Normally when there is an umbrella out during the golf sectional round, it’s to shield from the wind and the cold, but this fall it’s to provide cover from the October heat! Springbrook Golf Course welcomes golfers from our six local schools with Waubonsie Valley hosting the sectional in honor of longtime head coach John Farnan, who is retiring after the season. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Waubonsie Valley golfers take advantage of the familiar course
The Waubonsie qualifiers look to take advantage of the familiarity of their home course. On the first hole, senior Hannah Lee makes a nice chip onto the green and towards the pin as she ends her day with a score of 91.
Freshman teammate Alyssa Straub sinks a par putt from about ten feet. A great shot, but Straub’s season comes to an end with a round of 96.
Neuqua Valley has one representative in sectional in Malar Anand. She unleashes a great second shot that powers onto the edge of the green from the fairway. Despite the display of power, Anand is unable to make the state cut with a score of 99.
Naperville Central senior Ashika Patel buries a solid putt for par on the opening hole. Her 18-hole score of 81 is right on the cut line, keeping her dreams of state qualification alive.
Teammate Mae Binkowski manages to hang around the cut line for most of the day, but comes up short after a solid round of 89, bringing her Redhawk career to a close.
Over to the ninth hole green where St. Charles North has two golfers near the top of the leaderboard. Kayla Beu finishes tied for second with a 75 while fellow sophomore Abigail Gizewicz is heading to state with a round of 77.
Also heading to state is Plainfield East sophomore Taylor Miller. She nearly chips in from off the 9th hole green and ends her day with a 77.
Regional and DVC individual champion Addyson Ciganek from Naperville North hits a par on the 9th green as the senior remains in the hunt for one of the ten individual state spots.
Mina Shyam punches her ticket to state for a third time
Waubonsie Valley junior Mina Shyam is heading back to state for a third straight season as she puts her shot onto the green on hole number nine. The Warrior guarantees that Coach Farnan will head to state one final time thanks to a round of 80.
Metea Valley qualifies for state as a team for the first time
Metea Valley is hoping to make school history by qualifying for state as a team for the first time as the DVC champion Mustangs are in the hunt entering the final holes. Sophomore Oyuhai Sereenen finishes her day on 18 with a tough putt to make bogey, giving her a score of 85 for the sectional.
Junior Ashley Jenner finishes out of the top four Mustangs in the team total, but her round of 93 would be pivotal to the cause for the black and gold.
Senior McKenna Wigfield does a great job getting up and down on the 18th green to end her day with a par. She joins fellow senior Ansley Ellis with a 90 as Metea is neck and neck with the Oswego Co-Op for third place and the final state spot.
Freshman Maya Shah enters the final hole needing to secure a double bogey or better to clinch her spot at state as an individual and keep the Mustangs within a stroke of Oswego. After getting stuck in the bunker, Shah chips to the other side of the green and well past the hole, setting up a long putt to save that double bogey.
Sitting behind 15 feet, Shah calms her nerves and buries the clutch putt to give her an 80 for the sectional. Metea Valley is one stroke behind Oswego as the Co-Op wraps up their final holes.
The final Oswego golfer is regional champion Alli Wiertel who makes long putt attempts look easy. But, the usually unflappable sophomore closes out her round with bogeys on 17 and 18, dropping her into second place overall with a 75 and putting Oswego and Metea into a tie for third at 345. The tiebreaker is decided by the fifth place scorecard, and the 93 from Ashley Jenner beats out the 102 from Mallory Paustenbach. The Mustangs become the first golf program in Metea Valley history to qualify for state.
Benet Academy makes program history
Two more team state spots are up for grabs, and Benet Academy looks to stake its claim. Reina Maceren just misses out on a nice par on 18, but the senior does a lot to help the Redwings with her score of 82.
Senior Emily Busche chips in with a 91, while Lauren Busche is not far behind with a 92.
Sophomore Kate Lewis hits a big putt on 18 to close with a par and a round of 90 as Benet is on the brink of program history.
Freshman Lauren Gauss, who impressed a week ago by finishing as the regional runner-up, continues to perform beyond her years. On the final green, Gauss taps in for par to close her round of 75. She finishes in a tie for second, but more importantly, clinches the first team sectional championship in Benet girls golf history with a 338. Plainfield North takes second at 342.
A five-golfer playoff to secure the final four spots at state
There are still state qualifying spots to be decided as individuals. Crystal Lake Central golfer Rylee Rud hits a clutch putt from distance for par to end her day with an 81, which ends up being the score needed to make a playoff to determine the final spots.
Addyson Ciganek is sitting at 81 and needs to hit this par putt on 18 to make the playoff. The attempt has good speed but the ball slides left of the cup. Ciganek’s stellar career comes to a close after a score of 82.
Over on the ninth hole, Waubonsie junior Siya Sohal needs a bogey to finish with an 81. As rain begins to fall, the Warrior sinks the putt from just under 10 feet to secure her spot in the playoff. Five girls who shot an 81 in total head to the playoff with four spots up for grabs.
On the first playoff hole, which is number 10, Siya Sohal putts for birdie from the fringe and runs the ball all the way to settle close to the pin. Rylee Rud wins the hole with a par to punch her ticket, with the other four golfers moving on to another hole.
18 serves as the second playoff hole, where Rockford Guilford’s Rory Sweet is the only golfer to make par, as the freshman earns her qualifying spot, leaving three girls to battle for the final two spots.
After everybody bogeys on the third playoff hole, we move to a fourth playoff on hole number 11. This hole gives the golfers some trouble, but Oswego Co-Op freshman Giselle Resendez makes her putt for par and moves on, putting pressure on Siya Sohal and Ashika Patel.
Patel putts for bogey and needs it to stay alive. The Redhawk finds the cup, and the final two head to hole number 12 with the sun beginning to set.
Patel faces a long par attempt on 12, needing to sink it to keep the pressure on Sohal. The putt is on line, but settles just inches shy of the pin as Patel taps in for bogey.
That leaves a five-footer for the Warrior for par and the final state spot. Sohal gets it to go and lets out a sigh of relief, becoming the second Waubonsie golfer moving on to state. A great Naperville Central career for Patel comes up just shy of a spot at state.
Kiley Sanborn from Plainfield North is the individual champion, with Benet Academy celebrating the girls golf sectional title victory.
For more prep sports highlights, visit the Naperville Sports Weekly page!
