Quite a day for Walsh, Prospect
Prospect sophomore Noreen Caporusso said it was a “real nice set-up” for Tuesday’s Class AA girls golf regional hosted by Hoffman Estates High School at the Bridges of Poplar Creek.
“The weather was beautiful and the course was so pretty,” she said. “Everything was good.”
And her Prospect team was great.
The Knights tied their school record of 308 and easily won their second straight regional crown, finishing well ahead of Fremd (330) and third-place team sectional qualifier Glenbrook South (448).
The dominant performance of coach Jim Hamann’s four-time defending Mid-Suburban League champions was led by senior Allison Walsh, who swung herself into the Knights record books with a 3-over par 73.
Prospect also had the No. 2 and 3 scorers in the event as senior Christine Garmoe took second with a 76 and Caporusso finished in a three-way tie with Fremd junior Angie Kim and Hersey senior Nikki Gierman for third. All three shot 78s.
Completing the top 10 were Glenbrook South’s Lin Hoop and Glenbrook North’s Ashley Hong, who shot 79s to tie for sixth, St. Viator sophomore Dana Gattone and Fremd senior Madison Zyer, who tied for eighth with 80s, and Prospect sophomore Kiley Walsh (81).
Other area individuals (not including those from qualifying teams Prospect and Fremd) who will advance to the Buffalo Grove sectional on Monday are St. Viator’s Amy Stringfellow (85), Conant’s Jackie Halden (86), St. Viator’s Molly O’Keeffe (91), Rolling Meadows’ Lauren Cerza (93), Schaumburg’s Emily Santucci (94) and Conant’s Carly Bryeans (95).
Allison Walsh’s score tied her for the Knights’ 18-hole school record with Garmoe and former Knights Karly Grouwinkel and Michelle Caporusso.
The Bradley-bound senior negotiated the course with 4 birdies as she bettered her previous personal mark of 74 set early this season at the Knights Invite in Mt. Prospect.
“I was hitting the ball well and felt in control of my putting,” Walsh said. “That was really important because the greens were so big. We’ve working on no 3-putts. I wanted only one- and two-putts, so I was proud to be able to do that.”
“To win two regionals in a row is a great accomplishment for these girls,” Hamann said. ”The girls were very prepared after their practice rounds on this course. They had a very good game plan and were very focused.
“I’ve been very excited with the way they’ve been hitting the ball the last few weeks. They know what they want to do. And they can’t wait to start working some more to get better.”
“All we can do now is look to improve,” said Garmoe, who started her round with a birdie and had two for the day. “Our next goal is to break the school record.”
Garmoe hit 12 greens in regulation and said her iron shots were the best part of her game Tuesday.
“That par on the first hole definitely gave me confidence that I could play well on the whole course,” she said.
Caporusso also had 2 birdies in her round, including a sand save on the par-5 10th hole.
Fremd qualified for the sectional for the first under coach Christine Vlaming, who took over the program five years ago.
Junior Angie Kim’s 78 equaled her career best round. She shot a 41-37.
“When I have a bad front nine, I tell myself I’ve got to redeem myself on the back nine so I was proud I could do that,” she said. “And I could not be more proud of my team.
“It’s amazing when you look all our scores in the low 40s on the front and then how we came back with all the energy to be successful on the back nine. It’s great that we could do it for coach Vlaming and (Jeremy) Malinowski.”
After Angie Kim and Zyer, the Vikes scorecard was completed by Jennifer Kim (84) and Payton McAbee (88). Teammates Christina Kim (89) and Dorothy Feng (90) also placed in the top 21.
“This has been a goal since taking over the program,” Vlaming said. “Everyone pitched in and it was great to see the girls execute.”
Hersey’s Gierman executed the best high school round of her career. Her 78 included 1 birdie and 10 pars.
“I don’t know, everything just clicked,” Gierman said. “I tried to keep pace with Allison Walsh because I knew she would shoot well. I love playing with players like her, and it paid off.”
Gattone, who was second in the East Suburban Catholic Conference meet by 1 stroke after tying for the title last year as a freshman, helped Viator to its fourth-place score of 357.
“I had a couple of putts slip out toward the end of my round — I was just trying to make the short ones and get pars,” Gattone said. “This was definitely a tough course. There are a lot of hazards where you can get in trouble. And it has big greens with ridges. You’ve got to try and get that first putt close.”
Lions coach Mick Drewes was especially happy for O’Keeffe, who qualified for the sectional her senior year.
“Molly is our only senior,” Drewes said. “She struggled on the front nine and really came back well on the back nine.”