H-F trails by two strokes

Updated: March 22, 2011 5:22PM

Two strokes.

Two years ago, Homewood-Flossmoor lost the IHSA's girls Class AA golf

championship to downstate Marion by two strokes, and every returning Viking

had a year to think about where they could have made up those stroke's.

Last year, they rebounded with a resounding state championship victory,

beating New Trier by 41 strokes.

Two strokes is the margin by which the Vikings trail New Trier entering the

final round of this year's state championship.

This time, they don't have to wait a year to act on correcting their

mistakes. They can do it in Saturday morning's second round at Hickory Point

Golf Club.

New Trier's total Friday of 23-over-par 311, built on three rounds in the

70s paced by Elizabeth Szokol's 2-over 74, is a surpassable score. H-F's

total of 25-over 313, built largely on the 1-under 71 scored by Ashley

Armstrong and a stout back nine by Michelle Mayer, is a score that can be

improved upon.

The Trevians and Hinsdale Central, third at 26-over 314, could well have

played the better of their two rounds already, though Hinsdale's Rosanna

Lederhausen, usually the team's best, ballooned to a 6-over 78.

With the exception of Armstrong, H-F wasn't close to its best. While

Armstrong kicked herself for a trio of three-putt bogeys - she also bagged

an eagle and a pair of birdies - the other Vikings had trouble at every turn

on the front nine.

"Maybe we were a little tight," coach Rick Pavinato said. "I don't think we

were nervous, and I know we weren't overly confident. We all staggered in

the first five holes, then we turned it around."

Michelle Mayer triple-bogeyed the par-4 sixth en route to a 7-over 43.

Lauren Dawson doubled the par-4 10th and posted a birdie-free 80. Ryann

Gilley and Sarah Armstrong each carded 84s, the freshman Armstrong

collecting two 7s, one bloated by a two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong

ball on the third hole.

"Wind came into play today," said Mayer, who steadied herself even as the

wind kept blowing and played the back nine in 1-under 35. "Saturday? I want

to go low, make up for today. Hopefully, I'll be throwing darts."

"I need to work on my short game," Dawson said.

"I think it was my worst round in two years," Gilley estimated. "It was a

little bit of nerves. I hit my irons badly and I wasn't confident putting.

Now I've got to think of redeeming myself."

Along with Mayer's back nine, it fell to Ashley Armstrong to keep the

Vikings in the fight.

"I knew some players weren't playing well," she said. "On the back nine I

stepped it up. I was really confident. It was a nice feeling."

The three-putting on the front nine was something else again. After

Armstrong chipped in for an eagle-3 on the par-5 fifth, she quipped, "I

can't make a putt; I might as well chip in."

The putts fell on the back nine, including one for a birdie on the par-5

15th. And that 1-under 35 pulled the Vikings to within striking distance.

They were third, seven strokes behind New Trier and four back of Hinsdale

Central, at the turn.

Now, the battle is joined. Six players a side, the low four rounds of the

day counting toward the team score. Armstrong, in solo second, two strokes

behind Stevenson sophomore Stephanie Miller, will go off last for the

Vikings, lining up against New Trier's Szokol and Hinsdale Central sophomore

Danielle Brown, who scored 76.

"I think (the second round) is going to be a good day for us," Pavinato

said. "I like our experience. I think we have the most experience of any

team, and it's going to pay off."

Ashley Armstrong wasn't about to make any predictions.

"We'll see," she said, and then headed to the putting green to join her

teammates. There was remedial work, at least two strokes worth, to be done

before nightfall.

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