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The New Lenox Patriot | October 13, 2016 | 43
Girls Golf
Bolden shoots 6-under, wins back-to-back regional titles
Knights win second
straight regional title
with 309
Tim Cronin
Freelance Reporter
Brianne Bolden didn’t
walk to Wedgewood Golf
Course’s first tee Oct. 5
morning with a specific number
in mind.
Late in the back nine, a
gaudy one came into the
sophomore’s view: 66.
She had gone out in
3-under-par 33, a score fueled
by a binge of four birdies
in five holes. With her
approach game on target,
putts were falling. She challenged
Providence’s Ricky
Costello, who won the boys
regional with a 66 at the
same course the day before.
“I was going to the last
hole, and I thought, ‘If I
birdie this hole, I can beat
Ricky,’” Bolden said.
She ended up matching
Costello’s number, her birdie
putt at the last just missing.
The 6-under 66, believed to
be a women’s course record –
and surpassing her 4-under 68
at last year’s regional – easily
made Bolden, who captured
the Illinois Women’s Junior
in August, the individual winner
of the Class 2A regional
hosted by Joliet Central, and
a favorite for the Oct. 11 sectional
at Prairie Bluff Golf
Course in Lockport.
Combined with the 2-over
74 of fellow sophomore Grace
Curran, a 9-over 81 from
Taylor Miron and a 16-over
88 from Hanah Mastandrea,
the Knights totaled 21-over
309 and rolled to a 28-stroke
victory over Providence. The
Celtics and Lincoln-Way East
were the other two teams to
advance to Prairie Bluff with
the Griffins edging Lockport
Township by three strokes.
“I made everything I
could,” said Bolden, whose
eight birdies were highlighted
by a 25-footer at the 12th
hole, as well as the four in
five starting at the par-5 second,
including flirting with an
ace on the par-3 fourth, an approach
that stopped two feet
from the cup.
“My iron shots were usually
10 feet and in, and that’s
usually the distance that I
make almost everything. And
the ‘just OK’ shots were 20
feet away. And I made a few
20-footers too,” Bolden said.
“I didn’t get ahead of myself.
It was a smooth round
today. Usually when I play
good, I get a little fast. I tried
to get my heartbeat down,
stayed calm, took it one at
a time. I didn’t even realize
how good I was playing until
the last few holes.”
Providence was paced by
Wisconsin-committed senior
Alyssa Gromala, whose
season-best 1-over 73 was
followed by the 11-over 83
of Ellie Bilotta, the 16-over
88 of Isabella Corso, and a
21-over 93 from Kayla Ambrose.
That added up to 337,
and second place.
“I’m getting more consistent,”
said Gromala, a threeyear
state qualifier. “There’s a
few things I could tighten up
on and go really low, and I’m
hoping to bring that to sectionals.
And everyone played
really good today. We’ve
come a really long way.”
Much of that is due to Gromala’s
encouraging her teammates
to get a little better every
day.
“I’m called the mom of the
team,” Gromala said. “It’s
funny. We all practice, and
I give them some drills to
do, and we all do the same
drills.”
Lincoln-Way East advanced
to sectional play for
Sectional qualifier Sydney Valiska, of Lincoln-Way West,
putts the ball.
the 10th time in 11 years, the
Griffins’ four scores in the
80s led by sophomore Claire
Moutvic’s career-low-tying
10-over 82.
“To shoot an 82 on this
course was good,” Moutvic
said. “It wasn’t just one person
who contributed, who got
us to sectional. It was a team
effort.”
Moutvic’s score was followed
by Laura Lewis (86),
Hannah Hill (87) and Carolyn
Waleski (88) for the 343
total.
“If we come together like
this and really step up our
game, we hope we’ll be able
to possible go further,” Moutvic
said.
Lockport’s fourth-place
finish was spearheaded by
Erica Long. While bereft of
birdies, her 82 was a career
low.
“I got in a bit of a rough
patch but finished strong,”
Lincoln-Way Central’s Brianne Bolden, who shot a 6-under
66, looks on after her tee shot Oct. 5 during the Class 2A
regional at Wedgewood Golf Course in Joliet.
Photos by Jason Maholy/22nd Century Media
Knights sophomore Grace Curran, who finished third
overall with a 2-over 74, blasts a bunker shot.
Long said. “I really can’t
complain. I stayed positive.
I really liked my group and
I know I know how to play
golf. I play better when I play
with good players, because
they challenge you.”
Lincoln-Way West finished
fifth at 71-over 359, with
Hannah Slater (81), Sarah
Scheer (career-low 86) and
Sydney Valiska (90) advancing
as individuals, the latter
in a four-for-three suddendeath
playoff that also saw
Lockport’s Mckenzie Ebel
and Sydney Loeffler move
on, and the Porters’ Katelyn
Kendziora eliminated on the
first extra hole.
Long watched that with
mixed feelings.
“It’s really tough, when
they’re all some of your best
friends,” Long said.
For the Warriors, the best
team score of the year wasn’t
good enough. Slater’s 81, featuring
a 20-foot birdie putt on
the par-4 ninth, came on the
heels of her 80 in the SWSC
Conference tournament.
“I was taking it shot-byshot,
laying up instead of going
for it,” Slater said. “It’s a
mental game. I was thinking
through every shot, playing
the wind, and things fell into
place. Save strokes where I
could. But it didn’t feel as
good as the 80, even though
it was the same score, pretty
much.”
Bolden and her teammates,
subsequently, were mugging
for parents’ cameras in front
of the scoreboard holding the
regional plaque. It may not be
the last such photo session.
“If this team can play to
our potential, there’s no stopping
us,” Bolden said.