Girls golf: Lake Park's Hansen overcomes rough start to win sectional
Lake Park senior Nicole Hansen realized early in her round Monday at Pheasant Run Golf Course that she wasn't nervous.
That made her nervous.
Hansen overcame both her nerves and her lack of nerves to shoot a 2-under-par 70 at the Class 2A Wheaton Academy girls golf sectional, winning medalist honors. In doing so she also qualified for this weekend's state tournament at Hickory Point Golf Club in Decatur.
"At the beginning I wasn't very nervous, which kind of got me nervous, because usually I'm always nervous," she said with a laugh. "Actually, toward the end because I was playing well so I wasn't nervous. So I think it made me play even better, which helped a lot. But 70 is one of my better rounds. I'm very happy."
This is the third time Hansen has qualified for state. She also has qualified in cheerleading and girls track, in the pole vault.
"The key for me was actually just getting on in two (shots) for those par-5s," Hansen said. "But I actually started off very rough at the beginning. I had a blocked tee shot at No. 1, so I started off with two bogeys. So just coming around from nine I was actually 2 over."
Hansen shot a 79 at last week's regional, winning in a playoff.
"I was 4 under for the back," she said of Monday's round while accepting congratulations from other golfers and coaches. "It just made me happy. I just stayed focused and tried to stay controlled within my swing so I wasn't too overpowering."
"I was telling her hole to hole, make your money on those par-5s and get some strokes back because you started off a little on the rough side," Lake Park coach Jeff Henrikson said. "She took a chance on those par-5s and it paid off in the long run."
New Trier won the team title with a 300, followed by Loyola Academy and Glenbrook South. Defending state champion Wheaton Warrenville South missed the cut, placing fourth with a 336, 17 strokes behind Glenbrook South.
The Tigers' Sarah Hauenstein advanced individually with a 73. She will be joined by teammate Hadley Moritz, who carded a 76.
"From the get-go our goal was to make it downstate as a team again, and I talked to the on the bus and said anything in the 330s is our goal," Tigers coach Art Tang said. "It gives us a chance. They all played really well. We gave ourselves a chance, but hat's off to Glenbrook South, they played lights out."
Conant was fifth at 340, Wheaton North sixth at 350 and Schaumburg placed seventh with a 357. Glenbard West's 359 was good for eighth place.
The Hilltoppers' Samantha Moody was among the individuals to advance to state. The senior shot a 78.
"The last two holes I went double bogey-bogey and there was definitely some mental, head stuff, very high-pressure golf," Moody said. "Sophomore year I did not make it through the sectional so I definitely had a little bit of flashbacks going. I was a little nervous, but I'm really glad how it worked out today. It's all about surviving and moving on."
Wheaton Academy's Margaret Harmon also qualified.
Wheaton North's Matti Zander shot an 83, just missing the cut for state, but her round included her first hole-in-one. It came on the 12th hole.
"I shot the pin and it was 105 (yards) and it was kind of an in-between club for me so I just swung and it worked out," said Zander, who used a 9-iron. "I hit it really clean and it just rolled in. So it was good."