Local golf: Katie Drew, Timber Creek crowned champions at 100th annual Women’s Lincoln Highway tournament

LANARK – The 100th annual Women’s Lincoln Highway golf tournament was one to remember this weekend at Lake Carroll Golf Course in Lanark, especially for team champion Timber Creek out of Dixon.

Finishing at +124 with the best-against-bogey format, Timber Creek ran away with the title; runner-up and reigning back-to-back champion Kishwaukee was 54 points behind, finishing at +70.

The phenomenal effort was highlighted by individual champion Katie Drew’s +31, and four flight-winning performances.

Mandy Hinkey (+30) won the second flight and finished third overall, losing a two-hole playoff to Kishwaukee’s Kim Kester for the runner-up spot; Patty Head (+24) won the third flight and posted the fourth-best score, Mimi Boysen (+16) won the fifth flight, and Barb Curia (+13) won the seventh flight.

Nikki Masini (+10), Lorri Nagy (-9) and Janet Freil (-10) also contributed to the Timber Creek win.

“It’s super awesome. It means a lot for Timber Creek,” said Drew, a Dixon High School rising senior. “We’ve been behind Kish for a lot of years in a row, so to finally get it for our team was awesome. And then personally, it was a lot of fun. I had a really good caddie helping me this weekend, and I was just happy to win.”

Drew, who tied for fourth place last year with a +25 at Deer Valley Golf Club, had a strong start to 2023′s tournament, as did her team.

“I was +18 yesterday, so I had a one-stroke lead from my teammate [Hinkey], who was in second, and then we had somebody [Head] at +16, so there was three of us right at the top,” Drew said. “And we were all in the same group today, so it was fun to play with them.

“Yesterday, I really struggled with leaving lots of putts short, so just getting the ball to the hole and giving myself chances at putts was a big key today.”

A fifth-place finisher at the IHSA state golf tournament last year, Drew ended the WLH on a high note, striking four birdies in Round 2, with an estimated 20-foot birdie putt to end the weekend.

Hinkey, who replicated last year’s third-place finish (+26 at Deer Valley), was glad to improve on her score – and get the team win this time around.

“I’m so happy we won as a team. We’ve been chasing Kishwaukee for a number of years now, and to win by a pretty good margin, it feels really good,” Hinkey said.

“Today was a good day. I had a couple harder holes than yesterday, but I didn’t expect to have two good rounds back-to-back. I have a really good caddie who helped me read putts, so he helped me a lot, and that probably saved me on a lot of holes. Coming in, I wanted to do as well as I did last year. I think I was +26, so I did that, and I’m very happy with it.”

Head improved from +15 last year to +24 this year, winning her flight and securing one of three top-four Timber Creek finishes.

“My goodness, I’ve never felt better. It was awesome. The team played well. The weather was beautiful. Lake Carroll hosted an amazing tournament,” Head said. “And yet again, 100 years. Can’t beat that. And Timber Creek was Dixon Country Club, we were one of the O.G.’s, and we’re really proud to have won it this year. I’m a little choked up, ‘I’m a little Verklempt’ about Dixon winning. I’m just very excited that we won. We’ll take a ‘W’ whenever we can get it.”

Kester finished second with a +30, sinking a short putt on the 11th hole to win the playoff and fend off Hinkey. She tied Drew for fourth at last year’s tournament.

“I didn’t play the greatest the past two days, I haven’t played a lot this past week, but overall, it was a fun experience. Seeing a lot of the same ladies year after year, it’s always a fun time to come back to the Lincoln Highway,” Kester said.

“At this point, in everything I’ve done, I just go out to play the best I can, and whatever happens, happens. I don’t practice like I used to, so I don’t really set many expectations. If, at the end of the day, I can say I gave it my all and I helped the team get some points, that’s all that matters to me.”

Prophet Hills finished third as a team at +59. Cathy Verhulst led the way with a fifth-place finish overall at +20, and Karen Stenzel won the eighth flight with a +5. Host Lake Carroll was fourth with a +55; Jo Yeager won the fourth flight and tied for ninth overall with a +17.

Sunset Golf Club’s Ali Scheidecker and Ava Hackman also tied for ninth at +17, with Scheidecker winning the first flight; Hackman tied for 21st at last fall’s IHSA state golf tournament. Colleen Miller finished at +16 and won the sixth flight.

“Winning my flight was honestly unexpected. I didn’t think I had a chance of winning my flight, actually,” Scheidecker said. “I played OK yesterday. I played really well on the front nine yesterday, and then struggled a lot to make any par putts on the back nine. And then today, I played worse on the front nine than I did yesterday, but played better on the back.

“Overall, yesterday, my game kind of felt off. It felt a little better today, but it still didn’t feel like I played the best I could have. But we had good weather all weekend, so I couldn’t really ask for much more than that.”

Deer Valley placed seventh as a team at +32. Ellie Wasson led the way with a +18 to tie for seventh individually, and Deena Simester finished with a +13.

Final team scores: 1. Timber Creek +124, 2. Kishwaukee +70. 3. Prophet Hills +59. 4. Lake Carroll +55. 5. Sunset +50. 6. Indian Oaks +45. 7. Deer Valley +32. 8. PraireView -45.

Timber Creek (Dixon): Katie Drew +31, Mandy Hinkey +30, Patty Head +24, Mimi Boysen +16, Barb Curia +13, Nikki Masini +10, Lorri Nagy -9, Janet Freil -10.

Kishwaukee (DeKalb): Kim Kester +30, Jan Nissen +19, Donna Martin +18, Laura Osborne +3, Linda Hartley +2, Debbie Brue -2, Kathy Halloran -5, Jane Kielb -8.

Prophet Hills (Prophetstown): Cathy Verhulst +20, Shelley Felske +15, Karen Wiersema +15, Karen Stenzel +5, Donna Moore +4, Kris Zschiesche E, Margie Sommers -2, Corri Kelly -14.

Lake Carroll: Jo Yeager +17, Sandy Bogusevic +14, Deb Cuvelier +14, Deb Scheidegger +9, Angie Thompson +1, Sheri Moutrey E, Tracey DeCrane -1, Jamie Melville -2.

Sunset (Mt. Morris): Ali Scheidecker +17, Ava Hackman +17, Colleen Miller +16, Jessica Janes +4, Terri Scheidecker E, Diana Hanson -4, Sonia Calhoun-Gilroy -10, Stef Page -16.

Indian Oaks (Shabbona): Diane Nehring +12, Beth Haag +10, Jackie Johnson +8, Lynn Martz +8, Jennie Francis +4, Megan Kerkman +3, Leah Richardson -8, Judy Rud -15.

Deer Valley: Ellie Wasson +18, Deena Simester +13, Carol Wold +9, Denise Oberle +8, Donna Brooks -3, Jan Wetzell -13, Cindy Moorehead -13, Marcia Chapinski -14.

Prairie View (Byron): Joanna Sharp +15, Dawn Smith -1, Amy Kubatzke -4, Carla Leddy -10, Laura Medlar -13, Jeanne Washko -32.

Flight Winners: F1 A. Scheidecker (S), F2 Hinkey (TC), F3 Head (TC), F4 Yeager (LC), F5 Boysen (TC), F6 Miller (S), F7 Curia (TC), F8 Stenzel (PH).

Top 10 Individuals: 1, Drew (TC) +31; 2, Kester (K) +30; 3, Hinkey (TC) +30; 4, Head (TC) +24; 5, Verhulst (PH) +20; 6, Nissen (K) +19; T-7, Wasson (DV) +18; T-7, Martin (K) +18; T-9, Yeager (LC) +17; T-9, A. Scheidecker (S) +17; T-9, Hackman (S) +17.