Furrie fires a 34 to lead St. Charles North past St. Charles East

Ariana Furrie was determined not to let her red-number round unravel.

The St. Charles North sophomore was out of position on the par-4 eighth hole at Pottawatomie Golf Course on Wednesday afternoon after her second shot struck a tree and shot straight right to the edge of the fairway.

Furrie was left with a 105-yard shot for her third.

"I wanted a par there," Furrie said.

The North Stars' top-rated player hit a brilliant wedge to within six inches, tapped in for par and negotiated the par-5 closing hole in St. Charles with a six-footer for birdie to cap her career-low, 3-under-par round of 34.

The anchor score, followed by three consistent rounds by her teammates, enabled St. Charles North to turn back crosstown rival St. Charles East 161-171 in an Upstate Eight Conference girls dual match.

Furrie and St. Charles East sophomore Paige Jordan were engaged in a ferocious duel for supremacy under ideal scoring conditions at the Robert Trent Jones layout.

St. Charles North improved to 9-1, 7-1 trailing only undefeated Batavia while St. Charles East fell to 9-2, 7-2.

Jordan and Furrie both birdied the second hole, and the par-5 signature third hole was savaged by the lead foursome.

"Everyone did well on that one except me," St. Charles North senior captain KK Barr said.

Jordan snaked home a 40-footer for eagle, and Furrie matched the rare score after a fantastic approach to the semi-island green across the Fox River.

St. Charles East senior Nicole Rae made birdie on the hole, and Barr settled for her third of five straight pars to open her round.

The two leaders both surrendered a shot each over the next three holes, and Jordan produced the shot of the day at the par-3 seventh hole.

The Saints' No. 2 player holed out a bunker shot from 45 feet for birdie.

"I read the break going right to left," Jordan said. "I made sure to hit the ball to the center of the hill so it would get close to the hole. Fortunately it went in."

Furrie nearly chipped in herself on the hole to save par, and the two remained tied at 2-under entering the last.

Furrie hit an aggressive tee shot, nearly carrying the right-to-left dogleg.

"I think my drives were pretty good for the most part, and my putting was better than it has been lately," Furrie said. "I was just thinking of finishing (well). I didn't know what my score was, but I knew it was good."

The North Stars' sophomore easily reached the green in two, but Jordan hit a flier from a greenside bunker.

The Saints' second-ranked player needed four to get down, finishing with a double-bogey to close at even par.

"It was my first (level-) par round here," Jordan said.

Barr and Rae had matching 41s in the lead foursome, but St. Charles North carried the day with a 43 by Jordyn McFarlane and a 44 from Marissa Fencl.

Darby Crane (46) and Kate VenHorst (47) accounted for the Saints' final two scores.

"We had great consistency," St. Charles North coach Chris Patrick said.

"We didn't play well overall as a team," St. Charles East coach Rod Osborne said.