Girls golf: Forward-thinking Gold, Libertyville set the standard

Grant golf's Gold-en era will end prematurely.

To blame is a bright, ambitious student-athlete, who, alas for the Bulldogs, is graduating early.

Good for KiLynn Gold.

Even though she's a junior, Gold played her final regional tournament as a high-school golfer on Wednesday. She shot an 86 in the Class 2A Carmel Catholic regional at Bonnie Brook Golf Course in Waukegan to earn her second straight sectional berth. Next spring, she will graduate with the Class of 2017.

After transferring to Grant for her sophomore year, Gold made an immediate impact on the golf team. She tied for 16th at state last fall.

The reason she'll miss her senior year is because she loaded up her class schedule while attending Millennium High in Goodyear, Ariz., as a freshman.

"I just had extra credits," Gold said. "I did a block schedule in Arizona so I took two math classes and two science classes my freshman year."

With its third regional championship in a row, Libertyville has established itself as the gold standard. Led by medalist Simone Mikaelian, the Wildcats shot a 363, 6 strokes better than runner-up Carmel (369). McHenry (380) edged Warren (382) and Grant (384) for the final sectional-qualifying spot.

Mikaelian shot an 80 to beat runner-up Danielle Savovich of Carmel by 5 shots. Mikaelian won the regional for the third year in row, but she was more excited about her team advancing to next Monday's Buffalo Grove sectional at Buffalo Grove Golf Course.

"That was more important," Mikaelian said.

Mikaelian shot a 2-over-par 38 on the front, and that was the only sub-40 score for nine holes by any golfer.

"I don't know why," Mikaelian said of the high scores. "(The weather) was nicer today than it was for conference (last week). It was just wet, and it was a little windy."

Gold, who tied for third with Carmel's Erin Kehoe, said she struggled off the tee but hit good bunker and fairway shots.

"Not my best," Gold said. "In the morning (the course) was wet, so the greens were really slow. By the end of (the round, after the sun came out), they were faster."

Libertyville also got an 88 (sixth place) from Madeleine Hollinger, a shot-in-the-arm 97 from Grace Boileau and a 98 from Colby Roberts. Sydney and Ryan Spracklen had a 99 and 106, respectively. The sophomore Boileau was a last-minute change to the Wildcats' lineup.

"She's been playing really well and kept playing her way up the roster," Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen said.

"That was huge," Mikaelian said of Boileau's round. "She pulled through a lot."

Despite graduating a talented group that included 2015 state-qualifier Alexa Amato, Kayla Ryan and Eva Savovich, Carmel is headed back to the sectional for the fourth year in a row. Savovich and fellow senior Kehoe (86), led the way. The pair contributed to the sectional-qualifying teams the last two years, as well.

Sophomore Julia Zimmer added a 97 for Carmel, and freshman Sydney Faerber finished with a 101. Sophomore Maggie Kotek (107) and junior Victoria Giambrone (103) also teed it up.

Savovich wasn't surprised that the Corsairs extended their season.

"I'm confident in my team," she said. "It's special (qualifying for sectionals) because we have a lot of underclassmen that really stepped up today to get us there. The entire season everyone has pulled together to fill that gap (caused by graduation)."

Outside of what she said were two blowup holes, Savovich was happy with her round.

"On this course, I'm usually higher than (an 85)," Savovich said. "So I'm good with it. It was a little windy, so that affected the par-3s."

Warren got through senior Kelsey Campbell (90), sophomore Danielle Guzman (94), freshman Chloe Morrissey (98) and senior Nicole Urquhart (100), who edged Grayslake freshman Morgan Atwell in a playoff for the final at-large berth. Atwell, a first-year golfer, shot a 166 in the county meet early in the season.

The other sectional qualifiers included Lakes sophomore Camryn Jones (93), Antioch sophomore Samantha Brown (93), Mundelein senior Isabella Loverde (93) and Grant juniors Maddy Lantz (95) and Kylie Diana (97).

Gold, who turns 17 Thursday, said she is unsure of her golf future once she graduates. A lot might depend on whether she can earn a scholarship.

"If not, I'm going to take a year off," Gold said. "I'll take online classes and play AJGA tournaments."