Genevieve Driscoll puts less-is-more philosophy to work and impresses in season-opening tournament with an 88 at Sandy Pines

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Progress in golf, as counterintuitive a sport as any, comes slowly and involves far more than being told the right thing to do. A player has to feel it to confirm the many counterintuitive words of wisdom, especially advice that boils down to three words that apply to so many aspects of the game: less is more.
Chesterton junior Genevieve Driscoll illustrated just how well that can work Monday in the season-opening Kankakee Valley Invitational, which put the Trojans’ 2025-26 sports calendar into motion.
Driscoll, younger sister of last year’s No. 3 player, graduated Chris Driscoll, filled the same spot in the lineup with an 88. She did it by keeping her long drives in play and making her putts.
“I think I missed only two fairways … and had only two three-putts,” Driscoll said.
Shortening her swing played a big part in her coming into this season with a solid hold on the No. 3 spot in the lineup, behind third-year varsity junior Kristin McCoy, and second-year varsity sophomore Taylor Kisic. Driscoll said she competed in “two or three” varsity tournaments last season.
“The last year I’ve been working on not taking as big of a backswing because that was my problem last season,” Driscoll said. “I was overswinging and I’m still overswinging a bit, especially with my irons, so I’ll overhit and that’s when I come over the top and veer off to the right.”
The words “come over the top” are told to many a golfer, not all of whom have a clue how to cure the swing flaw. Driscoll said she can feel it when she does it, which is always helpful in applying the cure.
Her score was the most encouraging on the team. As figures to almost always be the case this season, McCoy led the way with an 83. How the Trojans line up behind their No. 1 player will determine how successful and long a season they have.
Five players compete in tournaments, but only the top four scores count toward the team score. Chesterton finished seventh in the 15-school field with a team score of 380. All the schools in the tournament are from the same regional as Chesterton. Teams that advance out of their sectionals with top-three finishes will play in the regional on Sept. 27 at the immaculately manicured course with breathtaking views, rolling hills and elevated tees and greens in Demotte.
Beyond McCoy and Driscoll, coach Pat Ward, in his first season coaching the girls team after a long stretch in charge of the boys, summed his team’s day with one word.
“Nerves,” Ward said. “A lot of nerves today.”
Ward, assisted by Adam Schultz, spoke to his new role presents a challenge for him.
“I have to get a feel for what they need and want out of me out there,” Ward said.
Kisic, a sophomore playing out of the No. 2 spot, got off to a rough start and shot a 99. The Nos. 4 and 5 spots, filled by seniors Caitlyn Robison and Ella Bollinger in the opener, will be revolving doors unless and until a player or two steps to the front of the competition with consistent play. Robison shot a 110, Bollinger a 118.
Rochester’s Olivia Bailey and Valparaiso’s Kennedy Gutierrez both shot a 71 and after a match of scorecards, Bailey was declared the medalist on a tiebreaker. Unofficial winner of the nature show: A redheaded woodpecker that flew into and out of the trees behind the seventh green.
Chesterton finished fourth among the six DAC schools competing.
The team scores: Munster 343, Lake Central 351, LaPorte 366, Rochester 367, Logansport 375, Crown Point 378, Chesterton 380, Valparaiso 385, Illiana Christian 413, Kankakee Valley 435, Rensselaer Central 460, Bishop Noll 475, Winamac 497, Portage 498, Highland 516.
Chesterton’s busy opening week continues today with the JV competing in the Plymouth Invitational. On Wednesday, one varsity team will play at the Lake Central Invitational at Palmira Golf Club in St. John at 8 a.m. and the other will compete in the New Prairie Invitational at Legacy Hills in LaPorte at 1 p.m. The home opener vs. Plymouth is scheduled for Monday, Aug. 11 at Sand Creek Country Club.