[quote]By Drew Danko
Photo courtesy of Chicago Tribune (Sean King)[/quote]

Four years, four sectionals, and four chances for senior Katelyn Kline to make it to the state championship at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Peoria. After shooting a 70 at the Neuqua Valley sectional at Naperbrook Golf Course Monday, Kline proved she wasn’t going to let up on any of those opportunities.

Kline finished third overall at the class AA sectional. Though it will be her last time in a state tournament, Kline is excited to put on her final performance. “Qualifying my senior year is bittersweet. It’s always great qualifying for state and it’s the most stressful, yet rewarding part of the year. The hard part about it is it really sets in that this is it – the final rounds of your high school career,” Kline said.

Naperbrook is a familiar course for the girls’ golf team, and after four years, Kline felt she had finally performed well on it. “For me, Naperbrook always seems to be a course that I just play average on. I tend to just make stupid mistakes. However, I think this year they kept it in a lot better shape than the past. The greens were faster, and the fairways a bit nicer. It made it, for me, a bit easier to play,” Kline said.

Despite nerves that sometimes set in early during the tournament, Kline started off strong. Kline birdied her first few holes of the morning after starting on the ninth hole and back half of the course, and sunk a 30 foot putt to maintain her confidence throughout the tournament. Kline split her shots 35 and 35 between the front and back nine holes on the course. “I think the toughest moment is always the first hole. It’s always the hole to get your nerves out and sometimes it isn’t the best,” Kline added. “Once I got those first few holes done with good scores, it really gave me a lot of energy to play better and with more confidence.”

However, the tournament did show Kline what she needs to work on before the final tournament this Friday and Saturday. “My hitting was a little off today, I hit a couple thin. And then just working on straightening some of my shots out. I’d also like to try and decrease my number of three-putts because I had two or three of them today,” Kline said.

Kline played alongside five of her teammates after qualifying to move to the sectional as a team from the Waubonsie Valley regional with a score of 365. The team finished the sectional with a score of 352. “Playing as a team is so much fun because we really support each other and try to help each other out. It was also a great way to end the season because some of the team shot their personal best and we finally beat Waubonsie which was a goal of ours,” Kline said.

Kline has improved in the final standings since her freshman year finishing 70th, 40th in her sophomore year, and last year, Kline finished 38th overall at the state tournament, shooting a 165 between the two days. She hopes to improve that score and enjoy her final state appearance of her career. “Going to state, I just hope to beat my personal record. I hope to shoot in the 70s both days, and just to enjoy the last time playing there,” Kline added.

[quote]Photo by Drew Danko[/quote]