The DVC girls golf championship is back at Phillip’s Park in Aurora. Neuqua Valley hopes to send longtime girls golf head coach John Keller into retirement as a winner as the Wildcats enter the DVC tournament with a 7-1 regular season conference record. Naperville North and Waubonsie Valley are in the hunt for the title as well. This highlight is sponsored by BMO.
Waubonsie Valley starts the tournament strong
Waubonsie Valley gets off to a solid start as a team. Siya Sohal makes a par putt on the fourth hole. Sohal shines on the back nine leading to a round of 84 for the Warriors.
The top Metea Valley golfer is Ansley Ellis who is chipping from the fairway on the ninth hole and she nearly drops it into the cup. A great front nine for the Mustang who shoots a 38 on the front thanks to this birdie and finishes with an 85 overall.
On the par three 10th hole, Hannah Lee from Waubonsie starts her back nine strong with nice par putt. Lee ends her round with an 84, tied for 9th place in the tournament.
Neuqua Valley moves up the leaderboard
Neuqua Valley starts the back nine behind by nine strokes in the team standings. Malar Anand is doing her part with a fantastic tee shot, and a birdie putt on the 10th hole. She goes on to a round of 80, the fifth best overall score.
Naperville North is near the top of the leaderboard as well thanks to senior Georgia Riley. She drives onto the green on the tenth hole to set up a par.
The Wildcats quickly start to make up ground. Evan Ashley makes a long birdie putt from the edge of the green as she goes on to a round of 81, good for 6th place individually.
Golfers take advantage of the par 3’s
Naperville Central continues its overall team improvement this fall with the Redhawks in search of a top three finish. Alexa Miller nearly drills a hole in one on the par 3 17th hole as part of a round of 92.
On the 17th green, Addison Wu makes an eight foot par putt as she scores an 89 on the day as the Huskies are within a few strokes of the lead.
In the next group, fellow Huskie Alex Yaeger drills a long putt to help save par as she shoots an 82, the 7th place score on the day.
Naperville Central has two golfers in the top ten overall. Junior Mae Binkowski makes a ten footer for par on 17 as she wraps up her day with a score of 83 for the Redhawks.
Carley Rogers leads the way for Neuqua Valley
Neuqua Valley is looking to secure the first place team score. Carley Rogers leads the way for the blue and gold with a third place score of 77. That helps Neuqua Valley surge to the top of the standings.
Mina Shyam from Waubonsie Valley enters the final two holes with a one stroke lead as the top individual golfer. She finds the dance floor on 17 and goes on to make par from there, wrapping up an 18 hole score of 76.
Ashika Patel in a tough spot next to the green, but the junior chips her ball within inches of the cup to set up an easy par save. Another great round for Patel who leads the Redhawks with a 78.
Georgia Riley enters the 17th hole one shot behind Shyam for the individual lead. But the senior delivers with a clutch birdie on the par 3 to even the score and force a playoff after matching the Warrior with a 76 of her own.
Georgia Riley wins the individual medal with an eagle on the playoff hole
The playoff hole is played on the 16th hole par 5, where Riley holes out from 86 feet for eagle! An incredible shot as Shyam is forced to match with a 70 foot chip attempt. She gives it a great chance but the ball settles a couple feet from the cup as Shyam’s birdie is not enough. Georgie Riley is the individual medalist for Naperville North. That helps the Huskies to a runner up finish, one stroke ahead of Waubonsie Valley. Naperville Central finishes in fourth with Metea in fifth. Neuqua Valley girls golf wins the team championship by five strokes to give Coach Keller another DVC title as he enters his final weeks with the program.
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