Glenbard West's Kochevar still not satisfied

The only person seemingly not patting Brooke Kochevar on the back Wednesday afternoon was Brooke Kochevar.

All the Glenbard West sophomore did was win the Class AA St. Francis regional at Prairie Landing Golf Club in West Chicago by 8 strokes, shooting an even-par 72. And all she could think about was how she could play better still.

"My playing wasn't too good at first, but I got better, thankfully," said Kochevar, who tied for 30th at state last year. "At first the greens were really fast. There were a few bad putts that should have gone in, but other than that it was pretty good. I was proud of myself, I guess."

All in all, Kochevar believes there's room for improvement.

"Yeah, definitely," she said. "A couple of 3-putts, a couple of could-have-been 1-putts. I should have been 70-ish if I'd had the 3-putts. That's OK."

WW South took the team championship, using team balance to shoot a 341. Junior Sarah Skurla led the Tigers with an 83 to place fifth. Teammates Emily Johnson, a sophomore, and freshman Renee Solberg were right behind Skurla with 84s. Mallory Glanzman wasn't far back, her 90 good for 10th place, one spot in front of fellow Tigers senior Amy Wood, who shot a 92.

York advanced as a team with a 355, as did St. Francis with its 374. Fourth-place Geneva was 15 strokes out of the running for a team spot at next week's St. Ignatius sectional at Cog Hill.

Kochevar wasn't the only one disappointed with her round. The dunes-style course played tough on a windy day, with scores as high as 100 earning sectional bids.

"It's not as good as I'd hoped to do," said St. Francis junior Kayla Stueland, the second-place finisher at 80, "but in the conditions, I guess it's not that bad of a score. I just let a few shots get away from me here and there. ...

"I hit my driver really well, and on the front nine I just had a bad hole and that kind of messed me up," Stueland added. "But the back nine I started hitting my irons not so good, and the putting was shaky."

The Geneva resident admitted to feeling a little pressure to live up to 2008's seventh-place state showing.

"It's a lot to live up to," she said. "I was a little nervous, more nervous than I usually am because I did really good last year."

Her remedy is simple: "Just not think about it, not think about it until Tuesday."

On the other hand Geneva senior Shannon Delaney was happy with her fourth-place 82.

"I feel pretty good," Delaney said. "I had a few bad holes, but otherwise my putting was pretty good. I could have put a little more good wood shots, but ... . I was consistent, but a couple of holes the wind got to me. I couldn't hit straight, and 18 was one of the hardest holes."

Delaney reached the sectional last year but narrowly missed advancing to the state meet. She wants to change that this year.

"Hopefully, if I keep hitting in the low 80s, possibly high 70s next time, that could really help me," she said.

Delaney feels confident after working on a big part of her game.

"I've improved a lot on my putting," Delaney said. "My putting, it's gotten phenomenal this year, and I'm so happy about that, because my putting was a big struggle for me sophomore and junior year."

Delaney will be joined at Cog Hill by teammates Mel Schlenker and Emily Comperda. Both seniors shot 95s to advance.