2024 NewsTribune Girls Golfer of the Year: La Salle-Peru’s Allie Thome

Every season of her high school career, Allie Thome cut strokes off her scoring average.

But the La Salle-Peru senior knew if she was going to trim more strokes this fall, she had to work on her short game. In particular, her chipping.

“I definitely had to work on my short game because that’s where all your scoring is at,” Thome said.

In the offseason, Thome went to golf simulators, did drills on the chipping and putting setup she has in her basement and competed in the Illinois Valley High School Summer League.

With all the work, her chips improved and she cut down on her three- and four-putts.

“Her short game got better,” L-P coach Patrick Goy said. “Avoiding three-putts and four-putts was big because that’s how you shoot a 47 if you don’t hit the green or have a couple bad chips. She hit a lot more greens in regulation this year, she was better from the 50- to 70-yard range, and she didn’t three-putt as much.”

On top of that, she was more consistently straight with her already long drives off the tee.

“Her driver was a lot straighter than last year, and she put herself in position to avoid big numbers throughout her rounds because her driver kept her in play, whereas last year it kind of got wild,” Goy said. “But this year off the tee she was great. It set her up for a lot of short shots onto the greens.”

As a result, Thome cut five strokes off her average for an area-best 42.8 for nine holes, earned medalist honors in every dual/triangular except one, won the Ottawa Invite and Interstate 8 Conference Meet and tied for eighth at the Class 2A La Salle-Peru Regional with an 81 to qualify for a sectional for the third time in her career.

For all she accomplished, Thome is the 2024 NewsTribune Girls Golfer of the Year. She also won the honor as a junior.

“It was pretty dominating,” Goy said about Thome’s season. “Every match that we played, she won except for when we played Metamora. She won the conference tournament and Ottawa Invite. So it’s hard to find much that went wrong.”

During this season, Thome accomplished some goals she’s been working toward since her freshman year, including winning the conference tournament with an 88.

“Since I was a freshman, I always wanted to win it since I was always up there and always had a chance,” Thome said. “This year, I was like, ‘OK, I’m going to win this. It’s my last chance.’ So I left it all on the line.”

Thome also carded a career-best 76 in winning the Ottawa Invite.

“I would say my confidence level [helped me shoot a 76],” Thome said. “Everything was on that day. I had fun. It went smooth. It was just a really good day.”

Goy said Thome’s ability to make adjustments and correct flaws were key factors in her posting consistently strong scores throughout the season.

“She’s able to understand where some of the flaws in her game are whether she’s practicing or if she’s out playing,” Goy said. “She has gotten a lot better at understanding why she shot a certain score as opposed to asking me why did I do this or why did this happen? She thought a lot more like a golfer this year, which helped her on the course and with course management. When we were at practice, she knew what she had to work on. That helped her a lot because we were able to identify her weaknesses throughout the season and work on those and help it translate to success on the course.”

Now, Thome will look to translate the success she had in high school to the college level as she continues her golf career and studies radiology.

“As a freshman, I never thought I would be playing in college because of how hard golf is,” Thome said. “When you have those harder matches, it makes you think, ‘What am I doing?’ But as a senior, it means a lot that I get this opportunity to play in college and get better.”

Goy said Thome has the potential to be successful at the next level.

“She does hit the ball very far off the tee, so I think no matter where she ends up, she’ll be able to slot into somebody’s roster and help them,” Goy said. “My biggest thing for her is just keep grinding, stay focused and keep practicing because that’s how you’re going to get better. I hope she has great success in her next golf endeavor, and I wish her the best of luck.”