Girls golf: Smith, Barrington making a name for themselves
Caroline Smith has yet to take a class at Barrington High School.
But the recently-turned 14-year-old showed her class on the golf course Monday when the Fillies opened their girls golf season.
The young girl with the common last name hardly has a common golf game for a freshman.
Smith made her prep debut by shooting a 1-under par 70 to help lead the Fillies to a school-record score of 292. They took first place in their own 10-team at the Bonnie Dundee Golf Club in Carpentersville.
Glenbrook's North's Emma Vickery edged Smith for the individual championship with a 69 while Buffalo Grove junior Haeri Lee, who recorded the first eagle of her high school career, was just 2 strokes back in third place with a 71.
Rounding out the top 10 were Lake Forest's Lena Benjakul (73), Barrington senior Shivani Majmudar (73), St. Charles East's Nicole Jordan, Glenbard West's Sam Moody (73), Barrington sophomore Olivia Lee (74) Glenbrook North's Ashley Choi (75) and Barrington sophomore Nicole Ciskowski (75).
The Fillies were followed in team standings by Glenbrook North (305), St. Charles (310), Highland Park (324) and Buffalo Grove (331).
Completing the Bison score card after Lee were junior Jasmine Yi (80), senior Grace Gran (89) and junior Riley Donahue (91).
Smith's big round included 3 birdies and 2 bogeys. She just missed an eagle on the par 4, 224 yards No. 15 hole. Smith drove the ball to within 4 feet and her first putt missed by inches.
"This was fun - I loved it, especially playing with Jasmine (Yi) and Nicole Jordan (SCE), " said Smith, who graduated last spring from Barrington Middle School-Prairie Campus. "And the weather was awesome."
It was quite an awesome start for the Fillies, who broke their school of 297 record set in the same invite last year.
"We also started strong last year," said Fillies sophomore Ishani Majmudar, who shot an 81. "I think we can be even better this year. Things are looking up. We started out the season the right way."
Fillies Hall of Fame coach Jodi Schoeck is starting her 30th season with the most depth she's had. Her roster includes 10 players who have vast summer tournament golf experience.
"Even Caroline as a freshman has a lot of summer experience," Schoeck said. "But playing in the fall is a different beast than in the summer. In the summer, you are playing as 'me,' not as a team."
Lee's summer was stellar, as the BG junior won the IJGA's Player of the Year championship (senior girls division) at Highland of Elgin.
On Monday, Lee's 1-under 70 was her best high school score. She recorded her best summer tourney score with a 69 in an IJGA event in 2015.
Lee's eagle came on hole No. 5, a 324-yard par 5, where she hit her 8-iron from 210 yards out on her second shot. It landed 20 feet from the cup and she made the putt.
"My putting was definitely solid," she said. "I made some long putts."
"Haeri is just real consistent." said Bison coach Matt Myers, whose team plays in the New Trier Invite on Tuesday. "That's her game. I know she'll say she wasn't too happy that she missed a few putts but she made a lot of good ones, too.
"Haeri had a real strong summer and we are excited to see what she brings in the fall season."
Prospect Invite: St. Charles North (303) won the invite followed by New Trier (309), Glenbrook South (328), Prospect (345) and Prospect B (382) at the Mt. Prospect Golf Club.
Megan Furtney of St. Charles North earned medalist honors with an even-par 70 to lead the North Stars' charge.
Top golfers for Prospect were Sabrina Accardi (82), Kate Ponzi (85), Emily Fleming (88) and Mary Schafer 90.