Girls golf: Beerheide's sizzling 67 nets her MSL crown; Barrington wins another team title
No one came close to the team or individual champion at the Mid-Suburban League girls golf tournament held at the Makray Memorial Golf Club on Wednesday in Barrington.
Buffalo Grove sophomore Courtney Beerheide's eye-popping 4-under score of 67 easily won the individual crown by 7 strokes over Barrington's duo of senior Leah Gaidos and freshman Reese Wallace, who tied for second (73) while leading the host Fillies (307) to a lopsided 53-stroke victory for the ninth consecutive title.
Fremd (360) was second followed by Mid-Suburban East champ Prospect (366), Buffalo Grove (388) and Schaumburg (399).
"We just had a great day and to win on our home course by that margin (widest since coach Tim Martin took over) is special for the girls," said Martin, who took over the program for hall of famer Jodi Schoeck five years ago and has won the MSL every season.
"We're just building on what Jodi did as coach here. I'm so proud of the girls. It's such tough competition in the MSL and I think Makray is one of the hardest courses around. We feel real fortunate and honored to shoot the scores we did and win in a conference with so many great players and teams."
One of the great players is the 5-foot-2 Beerheide, who produced a career-high 6 birdies on the par-71 layout en route to claiming BG's first individual crown since Shannon Bryne in the late 1990s.
"I just wanted to play boring golf, mix pars and if I made a birdie, then great," said Beerheide, a former competitive swimmer who began golfing at the age of 8 when her brother told her to take a lesson and she did. "I just hit a lot of fairways and greens and I made a lot of putts. I've been playing really well the past few weeks and my confidence has been really high."
Beerheide's previous best round was 2-under 66 at Arlington Lakes.
"She is one of the best competitors I've been around regardless of the sport," said sixth-year BG coach Jeff Grybash, who played football and baseball at Fremd and Carthage College. "She puts in the work. She is very diligent and intentional about what she does. I call her the wolf because she hunts dogs. She's the best player I've ever seen."
Players rounding out the top 20 to earn medals were Rolling Meadows freshman Jennifer March (74), Hersey's Ava Johnson (78), Barrington's Sydney Terada (80), Barrington's Bridget Butler (81), Barrington's Breanna Brown (82), Barrington's Kalena Lee (84), Fremd's Keira Brazeau (85), Fremd's Gloria Lee (89), Prospect's Emily Torok (89), Conant's Ariel Morrison (91), Prospect's Cathryn Wascher (91), Hoffman Estates' Erin Lim (91), Wheeling's Sarah Huh (91), Prospect's Faye Zinzer (92), Fremd's Merritt Bell (92), and Prospect's Allison Warnement (94) and Alia Brazeau (94).
Barrington's Butler, a Nebraska pledge, Terada and Gaidos have been a part of four straight MSL titles, also earning an Elite Eight (2020), a state title (2021) and a fourth-place medal in the Class 2A state tourney (2022).
The key underclassmen are Wallace and Lee, a junior.
"Reese's game has just been getting better and better all season," said Martin, who has been assisted by Laura Murray all five years. "She is a fantastic freshman, so talented, and we are excited for the last stretch of the season for her."
Reese's 73, including 3 birdies, was her best high school score.
"This really feels great," Wallace said of the MSL title in her rookie season. "I love the whole team. They're some of my best friends now and we played really great golf today."
Martin said Gaidos showed why she is one of the best golfers in the state.
"She has had such a great four-year career for us and she is rounding into her best form of the season," he added. "She and Reese really put our team on their backs today. And everyone else top bottom. Bridget (Butler) has had such an amazing season, winning multiple tournaments. Sydney Terada's game is rounding into form and then Breanna (Brown) and Kalena (Lee) were fantastic as well. So we couldn't be happier with how we played on a tough course and in tough conditions."
"I think the best thing this season is that we have a lot of seniors so just the fact that we were able to contribute to another conference title is really a great thing," Gaidos said. "Personally, I've been struggling a little so to be able to pull this out was really satisfying."
Fremd coach Jeremy Malinowski's team has been second to Barrington in the MSL West in all five of his seasons running the program.
"It's difficult for us to compete against this field and go away with second place each season," he said. "Unfortunately, Barrington is in the West (division) and so are we. It (Barrington) is a great program that we want to model. We are working real hard. We are looking forward to hosting the regional next week (looking for a third straight title)."