Regina Dominican inched closer to its sixth consecutive state golf title Friday, despite slick greens and an aggravating 16 mile-an-hour wind on the Illinois State Golf Course.
Regina scored a team total of 364 on the first day of the two-day tournament. Waukegan is second with 370 and Naperville North third with 380.
”They were killer greens, like lightning,” said Regina`s Jackie Rubin, who finished the day with a team-best 85. ”On downhill putts you`d really have to think twice. I was shocked the scores were so high.”
Last year Regina only had a three-stroke lead after the first day, but with the weather conditions not likely to improve, Regina coach Vi Reego feels the six-stroke advantage is anything but comfortable.
”The personality of the golf course changes every day,” said Reego.
”We should be smart enough to make the right club selection and hold our bodies still. We don`t want the wind to knock us out mentally.”
Rubin was the only Regina player to break 90. But junior Laura Costello shot a 92 and junior Gretchen Wochner came through with a 93 to help pace the team. Reego was especially pleased with Wochner, whose scores in regionals and sectionals didn`t count toward the team score.
Individually it was Providence senior Dana Mackey who had the most success battling the elements. Mackey, who finished third in state last year, shot a five-over par 78 for a five-stroke lead over junior Kim Hunt of Alexis. Mackey was the only golfer to break 80. But she led last year after the first round and people like to remind her that, as Mackey put it, ”She choked.”
”I had two or three putts where I missed three-footers. There are always things that could be done better,” said Mackey. ”I didn`t chip as well as I`d have liked, but I got off the tee well so it shortened the course. The wind changed so many times that sometimes I was using a wedge into the greens, sometimes a four-iron.”
Mackey bogeyed the first hole, made par on the second, and parred No. 3 for a strong start on difficult holes.
”I hit a bad drive into the sand trap and then went about 10 feet above the pin but made it for par,” she said. ”I try not to get upset about little things since it`s a two-day tournament.”
Hunt beat Mackey on the front nine with a 38, but faltered on the back nine and shot a 45. ”I was just hacking at the end,” said Hunt, whose school has just 116 students and no golf team.
She practiced and played in just two tournaments during the season, but qualified for state by winning her regional and finishing third in sectionals. Placing third with an 84 was Metamora junior Heather Hoffman, who won her sectional with a 73, despite a 101-degree temperature. Hoffman, a junior making her third consecutive state appearance, said her putting was fine but her second shots into the green ”weren`t going where they were supposed to.” And as weary golfers delivered their scorecards to officials, many walked right back out to the green for more practice.
”The greens were ice and I had over 40 putts today,” said New Trier`s Shannon McDonald, who is in eighth place with an 88. ”I`ll practice about two hours. I did the same thing last year. You`ve got to get confidence.”
