Women’s golf: Dixon’s Katie Drew helps Timber Creek repeat as Lincoln Highway champs

MOUNT MORRIS – Katie Drew’s runner-up finish helped propel Timber Creek to a second straight title at the 101st annual Ladies Lincoln Highway Golf Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Sunset Golf Course.

The recent Dixon High School grad, who placed first at last year’s event, finished with a two-day total of +29 over 36 holes at the best-against-bogey format tournament, as Timber Creek had a team total of +60.

Recent Northern Illinois University grad Emily Romancew was the individual medalist by one with a +30 finish, helping Kishwaukee place second with a +48 tally. NIU women’s golf coach Kim Kester shot a +21 for Kishwaukee, good for third overall score and best in the second flight.

Sunset (+10) placed third at the eight-team event.

Individually, Alyson Scheidecker of Sunset placed fourth at +18. Sheidecker is an Oregon High grad who golfed at St. Ambrose University.

Kristie Pultoak was fifth (+16) with the second-best score for Timber Creek.

Drew enjoyed the competition playing in the same group as Romancew on Friday and Saturday as she shot 7-7-6-9. Romancew shot 5-8-8-9.

“It was fun going back and forth both days,” Drew said. “I think this course kind of set up harder than a lot of other Lincoln Highways; they only had four of the double-bogey holes, so a little bit tougher. I figured not as good of a score would win, but it was fun.

“It’s always a fun tournament and all of the ladies are really fun to play with.”

She said it was awesome to help her team win back-to-back titles after Kishwaukee’s run of winning the tournament in previous years. She said her play was up and down and she thought she played alright overall.

“I was hitting off the tee well. Just a few putts here and there that I wish would have gone in,” she said. “But that’s golf.”

Drew will be attending Sauk Valley Community College for nursing. The school does not have a women’s golf team, but the men’s golf coach recently reached out about her practicing with them and playing in some tournaments. Drew, who also played basketball and soccer at Dixon, tied for third at the state golf tournament in Class 1A this past fall. She placed fifth as a junior and is Dixon’s only two-time girls golf medalist.

“I had the chance to go to some bigger schools, but I didn’t want the stress of that,” she said. “I wanted to keep my love for the game of golf and just go and have fun, but continue to play competitively.”

Caddying for Drew this weekend was her boyfriend, Kyle Wolfe, a Newman Central Catholic grad who golfed at SVCC. Wolfe, a former baseball player at Newman, was also an assistant coach for the Comets during this spring’s run back to state. Drew said Wolfe is transferring to NIU.

“He’s really good at helping me read putts,” she said. “We had a little wind today, so you know, club up, club down, just swing easy. … To get a second pair of eyes at the putts is really big.”

There was a potential threat of inclement weather while the last few groups had yet to finish on Saturday, but play was not interrupted.

Rounding out Timber Creek’s team scores were Patty Head (+10), Mandy Hinkey (+8), Mimi Boysen (+1), Nikki Masini (-4), Sheryl Gulbranson (-7) and Patty Oliver (-13). The top six scores are counted.

Pultorak won the fourth flight, Boysen won the sixth flight, and Gulbranson won the seventh flight.

For Deer Valley, Ellie Wassan (14) won the third flight, and Carol Wold (2) won the fifth.

Kishwaukee’s Linda Hartley (-8) won the eighth flight.

101st Annual Ladies Lincoln Highway results (2024)

At Sunset Golf Course (Best-against-bogey scoring)

Team standings (top 6 individuals from each team): 1. Timber Creek, 60; 2. Kishwaukee, 48; 3. Sunset, 10; 4. Deer Valley, -6; 5. Indian Oaks, -32; 6. Prophet Hills, -37; 7. Lake Carroll, -39; 8. Shady Oaks, -67.

Medalist (Top 10): 1. Emily Romancew, Kish., 13-17–30; 2. Katie Drew, TC, 14-15–29; 3. Kim Kester, Kish., 13-8–21; 4. Alyson Sheidecker, Sunset, 10-8–18; 5. Kristie Pultorak, TC, 7-9–16; 6. Ellie Wassan, DV, 4-10–14; 7. Ava Hackman, Sunset, 5-8–13; 8. Patty Head, Kish., 10-0–10; 9. Jan Nissen, Kish, 1-9–10; T10. Beth Haag, IO, 4-4–8; T10. Mandy Hinkey, , 3-5–8.

Timber Creek (Dixon): Drew 29, Pultorak 16, Head 10, Hinkey 8, Boysen 1, Masini -4, Gulbranson -7, Oliver -13.

Kishwaukee (DeKalb): Romancew 30, Kester 21, Jan Nissen 10, Donna Martin 3, Debbi Schiavi -8, Linda Hartley -8, Deb Brue -10, Donna Pfleeger -15.

Sunset (Mt. Morris): Sheidecker 18, Hackman 13, Colleen Miller 3, Jessica Janes -5, Terri Scheidecker -8, Sonia Calhoun -11, Cheryl Satterfield -21, Diana Hanson -24.

Deer Valley (Deer Grove): Wassan 14, Deena Simester 5, Carol Wold 2, Karen Anderson -5, Madison Thatcher -9, Donna Brooks -13, Denise Oberle -15, Kris Smith -18.

Indian Oaks (Shabonna): Haag 8, Jacki Johnson 3, Jennie Francis -9, Diane Nehring -9, Lynn Martz -12, Megan Kerkman -13, Ros Richardson -15, Judy Rud -26.

Prophet Hills (Prophetstown): Shelley Felske 7, Kris Zschiesche -3, Karen Wiersema -4, Karen Stenzel -10, Donna Moore -11, Corrin Kelly -16, Norma Dietrich -26, Deb Harris -34.

Lake Carroll (Lanark): Deb Cuvelier 5, Deb Scheidegger 2, Jo Yeager -2, Robyn Farm -10, Jamie Melville -16, Sheri Moutrey -18, Tracey DeCrane -20, Angie Thompson -22.

Shady Oaks (Sublette): Kris Welker 1, Shelly Barkei -9, Stef Page -11, Trini Kotulek -13, Barb Wagner -16, Sharon Dexter -19.

Flight winners: F1, Romance (Kish); F2, Kester (Kish); F3, Wassan (DV); F4, Pultorak (TC); F5, Carol Wold (DV); F6, Boysen (TC); F7, Gulbranson (TC); F8, Hartley (Kish).