Girls golf: Classy debuts for Furtney, St. Charles North
Students won't begin school at St. Charles North until next week.
But the North Stars girls golf team is already schooling it opponents.
One day after defeating four teams at the Prospect Invite, they produced their best round in school history with a 289 to win Conant's Early Bird Invite at the Bridges of Poplar Creek Country Club in Hoffman Estates.
Led by sophomore Megan Furtney's 2-under par 68, the North Stars easily outdistanced Glenbrook North (331), Fremd (339) and the host Cougars (342).
Furtney's round, which included a pair of birdies, set the Early Bird tourney record. The standard was previously held by former Conant and Wisconsin standout Kris Yoo, the 2008 Class 4A state champion.
Yoo, currently golfing on the Cactus Tour in Arizona, was there to support her former high school team and tourney director Megan Hebert (also Conant's coach) on Tuesday.
St. Charles North's score was also supported by senior Katie Lillie (71), sophomore Sarah Arnold (72) and sophomore Emma Hayes (78).
"I couldn't ask for a better start," said St. Charles North coach Irish Whalen, whose team won Monday at the Mt. Prospect Golf Club with a score of 303. "The girls put in a lot of time in the off-season and I couldn't be prouder of them."
Furtney recorded 4 birdies with 2 bogeys during her winning round. She birdied both par 5s with tap-in putts.
"I wasn't hitting my best off the tees but I found ways to scramble with my short game," she said. "Putting was pretty good for me, Consistency was the key."
Furtney, who hit 16 greens in regulation, wanted to focus on her team.
"I'm so proud of my team getting off to a great start," she added. "Both Sarah and Emma have improved so much. We've all improved and we hope to give it a good run at state this year."
Improving was also the key word for Fremd senior AnnMarie O'Sullivan and Conant sophomore Michelle Zhang.
O'Sullivan, whose previous best round was an 86, fired a 77 to place fifth while Zhang outdid her personal best of 88 last year with a 79 to take eighth place.
O'Sullivan, an all-conference softball player as junior, used a pair of birdies and some solid work around the greens for her low score.
Zhang, who works for the school's digital newspaper, made her own headlines with the help of 1 birdie.
"It was my first time playing on the varsity one team," Zhang said. "But even though I was playing with good girls, I just tried not to let it bother me and went out there to have fun. I'm hoping to keep improving. I worked hard with my coach over the winter and it really paid off."
The comeback nine of the day belonged to Hersey senior Megan Kopeny, who started her round with back-to-back triple bogeys.
She recovered for an 80 and ninth-place individual honors.
"I was just able to shut that out of mind (the first two holes) and just started thinking about my swing," said Kopeny, who fired a 1-over 36 on the back nine. "I didn't know how the rest of my round would go. But I was happy that it turned it around."
"Megan played a ton over the summer and she will be our leader," said Hersey coach Dan Vesper. "She made a great comeback today. She really showed how tough she is"
Fremd senior Annie Gao completed the top ten by shooting an 81.
Barrington Invite: Barrington won its second invite in as many days by scoring a 316 at the Wynstone Country Club. The Fillies were followed by Loyola (321), Prospect (338), Galesburg (345) and Libertyville (360).
Sophomore Nicole Ciskowski earned medalist honors with a 1-under 71, followed by Loyola's Nina Rutkowski (73), Barrington freshman Caroline Smith (77), Prospect senior Kate Ponzi (78), Loyola's Kelli McCabe (78) and Prospect senior Sabrina Accardi (80).
Libertyville's Simone Mikaelian (81) was seventh while Barrington senior Allie Quinn tied for tenth with an 83.
Completing the Prospect scorecard were senior Mary Schafer (88), senior Delaney Halloran (92) and freshman Kelly Kavanagh (92).