D-Izzy-ing postseason: Red-hot Hassebrock, SHG cruise into girls' state golf meet
Izzy Hassebrock can be excused if her run through the girls’ postseason golf tournament has seemed like a blur.
Starting with her back-nine in the Class 1A Auburn Regional at Edgewood Golf Club, the Sacred Heart-Griffin junior has practically torn up the courses in her way.
Hassebrock went 4-under over the final nine holes to finish with a 4-under-par 67 to earn medalist honors.
“That was fun because that was the best score that she’s had,” SHG golf coach Bob Ralph said. "She was 2-under going into No. 9 and she double-bogeyed that. Then she just went right back into good ball-striking mode, made birdies on 11 and 12 and made two more birdies on 15 and 16. She just made good shot after good shot. That was the best she’s ever shot, she was 4-under and it was fun to watch her do that. She knows what she’s doing when it’s happening. It’s fun to observe.”
At the 1A Roxana Sectional at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River, she continued scorching her competition with three birdies and one eagle for a 3-under 68.
Again, she was crowned medalist.
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Both times, SHG won the team title to advance Hassebrock, along with her full team, to the 1A state meet at Red Tail Golf Course in Decatur, which begins today.
“This year at state, I’m just going to be really proud of our team no matter what,” Hassebrock said. “I just want everyone to go out there, play up to their ability and have a good time.”
Best golf of her life
Hassebrock, who grew up with Panther Creek Country Club in her backyard, started playing the sport at 4 years old. Later, she joined a junior league and started making her name known in the Drysdale Junior Golf Tournament.
Ralph said Hassebrock is perhaps at her best right now. She couldn’t have picked a better time.
“I think she’s gotten comfortable,” Ralph said of the change. “She’s a really good golfer, she just hasn’t had the success that comes with being a really good ball-striker. She’s gotten comfortable with being really good.
“She’s always had the ability to hit the ball really well and put together a bunch of scores; she just hadn’t done it. Now she’s doing it, I think she’s comfortable with that and I think she’s doing a really good job of it.”
Hassebrock thought back to that double bogey that brought her back to even at Edgewood. She figured out what happened and corrected it before it could snowball out of control.
“It definitely got in my head a little bit,” she said. “I think the reason I double-bogeyed that hole was because I started going too fast, I started realizing what my score was and I just kind of thought too much a little bit there. I think I took the time to reset, refocus and I powered through the back nine with a new mindset.”
Team effort
Ralph has incredible praise for his entire team. Even his No. 6 golfer, senior Meg Golitko, has watched her scores fall dramatically from 140s for an 18-hole round to scores of 108 in regionals and 119 at sectionals, he said.
Sectional results Williamsville's Will Seman, SHG's Izzy Hassebrock lead area golfers at sectionals
Freshman Maddy Johnston was the second-lowest SHG golfer in both postseason rounds with an 83 and a 78, respectively. Sophomore Natalie Zak and junior Macie Petropoulos each shot an 80 at sectionals after Zak’s 85 and Petropoulos’ 86 in Auburn. Layden Tamblin had an 87 in Auburn and an 89 at Wood River.
“The thing about this group, the top four — Izzy, Maddy, Natalie and Macie — have all been the best players on our team at one event or another,” Ralph said. “I think five out of our six players have all shot the best rounds of their lives in a competitive tournament. They’ve all gradually gotten better so I would say they’ve fed off each other’s success.”
Hassebrock, who also plays basketball for the Cyclones, said golf is a unique sport when it comes to a team sport. Unlike in basketball, where the bench claps when a teammate makes a big play or players on the court will give a high-five, each golfer on the team is in a different group.
“On the course, you really don’t have the ability to know how everybody else is doing so you just have to trust them — which I trust this team very much,” Hassebrock said, “and at the end, you get together and see how everyone did.”
Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Hassebrock's postseason run carries SHG into girls' state golf
