'The Putt' sends St. Viator soaring

This one should go down as "The Putt" in St. Viator girls golf history.

Abby Dickey sank an uphill, breaking 30-foot putt on the 18th hole to give the Lions their first girls golf regional title on a brisk and windy Wednesday afternoon at the par-70 Fox Run Golf Course in Elk Grove.

Dickey's putt meant the Lions tied Barrington with a score of 345, but St. Viator's fifth score of 96 from freshman Amy Stringfellow served as the tiebreaker for the dramatic triumph.

Prospect was the third team to qualify for the sectional with a score of 353 in the field of 12 in the Conant Class AA regional.

While Dickey's birdie putt topped the highlights for the team competition, all the headlines for the individual crown belonged to defending state champion Kris Yoo of Conant.

The senior shot a 71, well ahead of her closest rival Taylor Quinn of Barrington (81). Rounding out the top five were Prospect sophomore Christine Garmoe (83), Dickey (84) and Fremd senior Kelly Voigt (84).

"Today was a struggle for the whole field except for Kris, who played awesome," Dickey said. "I knew that everyone else was pretty close and that the teams were pretty close for the lead. I knew I needed to make a par on that last hole. But making that putt was the icing on the cake. I'm just so proud of my team."

Yoo made Conant proud again as the senior recovered nicely from a bogey on No. 9 and double bogey on 14.

"That's something I had to learn to do," said Yoo, who had a pair of birdies. " I used to get a bogey, and then keep getting more and more. I figured out how to come back from those."

"Kris did great," said Cougars coach Diana Johannesen. "She achieved her goal."

Yoo, who fired a 68 at Fox Run in the Cougars' first meet of the season, also won a regional crown as a sophomore.

St. Viator coach Mick Drewes' other top scorers were seniors Kelly Sullivan (86), Hallie Dunn (87) and Hailey Haworth (88).

Sullivan was the East Suburban Catholic Conference player of the year.

"With the wind and pin placements, it was tough," Sullivan said. "We struggled some, but the whole field struggled. Things could have gone better, but you can always say that."

Things went great for Viator at the end when Dickey sank the putt.

"A 30-footer and smile, a great way to end," Drewes said. "You never know. That's why you keep going until the final putt. It's a good lesson for all golfers."

The putt prevented Barrington from winning a seventh straight regional crown under coach Jodi Schoeck.

"We would have liked seven in a row but that was a huge putt," Schoeck said. "You've got to give (Dickey) her credit. They needed the putt and she made it."

Schoeck's top scores came Quinn, Casey Hahn (85), Kelly Muskat (89) and Julie D'Amico (90).

Quinn started off her round with 5 straight bogeys. She scored a 41 on the front and 40 on the back.

"It was hard," Quinn said. " I started off poorly but it got better. Abby, Karly (Grouwinkel) and I were not real happy with how we played, but Kris played great."

"The fact that Taylor could turn herself around on the back nine is a testament to her game," Schoeck said. "That was huge on her part."

Prospect used the scores of Garmoe, Allison Walsh (89), Ellie Tixier (90) and Grouwinkel (91) to qualify as a team.

Garmoe had a pair of birdies and 3 pars while putting 32 times.

"The pin placements were tough," she said. "Some were at the very top of a hill or very bottom. It was tough to putt them at the right speed. With the wind, you just had to be using the right club. We've worked very hard all season, so it's exciting to qualify as a team."

"We are very excited to have sophomore Christine Garmoe be a regional medalist," said Knights coach Jim Hamann. "She should be very proud. She deserves it."

After Yoo, the other eight sectional individual qualifiers from teams other than the top three included Voigt, Elk Grove's Rachel Kaim (87), Hersey's Catherine Park (88) and Megan Rogowski (90), Fremd's Angie Kim (95), Hersey's Sarah Jurczak (95), Palatine's Kelli Burke (95) and Rolling Meadows' Emily Stewart (95).

"I thought we'd have to break 90 to get the girls in," said Hersey coach Bob Murphy. "But it turned out that 95 made it. The pin placements were so tough and with the big greens, it made it conducive to a lot of 3-putts. Even though it was windy, I don't think it was that bad weather-wise."

Warren sectional: Buffalo Grove freshman Grace Kil (76) and senior KC Dunne (99) earned individual berths and advanced to the Class AA Buffalo Grove sectional on Monday.

Stevenson won the regional with a score of 347, while BG was fifth with a 395 at the Bittersweet Golf Course in Gurnee.

Patriots freshman Stephanie Miller won the regional with a 1-under par 71, while Kil was second with a round of 76.

"It was a big improvement finishing fifth as a team from last year," said Bison coach Matt Myers. "We got some nice scores. It would have been nice to have advanced as a team, but it wasn't in the cards."

Kil's card was impressive as she matched her personal low of 76 which she shot at the Mid-Suburban League meet last week at the Schaumburg Golf Club.

"Grace played to the conditions well," Myers said. "It was windy. She chipped and putted well, which enabled her to post a nice score."

Dunne advanced to the sectional for the second straight year.

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