Trojans Kristin McCoy (81), Taylor Kisic (82), Genevieve Driscoll (84) beat the heat and humidity to lead Trojans to third-place finish in KV Invitational at Sandy Pines with a 343

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

The temperature was 83 degrees Monday afternoon at beautiful Sandy Pines in Demotte, but the numbers next to the “feels like” offered a more accurate reading: 101.
Golf wasn’t meant to be played in a sauna, but unpredictable conditions are among the many challenges the game presents.
The Chesterton girls golf team passed the test, beat the heat and humidity, and finished third in a field of 15 schools and posted a strong team score of 343.
Senior Kristin McCoy plays out of the No. 1 spot for the Trojans, junior Taylor Kisic No. 2, seniors Genevieve Driscoll and Liz Dods out of the Nos. 3 and 4 spots.
That was the order they finished on the scoreboard at Kankakee Valley Invitational: McCoy 81, Kisic 82, Driscoll 84, Dodds 96.
Given where the round was played, Driscoll’s 84 came on her best day of competition for Chesterton. She shot an 83 at Legacy Hills Golf Club in LaPorte last season, but Sandy Pines is more than a stroke tougher than Legacy.
“I hit fairways today and my putting was fine. I had four three-putts and three of them were on my second nine,” Driscoll said.
She started on No. 8, posted a 39 on the front nine and a 45 on the back, playing most of those holes after jamming her hand.
Driscoll’s exceptional score on the front nine included birdies on No. 1, No. 3 and No. 9.
McCoy shot a 41 on the front and 40 on the back. Kisic used her pure ball-striking day to card score 41 on each side.
Off the top of her head, Kisic could not recall needing more than two strokes to reach the green on any holes. Pure ball striking to hit consistently long and straight shots will lead to scores in the 70s once her putter behaves better than it did Monday.
“I was really aggressive today and I think that helped my confidence and my long irons were really working today,” Kisic said. “It felt really good. I didn’t have any doubts. I wasn’t trying to not go somewhere. I knew where my target was and that’s where it went.”
She couldn’t say the same for her putts.
“I unfortunately missed a good number of 3-foot putts,” Kisic said. “My lag putts were good but I didn’t have my confidence on the shorter ones. I left, I would say four or five shots out there today.”
Kisic played basketball her first two years in school and runs track in the spring, so she maintains her conditioning throughout the calendar, a factor in her weathering the heat and humidity better than most.
“After hot rounds my mom and I talk about that a lot,” she said. “She says I’m lucky you do track because it keeps me so much more in shape. I didn’t really believe it, but the last two rounds have been so hot and I see girls having headaches and taking Tylenol and I’m good. I don’t feel tired and I think running helps a lot with that.”
The Trojans totaled 366 at Sandy Pines in last year’s regional and finished sixth. The three schools that advanced to state were Lake Central (332), South Bend St. Joseph (341) and Munster (347) advanced to state.
The scores were much lower in Monday’s invitational. Crown Point won the event with a 316 and Munster (332) placed second. Lake Central did not participate Monday. Other DAC schools: Valparaiso 361, LaPorte 364, Portage 458.
Valparaiso sophomore Kennedy Gutierrez was medalist with a 69.
The Trojans are back at it Tuesday with a nine-hole match vs. Boone Grove.