Girls golf: Stevenson stays the course, wins 10th straight NSC girls golf title

Glen Flora Country Club looked like a postcard Wednesday.

Old trees. Pristine grounds. Mild temperatures beneath a partly sunny sky.

And greens with a mean streak.

“This is an old-timey course,” Lake Zurich JV girls golf coach Chris Bennett said. “I love it. Love the old trees.

“The course,” he added, “is like a beautiful, manicured arboretum.”

Idyllic, indeed.

Brutal, too.

Stevenson handled both sides of Glen Flora better than anybody, shooting a 316 to capture its 10th consecutive North Suburban Conference girls golf tournament championship.

Ten.

A decade of dominance.

Libertyville finished runner-up at 349, followed by Lake Forest (380), Warren (391), Mundelein (400) and Lake Zurich (416).

Stevenson junior Emma Fiocchi added some drama to the Patriots’ latest title, defeating senior teammate Campbell Ray in a playoff after both carded 8-over-par 78s on the par-70 Waukegan layout.

Fiocchi, runner-up at the NSC meet last fall, has now earned medalist honors in two of Stevenson’s last three tournaments.

“Emma is playing her best golf,” Stevenson coach Emma Degen said. “She’s locked in. She’s mentally tough. And she’s on fire.”

Fiocchi said her long game carried her Wednesday.

Nobody had the benefit of a practice round at private Glen Flora, Ray noted, making course management particularly important.

Pressure wasn’t Glen Flora’s only test.

“Tough course, tricky greens,” Degen said. “We put ourselves in good positions. We had talked about managing country club greens. These kids know what they have to do at a course like this, and they did their job.”

Stevenson also received 80s from seniors Victoria Shao and Ava Alimissis. Seniors Peri Yim and Nanette Song each shot 84.

Libertyville junior Kenzie Christie finished third with a 79, while teammate Abby Feltz tied for sixth at 84.

“The greens were fast, so fast,” Christie said. “To putt well in general you have to know how to adjust to the different speeds of greens.

“I had to remind myself often, “Don’t blow this putt past the hole.’”

Libertyville coach Greg Pedersen knew the dangers extended beyond the greens.

“Usually on one side of each hole is trouble,” he said. “You have to be smart, find the green. It’s a challenge.”

The top 11 were Fiocchi, Stevenson, 78; Ray, Stevenson, 78; Christie, Libertyville, 79; Shao, Stevenson, 80; Alimissis, Stevenson, 80; Yim, Stevenson, 84; Song, Stevenson, 84; Feltz, Libertyville, 84; Mercedes Rodriguez, Lake Forest, 85; Ella Chand, Warren, 87; and Lily Wang, Stevenson, 87.

The conditions, at least, offered no complaints.

“This might be the perfect day for a golf tournament,” Libertyville athletic director John Woods said.

Ideal weather.

An unforgiving golf course.

And, for the 10th autumn in a row, the same team on top.