartness.

Walz and Hartness helped the Grens advance to the sectional as a team for the last three years.

After her sophomore year, Walz made the trip to

Decatur to watch Elk Grove senior Katie DeMeulenaere compete in the state finals.

It was that experience which prompted Walz to make reaching the state finals her senior year a goal.

Sure enough, she has become the second Grenadier in school history to accomplish the feat.

Conant's Bryeans and Nagorzanski, the Cougars' top two players this fall, were supporting Walz all the way at Fox Run on Monday.

Walz and Nagorzanski worked together this summer at Fox Run where they became friends.

Walz was supposed to be part of a four-way playoff to decide who advanced out of the sectional.

Bryeans texted Walz the morning of what would have been the playoff to wish her luck and provide some advice.

However, due to weather, it was canceled and Walz was given an automatic berth into the state finals.

Now, she, Bryeans and Nagorzanski can't wait to spend time in Decatur, as competitors and friends.