Illinois girls golf regionals
Maroons, Streaks advance despite rugged conditions

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By S.A. Thornbloom | Thursday, October 5, 2006 12:00 AM CDT | () comments

S.A. Thornbloom/QUAD-CITY TIMES Galesburg’s Amanda Mendrek watches Wednesday her shot near the 16th green at Maple Bluff Golf Course in Geneseo, Ill. She led the Streaks with a round of 84.

GENESEO, Ill. — Before the fall season began for the Moline Maroons girls golf team, they made one simple goal — return to state. They also should have set a goal to golf only in warm weather.

On Wednesday, with temperatures dropping drastically and winds accelerating rapidly, Moline’s two top golfers were able to start before Old Man Winter got involved at the Illinois Class AA Geneseo girls regional at the 4,928-yard Maple Bluff Golf Course.

“We were fortunate that Bailey (O’Brien) and I got early starts. The weather really turned nasty, and we got to get in decent rounds before it did start to turn really bad,” Moline senior Morgan Joseph said.

“Our team goal was to make it back to state, and we’re now one step closer to achieving that goal.”

Joseph, who has been on the golf team since her freshman year, shot an 80 to finish second behind Rachel Reed of Dunlap, who medaled with a 73. O’Brien, a Moline junior, shot 81 to finish third.

The Maroons finished second with a 361 behind Morton’s 348. Galesburg finished third with a 365, making two Western Big Six schools that will move on to sectionals Monday in Freeport, Ill.

“It was a tough day on the course, but we are going on,” Galesburg coach Lorraine Gottenborg said. “I’m very pleased with our team and how they were able to overcome the conditions. I’m also pleased that there are two Big Six teams moving on. Moline has played some great golf this fall as has Morton.”

Gottenborg also said golf in October can be unpredictable.

“You just never know — yesterday (Tuesday) it was 95 and today it’s 55,” she said.

Moline coach Randy Erickson also said he was pleased with how his team overcame the conditions.

“They all knew their scores would go up because of the weather, but what they failed to realize was everyone’s scores would go up. We’ve got some pretty strong seniors, and we got through it. They really hung in there, and Morgan was the leader that helped bring the team along today.”

Senior Stefanie Hintz and sophomore Lindsey Miner were the other golfers whose scores counted for Moline. Hintz shot a 99, while Miner shot 101. Amanda Mendrek, Galesburg’s top golfer, led her team with an 84.

Erickson credited Moline’s play to the hours of chipping and putting practice the team did the past few days.

“They might have gotten mad at me because all I had them do was chip and putt. But I told them the weather could change at anytime, and the only way to get through weather like this is to be able to get it up and down.”

“It definitely helped,” admitted Joseph, who hit all 14 fairways, not counting four par-3s. “Chipping and putting is what we really need to do as a team, no matter how boring it is. I’m really excited about advancing to sectionals and hope we can advance to state again. I think we’ll do really well but we know our scores have to drop.”

For Joseph, who has a goal of making the all-state team this year, another team goal has been met. Now it’s just a matter of working toward their team’s ultimate goal of reaching the state competition as a team.

Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.