Girls golf: Sage words work for York
York senior golfer Bella Bartolone had some advice for her teammates at Wednesday's Class 2A Glenbard East regional.
They were glad they heeded her words.
Bartolone and York freshman Audrey Matias each shot an 83 at Glendale Lakes Golf Club to win medalist honors and lead the Dukes to the regional's team title.
"We had a talk yesterday that we all know that this course is mainly target golf," said Bartolone, noting the Dukes played Glendale Lakes at the Sept. 15 Ram Invitational, "so I kind of talked to everyone as a senior, saying, 'Play smart. Make sure to shoot the distance. You don't need to use your highest club off the tee all the time, as long as you get it in play. Don't take as many risks if you feel iffy about it.'"
The advice paid off for Matias and the rest of the Dukes.
"Some of the girls (on other teams) I was playing with, I'd take an iron and they'd take their driver," Matias said. "It was just kind of like keeping a positive mentality and knowing that taking 2 strokes is better than a lost ball."
Maybe that's why Bartolone was optimistic that York could win.
"In my head I had a feeling that we had a good chance, but I didn't want to get ahead of myself and say that we were going to win," she said.
The Dukes had four girls score in the 80s, with Cassie Sika and Haley Blattner's cards - an 86 and an 88, respectively - also counting toward the team total.
Wheaton North placed second with a 362 to advance as a group to Monday's Conant sectional at Fox Run Golf Course.
Falcons senior Sasha Danielson finished right behind Bartolone and Matias with an 85. Danielson did it despite battling a fever the past several days, including Wednesday morning.
"I was pretty tired, but I'm not mad about the way that I played," Danielson said. "I had a couple of bad holes, but other than that I was pretty consistent."
Wheaton Warrenville South's 381 was enough for the Tigers to be the third and final team advancing to the sectional, with Glenbard West fourth at 385.
Glenbard East senior Kali Burke advanced as an individual, as did Willowbrook freshman Emma Rattana.
Glenbard West will send Natalie Ball, Isabella Rosley and Lilly Stutelberg to the sectional as individuals. Glenbard South's Megan Bristow and Stephanie Price also qualified.