Girls golf: Lillie, Arnold lead St. Charles N. by St. Charles E.

Kate Lillie needed to putt four times on her second green before finally holing out for double bogey.

The St. Charles North senior, bound to Minnesota, was also fighting a quick hook with her driver Thursday afternoon at Pottawatmie Golf Course.

To make matters worse, Lillie was also battling an illness.

But the North Stars' senior leader preserved in the end when St. Charles North met St. Charles East in an Upstate Eight Conference clash of unbeaten girls golf teams.

Lillie played her final 7 holes in 2-under par to snare medalist honors with a level-par 37 in leading St. Charles North to a 157-169 dual meet victory.

"It was just poor judgment on my part," Lillie said of her lone blemish, the double bogey at the par-4 second hole. "I hit (my first putt) too hard. My third putt was not much better."

But Lillie would rebound with birdies at the fifth and ninth holes to augment a pair of crucial par saves in continuing the North Stars' unblemished season (7-0 overall, 7-0 in league play with all four tournament team titles).

"My swing got a little lazy, and it was kind of hard to control my driver swing," Lillie said.

But the putter is the great equalizer in golf as Lillie and sophomore playing companion Sarah Arnold demonstrated.

"I was (more) comfortable with how the greens were rolling," Lillie said. "I was trusting my line and hopefully some putts would go in."

Arnold did a masterful job of impersonating Megan Furtney in complementing Lillie with a 38.

Furtney, the North Stars' top-ranked player, was out of town due to a family commitment.

But Arnold eagled the third hole and ended with only 11 putts on her round.

"I had seven 1-putts and most of them were for saves," Arnold said. "I just kept saving myself, and it was a pretty good putting day."

Arnold played the three par-5s in an equal number in the red after finishing the ninth with the last of her single-putt greens.

St. Charles North will take a 2-point lead over the Saints (10-3, 7-1) Monday for the single-division conference tournament at St. Andrews.

The North Stars, who played only five out of eight possible girls, had their scorecard completed by matching 41s from the sophomore duo of Katelyn David and Emma Hayes.

"It's a little more pressure," Hayes said. "We had to stay confident."

Nicole Jordan had back-to-back birdies to fire a 41 for St. Charles East.

Grace Westerhoff matched the total of the Saints' two-time returning state qualifier.

Rose Bundy and Kacie Gaffney had a 42 and 45 for St. Charles East.

"They were just the better team today," St. Charles East coach Rod Osborne said of the North Stars. "Making some putts is always crucial. (Our girls) couldn't get any momentum going."