GRANITE CITY • It's been an up-and-down season for the Edwardsville girls golf team, but when the Tigers are good, they're very good.
That was the case Monday as Edwardsville, led by sophomore Emilee Flaugher, posted a score of 335 to win the Southwestern Conference Tournament at Arlington Greens. O'Fallon was second at 338. Belleville East, with a 3-over-par 74 from individual medalist Miranda Lidisky, placed third at 393.
"The girls had a great attitude out there today. They felt comfortable with their game and they were upbeat and they were positive," Edwardsville coach Tresa LaBoube said. "The golf course was in great shape and they were ready to play."
With the Class AA Springfield Regional coming up on Oct. 5, the timing couldn't be better for the Tigers.
"We came out here for a practice round yesterday and I think that helped the girls a lot," LaBoube said. "What we did today boosts the girls' confidence. It's a good way to go into the postseason stretch."
While Edwardsville has lost twice to O'Fallon by sizeable margins in tournaments, the Tigers also own a pair of victories over the Panthers, including a conference dual match at Tamarack that was decided on a fifth-score tiebreaker.
"Our girls' goals at the beginning of the season were to win conference and make it as far as we can in the IHSA series," said O'Fallon coach Chris Eddy, whose team is in the Centralia Regional. "We beat them by 15 at Alton (in the Redbird Classic) and I told them we would trade that for a conference match, but they beat us on the fifth score.
"We beat them by 27 Saturday at St. Louis (in the Missouri-Illinois Challenge at Crystal Springs Quarry) and I told the girls I would trade that for the conference tournament. We've beaten them twice, but to my eyes, they beat us the two important times."
Top scorers for Edwardsville included Taylor Maggio (84), Lauran Belling (86) and Brie Duvall (87). Flaugher, meanwhile, had the tournament's second-best score, but wasn't pleased with her performance.
"I lipped out a lot of putts; they weren't going in at all," said Flaugher, who was on the practice green after her round to work on her short game. "I was hitting the ball well, but I made some mistakes.
"I've been playing alright, but not where I want to be. I shot a 33 the other day and I was really happy with that, but I haven't been close to that since. I play here a lot with a couple of my friends from Collinsville, so that's why I was a little disappointed with my score."
Kendall Butler led the way for O'Fallon with an 82. Also in the top four for the Panthers were Sam Allsup (83), Alexa Boatman (84) and Johni Hegger (89).
Lidisky, who also won the Redbird Classic, shot 35 on the front nine and 39 on the back nine.
"I was very pleased with my ball striking today and I stayed relatively consistent," Lidisky said. "I had faith in my clubs and what I was doing.
"I've played this course three or four times and it's a flat course. The greens were cut low today, so that provided a challenge. I try to take the breeze into account as much as I possibly can."
Alton and Granite City tied for fourth in the team standings at 419, with Alton's Tori Hays shooting the third-best score of the day at 81. Collinsville (436) and Granite City (448) rounded out the seven-team field.
