Cullerton, Lehman lead Batavia
Unlike in football and basketball, Geneva could not play any defense against Tara Cullerton and Kayla Lehman on Monday afternoon.
The two sophomores led the Batavia girls golf team to the Class AA Minooka regional team championship last fall, and their seasoned play - underscored by aggressiveness - belied their underclass status at Bliss Creek Golf Course in Sugar Grove.
Cullerton reached the final green in 2 shots, then had a birdie attempt for a par 36. But her putt slid by to the right.
Lehman, who started her day with a triple-bogey 7 at the No. 1-handicapped hole, found nothing but the bottom of the cup with her red-number attempt at the last to play her final eight holes in 1-under-par.
The respective 37 and 38 turned in by the Bulldogs' top players enabled Batavia (6-1) to cruise past its archrival 164-182 under gorgeous conditions.
"I was thinking about (finishing at level)," said Cullerton, who left her eagle putt from 25 feet well short, only to miss again. "You can't help it when you're about to shoot par and miss it."
After bogey at the first, Cullerton reached the par-5 second hole in 2 as well and the resulting tap-in birdie enabled the Bulldogs' No. 1 player to a low-stress round over her first six holes.
Cullerton reached the next four holes in regulation, but her variety of birdie efforts either grazed the lip or fell inches short.
"I had been hitting my drives well lately, so I just figured I would (be aggressive off the tee)," said Cullerton, who had nothing but wedges on the last four par 4s. "I'm happy with (my score). Obviously, it could have better if a few more (birdie) putts had dropped."
Lehman had back-to-back excellent lag puts for saves on the second and third; the fourth featured a short miss for birdie, and her fourth consecutive par was easily accomplished with another green in regulation at the fifth.
After a hiccup at the short par-3 sixth, Lehman nearly drove the par-4 seventh, settling for a short birdie after a deft pitch.
"A par is difficult to take on that hole," Lehman said.
Cullerton and Lehman made routine pars at the eighth, and their tee shots on the closing hole easily cleared the water hazard that bisects the fairway on the home par-5.
Lehman drained her second birdie to overcome the near-disastrous start.
"After the first hole I was like, 'Just forget it,'" Lehman said. "I just went back to the basics."
Juniors Alejandra Serrate and Megan Ramp concluded the Bulldogs' scoring with a 44 and 45.
"(164) has to be close to a school record on a regulation, par-36 course," said Batavia coach Leon Pedraza. "(Cullerton and Lehman) seem to feed off each other."
"You knew that was coming," said Geneva coach Eric Hatczel. "Batavia just defended their home course very well. We still played well; I'm very happy with our score."
Shannon Delaney had a 4-par stretch in the middle of her round to lead the Vikings (5-3) with a 40; Mel Schlenker (46), April Comperda (47) and Jessie Matheson (49) were the other Geneva contributors.