STATE
CHAMPS!
On a day where the weather put everyone in reverse, the Verona girls golf team managed to work the brake pedal when things went the wrong way during the final round of the 2015 WIAA state girls
golf tournament.
Tuesday was not a day for making birdies. In fact, Bailey Smith carded the only Verona birdie in the Wildcats’ 90 holes of play at University Ridge Golf Course.
But Verona posted a winning two-round score of 648 because none of its five players posted anything worse than a double-bogey Tuesday.
By way of contrast: Second-place Hartland Arrowhead (656) was punished by four triple-bogeys, two quadruple bogeys and a quintuple bogey.
“Just mental toughness,” Verona coach Bailey Hildebrandt said. “Obviously, the conditions were hard and it was not easy to make pars or birdies. So they had to be really tough. I told them, ‘You have a job, and that’s to make bogeys and pars,’ and they did their job.”
Verona was led by two-time defending state champion Jessica Reinecke, who shot an 81 Tuesday after a 74 on Monday. Although it wasn’t her year individually, finishing fifth (155) and leading the Wildcats to their first team state title made up for it.
“Just getting to share it with everyone is great,” said Reinecke, a University of Wisconsin recruit. “As an individual, it’s kind of just a singular thing, feeling proud for yourself. But knowing that everyone is just as happy as everyone else to win is really fun."