Beaudreau's 67 lifts Benet; Waubonsie Valley's Troy wins again
Lauren Beaudreau's win Tuesday at the 16th annual Vern McGonagle Memorial Championship didn't come as much of a surprise to those familiar with the Notre Dame recruit's golf game.
Waubonsie Valley's boys team win was more unexpected.
Beaudreau posted 7 birdies to shoot a 5-under-par 67, winning the girls tournament by a dozen strokes at Naperville Country Club. It was a great way to return to the high school game after taking her junior season off to focus on a couple of outside tournaments that included some of the top junior golfers in the world.
That was a great learning experience, but something was missing.
"I missed high school golf last year and it was my senior year and I just really wanted to come back," Beaudreau said. "And I really enjoyed playing on the Benet team."
Beaudreau placed second in Class AA her sophomore season, a stroke behind Lincoln-Way Central's Grace Curran. Taking another run at a state title was another reason to return to the Benet team.
"I was so close sophomore year, 1 shot, I really felt I could play better. I'm really excited for another opportunity," Beaudreau said.
Beaudreau played an aggressive game and was rewarded, carding just 2 bogeys.
"I was driving the ball great, so I had a lot of short approach shots," Beaudreau said. "And then these greens roll so great so really if you just get the ball on line it's got a really good chance of going in."
Naperville Central's Emma Lim placed second among the girls with a 79.
The Redwings also won the girls team championship, edging Naperville North 332 to 336 and surprising coach Michael Bremner.
"We just played Naperville North yesterday and they beat us by 38 strokes," Bremner said. "We played Lincoln Oaks yesterday. This course is obviously harder than Lincoln Oaks. We cut a stroke."
Waubonsie Valley broke Neuqua Valley's three-year boys championship run at the tournament, a surprise because the Wildcats again have a very strong team this season. The Warriors were up for the challenge, scoring a 324 to the Wildcats' 329.
"The great thing with this tournament and a lot of other tournaments we've been in, I think there is so much talent around this area," Warriors boys golf coach Eric Flodberg said. "It kind of depends on who's on that day. Neuqua threw out a heck of a number, 285 yesterday at Naperbrook. Informally when the coaches get together we talk about hey, who's the favorite? The great thing for us today we had four scores that fortunately for us were four good enough scores to post out here."
Will Troy's 74 took medalist honors for Waubonsie Valley. Benet's Brian Moran shot a 78 and Naperville North's Parker Mullen a 79.
Troy, a junior, shot a 68 Monday to win at Naperbrook after a winning 70 Thursday at Blackberry Oaks. Naperville Country Club is a much tougher course, however, with much faster greens.
"I've been putting really well," Troy said, explaining his three-tournament title streak. "My lag putting was struggling a little this summer, and I just started putting a lot better. Just a lot of practice. I started focusing more on putting, less irons. I've been hitting my irons really well."