Cynthia Bounleutay and Abbey Sullivan are standout girls golfers who are best known for not playing girls golf.
Bounleutay has played No. 1 for the Jefferson boys team the last two years. Sullivan, a junior, played No. 4 for Rockford Christian's boys team this year and for its boys JV team the two previous seasons.
"It's cool to play with the guys," said Sullivan, who will make her third straight trip to the girls Class A state tournament Friday and Saturday. "It's a completely different experience.
They hit the ball so far, they test your mental strength.
"When you play with the girls, it feels like you are really competing in your own field. It's cool to have that experience, too.
"Cynthia and I are pretty good friends. We play in a lot of IJGA (youth) tournaments and played in the Park District tournaments growing up. She's cool to hang out with, and it's cool to hear how she has a perspective on things."
Bounleutay's perspective is different from Sullivan's in that she not only placed higher earlier (fifth in Class A as a freshman at Lutheran to Sullivan's 27th and 31st the last two years) but then had to wait to get back.
Bounleutay did not play high school golf as a sophomore, and the two-time NIC-10 champion was disqualified at sectionals last year when a Jefferson coach did not accompany her. Coach Bruce Behling was at the boys sectional with one of his boys players.
"It's been a roller coaster," Bounleutay said. "This is a big deal. I wasn't able to play last year, so I want to prove that I can do good at state."
Everyone affiliated with Jefferson golf breathed a sigh of relief when Bounleutay qualified for the Class AA tournament Monday.
"After last year's shenanigans, I¡¯m real happy," said Behling, who now has his first state qualifier in 13 years of coaching Jefferson golf, and 10 years as the girls softball coach.It was like a different man I was playing, as Dennis repeatedly made strong good drives ping K15 golf clubs, and could reach the green better than he ever had
"I¡¯m going to take the whole thing in. I¡¯ve been coaching 23 years and never had anybody go to state. It's going to be just as much fun for me as it is for her."
It's fun for both Sullivan and Bounleutay to no longer try to keep up with the boys off the tee ¡ยช although both are long enough to do so occasionally.
"When Abbey is playing with the boys, it's a little stretch to keep up with them lengthwise, and that hurt her swing a little," Rockford Christian coach Andy Graber said.
"When she goes back to the women's tees, she hits the ball very far. At regionals, she was in places she had never been in with the boys. She had to work on her short game and her wedges."
That's where Sullivan says she feels comfortable.
"The boys cannot only hit the ball further, they can be a lot more accurate with their irons," Sullivan said.
"I try to make it up with my short game. I spend all my practice time on putting and chipping. I only had 28 putts at sectionals. Your long game is not always going to be on, but if your short game is good, your score should be, too."
Bounleutay's score hasn't gone down as much as might be expected when she switched to the women's tees. She shot a 67 at Ingersoll this summer when she tied a record by winning her fourth consecutive City Girls Junior title.
She also shot 75 and 77 at the University of Illinois Orange Course to tie for second in the State Girls Junior and 74 in a boys tournament at Geneseo.
But she finished third at regionals with a 78, eight strokes behind a golfer she beat by four at the State Junior.
At sectionals, she tied for eighth with a 75. She wants to shoot "in the low 70s" at state.
"I¡¯m not comfortable with my short game, 100 and 50 yards and in," Bounleutay said. "I¡¯m used to hitting from 150 yards because the tees for the guys are so much farther back. I¡¯m going to practice a lot more on my short game."
Bounleutay's goal is simply to play well at state.
"Winning would be a bonus, but what I want is to shoot a really low score," she said. "It's senior year. I like senior year, because it's my last year in high school, but it's my last chance to prove something. If I do bad at state, I can't go back.Patient monitor are highly desired because of the following reasons. They are extremely comfortable regardless of weather conditions
"It's my last year. I have to do good."
No comments:
Post a Comment