Buoyed by two players finishing in the top four, the Macomb High girls golf team finished second in Tuesday’s Illinois High School Association Class 1A Girls Golf Regional hosted by Mercer County at Valley View Club in Cambridge.
Macomb finished with a team score of 360, trailing only regional champion Monmouth United (349).
“I was confident coming into the tournament that we would have an advantage physically, just based on the caliber of athletes we have and the schedule that we played,” said MHS girls golf coach Brian Sullivan. “It was going to be a long, hot day and I knew we were ready for it.”
“But I was prouder of our mental state at the beginning of the round and how we kept it together emotionally throughout the whole day,” he added. “We will need to be even stronger in those two areas moving forward in the sectional.”
Host Ridgewood finished with a team score of 364 in advancing to Monday’s Class 1A Sectional at Wolf Creek Golf Course in Pontiac.
The remainder of the team standings saw Orion finish fourth at 386, followed by Sherrard (409), Rockridge (415), ROWVA/Williamsfield (420), Elmwood (428), Lewistown/ Valley/Cuba (441) and Mercer County (442).
Annawan/Wethersfield, Biggsville West Central, Brimfield, Galva, Kewanee H.S. and Monmouth-Roseville did not field full teams.
Individually, freshman Taylor Mann posted a career-low score of 83 on the 5,000 yard, par 73 layout to finish second.
It was great watching Taylor be so aggressive at the start of her round,” said Sullivan. “She has three birdies on her first six holes and was two-under. She had a few wobbles in the middle, just like she did the last time we played there, but she snapped out of it more quickly this time.”
“Her last eight holes were solid for us when we needed it,” he added. “Just a tremendous accomplishment for her to be runner-up in her first ever postseason tournament.”
Meanwhile, senior Sophie Wilson finished fourth overall out of 68 players with an 86.
“Sophie and Taylor both played great,” said Sullivan. “I don’t think there was a more determined player on the course than Sophie. When she gets into the mindset she had out there, she is tough to beat. She doesn’t make mental errors and rarely puts herself in bad positions.”
Junior Aubrey Holthaus posted an 18-hole career-low score of 94 to tie for 13th place.
“Aubrey Holthaus set the tone early for us,” said Sullivan.
“She birdied the first two holes before a lot of our girls even teed off. I think when they heard how great she started out, it settled them down and they could get off to a better start themselves.”
“It was awesome to see Aubrey raise her level of play in a big situation like that,” he added. “She has been working so hard but has not seen the results until now. To have our third best scorer go out early set the tone was just huge.”
Freshman Reese Watson and senior Brenlee Tibbitts, tied for 19th place, carding 97s.
Junior Mullen Butcher rounded out the Bomber scoring with a 110.
United’s Meredith Yung captured medalist honors, recording a 79.
Other individual qualifiers for sectional competition included Autumn Hoftender of Orion (92), Marley Kunz of Sherrard (93), Evelyn Wilbur of Orion (93), Lilly Stone of Orion (93), Olivia Ontiveros of Rockridge (96), Nicole Detmers of Brimfield (96), Isabel Carroll of Rockridge (96), Claire Dehamer of Sherrard (98), Bella Dennis of ROWVA/ Williamsfield (99) and Nevaeh Stokes of Monmouth-Roseville (100).
Members of the first, second, and third place teams advance to sectional play, along with the 10 best scoring individuals that are not members of a qualifying team.
