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38 | August 2, 2018 | The Mokena Messenger sports
mokenamessenger.com
Knights girls golf primed for state title run
Accomplished golfers
Bolden, Curran to
make final season a
memorable one
RANDY WHALEN, Freelance Reporter
Pardon the Lincoln-Way Central
girls golf team this season if
it takes a hashtag slogan from the
Chicago Cubs.
#Everybodyin.
The Knights have nearly everyone
back from last season’s squad,
which placed sixth in the state as
a team. Now, the team is ready for
another title run this season. And
hungry for another shot are two of
the top players in the state: Brianne
Bolden, of Mokena, and Grace
Curran.
All the pair of seniors have done
the past two years is win an individual
state title and finish second.
Curran won the Class 2A individual
championship with a 3-under par
141 as sophomore in 2016. In the
process, she became the first, firsttime
state qualifier to accomplish
that feat. That fall, Bolden tied for
10th in the state tournament, which
was held at Hickory Point Golf
Club in Forsyth.
But last season it was Bolden
who came so close to winning the
title. Instead, she tied for second
with a 145, one stroke off the lead,
while Curran tied for fifth at 147.
Curran, who has committed to
continue her golf career at the University
of Minnesota, is all about
the team.
“Yes, absolutely the team comes
first,” Curran said. “We want to
show everybody the team we have.
Everyone on the team has played
in tournament after tournament this
summer.”
That, of course, includes Curran.
She played in 10 tournaments this
summer, including her final one,
which was the 39th Illinois State
Junior Girls’ Championship. That
was held on July 31 and Aug. 1 at
Hickory Point Golf Club. Yes, the
same course that hosts the state
finals. Curran looked forward to a
good performance there.
Bolden also played in 10 tournaments,
She won the title in the
12-18 girls division in the MAJGT
Championship at Ruffled Feathers,
which was held between June 11-
13 in Lemont.
“Everyone has been playing in
tournaments over the summer,”
Bolden said. “Everyone on our
team is all really close. We know
we have the potential to make it
down there [to state] again and to
bring home some hardware.”
That’s because not only are
Bolden and Curran back, nearly
the whole team is too. The only
graduate from last season’s Top
6 was Taylor Miron, who placed
third on the team at state (tied for
45th at +15), and is now at Michigan
State. She was the team’s consistent
third scorer. However, her
younger sister, sophomore Sydney
Miron, could step right in and take
her place in the lineup.
Junior Maddie Pyle and Carly
Schiene, along with sophomore
Caitlyn Parrish, round out the
Knight returners.
“They’ve all gone out and
worked so hard,” Central coach
Brian Shannon said. “I’m really
pleased with all of our girls and
what they’ve done this summer.”
Last season the Knights won the
Providence Regional title at on the
Southeast course at Broken Arrow
in Lockport, their third straight regional
championship. Then they
captured their first ever sectional
by winning the Waubonsie Valley
Sectional tile at Springbrook Golf
Course in Naperville.
“I remember winning that sectional
really gave us that confidence,”
Curran said. “Going to
state as a team, we really wanted
to enjoy that experience, but on
the first day [Friday, Oct. 13] we
didn’t play well [finishing 35-over
par]. So coach [Shannon] called a
team meeting and lit a fire under
our butts. Then we came out and
played well the second day [going
19-over]. We wanted to show that
we could hang with everyone as a
Mokena resident Brianne Bolden will look to finish her high school career as a state champion. She came up
short as the runner-up in 2017. Burns Photography
team.”
Indeed if the Knights would have
golfed 19-over each day as a team,
they would have placed third, one
stroke behind second place Barrington
(+37). New Trier (+27) was
the Class 2A state champion.
“We were the only team to move
up the second day,” said Shannon,
who saw his squad go from seventh
to sixth. “The first day we had an
average day at best. Our schedule
is good enough to prepare us for
these situations at the state tournament.”
A dream scenario, that’s not
far-fetched, would have Bolden
and Curran tie for the individual
champion honors as they help
the Knights to new heights. What
would that be like?
“It would be crazy, but it would
be so much fun,” Curran said. “In a
playoff, we’d both be cheering for
each other and happy for one another.
If it happened, it would just
be fun competition.”
It already happened on a smaller
scale last season.
“At our [SouthWest Suburban
Red] conference meet last season,
Brianne, Grace and Taylor
[Miron] all tied for first,” Shannon
said. They had a playoff and Grace
dropped out right away. But Bri-
Please see golf, 35