Writing from Glenwood, Illinois
    Tuesday, June 24, 2014

    On a day that started with light rain – not what Glenwoodie Golf Course needed after six inches of rain in the previous five days – the key to scoring down was hitting the ball solidly and not letting the elements get to you.
    Nicole Howard of Crown Point, Ind., did just that on Tuesday, capturing the Girls 13-to-15 Division of the 26th Illinois Golfer Challenge Junior Golf Championship with a 15-over-par 87.
    Howard scored a 15-stroke victory over Elizabeth Stalla of Evergreen Park, whose 102 was eight strokes better than third-place finisher Hannah McMahon of Chicago.
    “I had a lot of three-putts,” Howard admitted, but she was too modest to mention immediately how well she played from tee to green. Hitting 13 of 14 fairways, Howard could avoid a miscue along the way. But parring the final two holes following a triple-bogey 7 on the devilish par-4 16th was key, along with something else.
    “My short game,” Howard confided.
    The big key was the two-putt from 15 feet on the 17th. Another par followed, and the Virginia Van Wie Trophy, named for the three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from Beverly Country Club, was hers.
    Stalla was in the clubhouse first, and looked like a winner until Howard, who attends and plays for Munster High School, came in in the final group, along with McMahon, who grabbed third.
    – Tim Cronin