QND girls golf team’s steady play leaves regional field in a fog as Raiders four-peat as champions

MOUNT STERLING, Ill. — From the moment the Quincy Notre Dame girls golf team left the school parking lot Thursday morning until the Raiders reached Rolling Greens Golf Course, a dense fog made visibility a challenge.

Still, the Raiders never lost sight of their goal.

A four-peat.

The fog forced an adjustment to the tee times for the Class 1A Brown County Regional, but it didn’t interrupt QND’s rhythm. The Raiders had three players in the top six individually, including sophomore Belle Boudreau taking medalist honors, and won their fourth straight regional title by posting a 362 team score.

“We had a good day,” QND coach Jason Knuffman said. “It’s pretty remarkable how consistent they are day to day, and that’s how they played. They were very steady.”

Macomb finished second at 391 and Illini Central was third with a 417.

“We were delayed maybe 20 or 30 minutes because of the fog, but it wasn’t terrible,” Knuffman said. “It was pretty soggy out there, but the sun burned it off and I ended up with a pretty good sunburn at the end of the day.”

The top three teams head to Monday’s Class 1A Roxana Sectional at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River. The top three teams there advance to the state tournament.

“We feel like we took care of business at our regional,” Knuffman said. “We’ll tee off bright and early Monday and see what we can do.”

From the four regionals that feed into the Roxana Sectional, Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin posted the lowest team score, winning the Auburn Regional with a 321. Breese Central won the Alton Marquette Regional with a 359, and Nashville won the Carterville Regional with a 366.

“I think you’re going to see a lot of evenly matched teams,” Knuffman said. “I think it’s going to be super, super tight for the second and third spots behind SHG.”

The Raiders have the depth to get through.

Boudreau bookended her back nine with birdies, posting a 2-over 38 to finish at 81 and two strokes ahead of Illini Central’s Bailie Krause. QND junior Meredith Eversman shot an 88 to finish fifth, while junior Ellie Price was sixth with a 91.

Macomb had three players in the top 12 — senior Josie Calvert was eighth with a 93, while sophomore Brenlee Tibbitts was 10th with a 96 and senior Taryn Richey was 12th with a 99.

Five area golfers advanced as individuals. Brown County’s Jaelynn Schrimpf was seventh with a 92, while Southeastern junior Shelby Stout shot a 94, West Hancock senior Lillie Woodworth posted a 99, Liberty freshman Bryanna Troyer and West Hancock sophomore Lucy Woodworth both carded 104s.