CHESTERFIELD • Steve Bradley is running out of words to describe his team, so he kept it short and simple.
"Wow," the Westminster girls golf coach said.
That pretty much sums up what might have been the most outstanding round in a season chock-full of them. Undefeated Westminster fired a 324 and ran away with the Class 1 District 1 tournament at The Landings at Spirit Golf Course by 36 strokes over defending state champion Villa Duchesne.
"The tournaments we had played, we were shooting around that 350 mark, and I know they were all thinking that they could have done better," Bradley said. "So, I even kind of challenged them that we need to take that next step up. I think they did that today."
The top two teams qualified for next Wednesday's Class 1 sectional at Innsbrook Golf Course near Wright City. Also advancing to the sectional are the top 15 individuals not from the qualifying teams.
Westminster sophomore Jordan Wolf shot a 4-over-par 76 to win the individual title by six strokes over teammate Brooke Cusumano (82).
"From the start, I felt pretty confident," said Wolf, who tied for second at last year's Class 1 state tournament. "I was really glad I was playing in the first group, so we could get this round going."
Before she teed off, Wolf gave her coach an inkling of what was to come.
"She came up to me before the match and said, 'I'm on today,' and she showed it out there," Bradley said. "She was just totally focused."
Despite a solid 4-over-par round that produced a six-stroke victory, Wolf could have been even more dominant.
"I had one four-putt, and I missed five 3-footers," she said. "That was pretty rough. The tough thing today was mainly the putting."
Cusumano had a rough start to her day, but rebounded nicely with three birdies on the back nine to finish second.
"I went double, bogey, double. Not a pretty start," Cusumano said. "I just took a deep breath and was like, 'All right, here we can go. You can turn it around.' It all kind of worked out."
Westminster senior Margaret Moore bounced back from an uncharacteristic round of 101 four days ago at the Missouri-Illinois River Challenge to shoot an 83 on Wednesday and tie MICDS junior Darby Hobbs for third place.
"The course always wins, but today it didn't beat me up as bad as it likes to," Moore said. "I had a shaky start, but it's my senior year, and I knew I just had to put it together. It's a mental challenge."
The other two Wildcats to qualify for next week's sectional were Ciara Younger (93) and Maggie Mauze (96).
Villa Duchesne's five sectional qualifiers were Emily Cataldi (84), Callie Frey (89), Morgan Schlegel (92), Anna Reeves (95) and Libby Reeves (103).
"I thought we rose to the occasion. We played practically our normal round," said Saints coach Linda Potter, who returned only Frey from last year's state championship team. "Westminster has had a great record, and I figured this is how it would shake out."
MICDS finished third with a 372, but advanced four golfers, which is enough to qualify for team honors at the sectional.
That's actually the route Villa Duchesne took last season, although the Saints qualified five golfers to the 2010 sectional.
Besides Hobbs, the other three MICDS players to move on were Campbell Torchin (91), Abby Desai (95) and Madison Wrobley (103).
"The fact we had two of our girls, Darby Hobbs and Abby Desai, both shoot the best round they've ever shot for 18 holes is awesome," MICDS coach Steve Johnston said. "They're very happy and excited, and it's gonna be exciting to take them all there. Hopefully, we'll continue the good play next week."
The other sectional qualifiers from the Class 1 District 1 tournament are: Michaela Reynolds, Visitation, 90; Logan Otter, John Burroughs, 93; Jordan Leonard, John Burroughs, 97; Claire Schroeder, Borgia, 99; Josie Bunton, Barat, 101; Elizabeth Kirkman, Lutheran South, 101; Courtney Olson, Notre Dame, 101; Maryjoyce Gewalt, Visitation, 103; Katie Maxwell, Borgia, 103; Sadie Votruba, Duchesne, 103; Madisen Dorand, Visitation, 107; and Natalie Hunkins,Notre Dame, 107.
