Furtney makes new memories at Cog Hill
The memories came back to St. Charles North's Megan Furtney very quickly.
Until her practice round earlier this week, the freshman hadn't played Cog Hill No. 1 in Lemont in a few years. On Monday at the Class AA Oak Park-River Forest sectional, she played the golf course like a pro.
On a day when some very good golfers struggled, Furtney made Cog Hill look easy. She shot a 3-under-par 69, playing the front nine in 36 strokes and the back in 33.
"I came out here on Friday and played a round with my team, and I learned very quickly that with these pins and these greens you have to keep it below the hole," Furtney said. "I think I did a pretty good job of that today. And then just being able to hit fairways. I think that helped."
"She was very focused when we got off the bus today," North Stars coach Irish Whalen added.
The North Stars finished with a 311 to win the sectional team championship by 9 strokes and advance to the state meet Friday and Saturday at Hickory Point Golf Club in Decatur.
"The girls are really pumped," Whalen said. "We have some really good numbers up on the board and it feels good to shoot that as a team heading down now into state."
Furtney used to play the course on the youth tournament circuit when she was 9, 10, 11 years old, she said.
"It was different coming back, because so much has changed," she said, "but at the same time it was really great. As soon as I stepped out here I remembered every single hole, and it was actually kind of a crazy feeling to think, wow, it's been so long since I've been back here."
Those memories helped on a course that played tough all day, then got tougher for those in the later groups to tee off when the wind picked up around 3:45 p.m.
"I think the stretch (holes) 12-15 I was able to play really well," Furtney said. "And I think that was a big kind of turning point in my round because the wind picked up so much and the course got kind so much harder with that, that being able to hit fairways and keep balls below the hall in that stretch was really important."
Wheaton Warrenville South placed second with a 320, no surprise to the North Stars.
"They were definitely a team I was like, yeah, let's kinda keep an eye on that," Furtney said.
"After the turn it seemed like we were still kind of neck and neck and it played out in the end," Whalen said.
Tigers coach Art Tang was happy with the way his girls played, though it was well off the 297 they shot at the regional last week at Pheasant Run.
"Our goal was to shoot well and to make it downstate, try to do some damage when we get down there," Tang said.
Annalee Dannegger led the Tigers with a 74, and Sarah Hauenstein, the Tigers' No. 1 golfer most of the season, returned from a three-week injury layoff to card a 78.
"She's been hitting balls for the last week or so," Tang said of the sophomore Hauenstein. "Believe it or not she was more nervous than anyone on our team going in. Her dad just told me she's been crawling up the walls the last week not being able to help out, watching the girls play.
"She just wants to help out. I actually had to pull her aside after that first tee and talk to her for about 2-3 minutes, just try to calm her down. A 78, there's no complaints there."
St. Charles East placed third with a 344 to earn the sectional's final state berth led by Nicole Jordan's 82. Geneva was fourth with a 362 led by an 87 from Natalie Saeger, who moved on as an individual. Wheaton Academy scored a 369, with Meredith Bult's 89 the Warriors' best. The Warriors were tied for fifth with Conant, which got a state-qualifying 82 from Megan Nagorzanski.
Glenbard East shot a 374 in its second consecutive sectional appearance.
Jennifer Cappello's 94 led Schaumburg, which finished at 387.
Ellen Foley of York and Madison McCoy of Batavia each will play this weekend after shooting 83s.
Glenbard South junior Elana Kozak, playing individually, shot an 85 to advance to state, as did Burlington Central's Josie Kurosky and South Elgin's Brynn Warrick.
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