Competition against boys benefits Driscoll's DiGrazia

In all likelihood, Gigi DiGrazia played her final competitive round against male players Tuesday afternoon at the Suburban Catholic Conference championship.

The Driscoll senior now turns her attention to the girls golf Class A postseason tournaments, and the reigning state runner-up is primed for a final run at glory.

"I have been tightening everything up during the boys season," said DiGrazia, who has two regional titles and one sectional crown to her credit the last three years. "It would be important to me (to win state), but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I didn't. I would say I am very confident with my game right now."

DiGrazia has been under the microscope ever since she entered the Addison school, which does not have a girls golf program.

There was no alternative but to play for the boys team and compete in the girls state series as an individual.

"Our team has always taken her as a competitor," said Marmion coach Jen Konen. "I remember when she first started out, and our boys' reaction was, 'They have a girl on the team?' It's a neat experience for a girl to go out and compete with the boys. If you didn't know she was a girl and her name was Sam, no one would notice. But the thing is that she is their best player. (The gender issue) doesn't ever faze her."

DiGrazia is certainly as match-tested as any female athlete in the state; on Tuesday the league played the Highlands course, site of the St. Edward regional this Wednesday, at almost 6,600 yards.

"It's a huge advantage," DiGrazia said of the playing from the boys' tees during the regular season. "I jumped a 1,000 yards up (for the regional), and it can only get easier."

"(DiGrazia) has her eye on the trophy this year as the state champ," Driscoll coach Mark Heading said. "She is striking the ball well and getting up and down out of tough situations. She has an all-around game."

DiGrazia is also an accomplished basketball player who helped lead the Highlanders' to the Class 2A quarterfinals.

The sharpshooter was also Class A runner-up in the 3-point contest as a sophomore.

DiGrazia has been remarkably consistent in the state series all three years, playing in three different formats during the span.

As a freshman DiGrazia tied for 16th in the final year of the girls' single-class tournament.

The Highlanders' ace was seventh in the first year of the Class AA tournament, but Driscoll dropped down a class last year as DiGrazia was runner-up to two-time champion Brooke Beeler of Hillsboro.

DiGrazia has yet to commit for the next level, where opportunities for female players are bountiful as a result of landmark Title IX legislation.

"I'm not sure yet," DiGrazia said of a potential destination. "I'm kind of all across the board."

No reply: Naperville Central boys coach Barry Baldwin was an unrepentant critic of the inaugural Class 3A state tournament last year in which the field at Geneva--where the Redhawks competed--featured no less than four conference champions for its regional.

Baldwin forwarded a proposal to the IHSA to seed the boys sectional tournaments.

"They do it in basketball, why not golf?" Baldwin said.

The proposed measure fell on deaf ears.

"I was very disappointed my proposal failed," Baldwin said. "There are going to be some very good golfers who don't make it out of the regional, and that's just a travesty."

Naperville Central hosts the Class 3A boys regional at Carillon in Bolingbrook, and the lineup has been tweaked from last year at Geneva.

In a peculiar twist, the Aurora and Naperville high schools have been divided for both genders at their opening postseason event.

The Neuqua Valley and Waubonsie Valley boys are headed to Joliet for a regional that feeds into the Pekin sectional.

The schools' girls teams are likewise headed to the Minooka regional at Heritage Bluffs, while Naperville Central hosts its own regional on Wednesday at Naperbrook.

The reactions have been mixed.

"It would be nice to play on our home course," said Neuqua Valley girls coach John Keller. "I have long ago stopped trying to figure out how the IHSA does things. But I like the course (Heritage Bluffs). We have played well there in the past."

"We're very excited," said Neuqua Valley boys coach Spike Grossheusch, whose squad went undefeated in Upstate Eight Conference action this fall. "I have six guys who have shot even-par or better."

The Naperville Central boys regional feeds into a landmine-coated field at Bartlett Hills, against potential teams such as DuPage Valley Conference champions Wheaton Warrenville South, Western Sun Conference victors Geneva and West Suburban Silver titans Hinsdale Central and Lyons Twp.

"We're not going to complain about we have to go to a regional with teams that have already beaten us before," Waubonsie Valley boys coach Dave Owles said. "Then again, we were in the same boat last year (at Geneva) where we fared pretty well (second)."