Barrington finds its way to success

Prospect's girls golf team played it first home match in more than a year at the renovated Mt. Prospect Golf Club on Thursday.

But it was Barrington which made itself right at home.

The Fillies continued their sizzling start to the 2015 season by posting their first win over Prospect since 2007.

Led by junior Reena Sulkar's 1-over-par 36 on the front nine, the Fillies carded a 164 to top the defending Mid-Suburban League champion Knights (179) and Palatine (229) in Mt. Prospect.

"It's very exciting," said Fillies junior Shivani Majmudar, who shot a 43 along with teammates Nicole Ciskowski (freshman) and Ishani Majmudar (freshman) while Allie Quinn (junior) chipped in a 42. "I'm so proud of my whole team. Prospect has been on a very impressive streak and we're hoping this is the start of a streak for us."

The Fillies came into Mt, Prospect undefeated with a pair of invite wins and an MSL tri-meet win. All those successes came at their Bonnie Dundee Golf Club in Carpentersville.

Playing on foreign turf for the first time, the Fillies were up to the task.

No one was more ready than Sulkar who took a 1-under-par score into the final hole before her drive on No. 9 went out of bounds, costing her a penalty stroke.

She got a tough break when her drive took a bad bounce and rolled under the out-of -bounds fence. But she recovered nicely with her second ball to record the bogey.

"The layout is good here," Sulkar said of the MP course. "The greens are definitely tougher. Every green has its own challenge with all the different twists and turns."

Sulkar and Prospect junior Sabrina Accardi (team-low 41) managed the greens brilliantly on No. 8, both sinking 25-foot curving putts for birdies.

Accardi came back and drove the green on No. 9, landing her ball 10 feet past the pin. She two-putted for her second consecutive birdie.

"I was very happy with my finish," said Accardi, who played in the No. 1 spot with Sulkar and Palatine sophomore Jenny Myslinski (44). "I would have liked to have done better on the other holes. But those last two holes really helped my score."

Accardi didn't realize her drive had reached the green on No. 9.

"That was awesome for me," she said. "I finally did it. I was like 'where's my ball' when I was walking out in the fairway and then we spotted it on the green."

Accardi's classmate Kate Ponzi also reached a green from off the tee. The junior drove her 5-wood to within 12 feet on the pin on the par 4 260-yard No. 3 hole and then missed her eagle putt by inches before settling for the birdie.

Completing the Knights' score card were junior Mary Schafer (45), senior Payton Chantry (45) and Ponzi (48).

"It was very nice to be back home again," said Prospect coach Jim Hamann. "We've had a tough week scoring-wise. We are making a lot of big numbers. But we are looking forward to some said days of practice."

Barrington is looking forward to staying on course.

"This was our first test of the season," said Fillies coach Jodi Schoeck. "We need to keep our mental strength.

"This was a nice win against a tough team (Knights have two state titles, a second, fourth and fifth in the state in the last five years) on a really tough track. You really need to know what you're doing on these greens.

"We can celebrate for a while but then we have to get ready for Hersey and Hoffman Estates next Tuesday."

"It was a tricky course," Shivani Majmudar added. "The greens were tough and I didn't play my best. But we got the job done as a team and that's what counts."

Palatine coach Bill LePage liked the way Myslinski got the job done for the Pirates.

"This is her best round in a conference match against top competition," he said. "She was right there. She is going to be a good one."