GIRLS GOLF: Wilmot’s Destree, Bailey headline area golf returners

Junior Keegan Destree of Wilmot Union High School is one of several underclassmen coach Greg Olson expects to see step up this year for the Lady Panthers golf squad (Mike Ramczyk/The Report).

Central hopes to grow

By Jason Arndt
Editor

Entering the 2017 girls golf season, one school faces a numbers crunch, while the other is in restock mode following the graduation of four seniors from last year’s team.

Wilmot Union High School, which placed fifth in the final Southern Lakes Conference standings last year, returns the bulk of its roster but lost second-team all-SLC pick McKenna Stanek.

For Westosha Central, a team which finished fourth last year, they have the daunting task of filling the holes left by Colleen Nolan, Emily Allen, Mallory Scheppa and Lexi Carlson.

All four departing Falcon seniors had WIAA Division 1 sectional experience under their belts.

Although both schools have a set of challenges this season, coaches have reasons for optimism, in spite of a highly competitive Southern Lakes Conference.

According to Panthers’ coach Greg Olson, among the SLC teams, Union Grove and Waterford could vie for the conference title.

“It looks like Union Grove and Waterford will be the teams battling for the top spot, but Lake Geneva Badger and Burlington could pose some difficulties for those teams as well,” Olson said.

Panthers return five
Wilmot returns five players, including junior Keegan Destree and senior Madison Bailey.

Destree, a second-team all-SLC, and Bailey have each performed up to Olson’s expectations in the first meets of the season.

“They will both rotate between the No. 1 and 2 spots on the team’s roster,” Olson said. “So far, their scores are about where I expected for the early season.”

Bailey was honorable mention last year.

Joining Destree and Bailey are junior returners Lauren Christensen and Hannah Brendel.

Senior Danielle Clark also returns for a final season.

New to the team are Alyssa Baillie, a junior, along with freshmen Lauren Maki and Madison Toro.

Olson, noting a numbers crunch, hopes to see more players join the Panthers squad.

“Our biggest challenge for the 2017 season is number of players,” Olson said. “Over the last couple of years we have been experiencing a lull in the number of girls going out for golf. Hopefully the numbers will pick up once school starts.”

In spite of the numbers crunch, Olson believes the strong core of returners can take the SLC by storm, including Destree and Bailey.

“They both have the skill sets, they just need a little tweaking in the next couple of weeks,” he said. “I think our team might surprise some of the other teams this season.”

Falcons bring youth
Consistency and growth is key the Falcons’ future, according to coach Dan Peterson, who has a team of three sophomores and four freshman.

Returning to the team is sophomore Lyndsey Gullbrandson and Abbey Luellen.

“We are very inexperienced with only two returning sophomores from last year,” Peterson said. “Now with three sophomores and four freshmen our goal is to haver fun, learning more about the game of golf and make new friends on the team and with our competitors.”

The other sophomore, Grace Anderson, rounds out the team which includes freshmen Jalyn Warren and Shannon Hughes.

Peterson, however, said the squad has shown promise, and once the players gel, he believes the Falcons can improve.

“The girls have been very coachable and positive and have shown growth already after two weeks,” Peterson said. “Once consistency happens, the team is going to show major improvements on their scores.”

Taylor Clark Memorial Invitational
Brighton Dale Links
Par 72 – Blue Spruce
Aug. 17
Team scores: 1. Union Grove 373, 2. Waterford 388, 3. Prairie School 418, 4. Badger 419, 5. Burlington 426, 6. Wilmot 437, 7. Elkhorn 443, 8. Westosha Central 540.
Westosha: 1. Grace Anderson 127, 2. Lyndsey Gullbrandson 126, 3. Shannon Hughes 140, 4. Abbey Luellen 147.
Wilmot: 1. Keegan Destree 96, 2. Madison Bailey 101, 3. Hannah Brendel 118, 4. Danielle Clark 122.


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