Growing pains.

The Lady Kits golf team has started out the season to a slow 1-5 start. The Kits will try to turn their slow start around by playing well this weekend and then carrying that momentum into the Monday when they play New Trier.

“It’ll be a really good event for us to see where we are as a team coming into the end of conference play,” says senior captain, Morgan Maslauski.

Much of the Kits slow start is due to the lack of varsity experience on the team. The Kits return only five varsity starters this year, with much of last years players either graduating or retiring from competitive golf. Senior captain Morgan Maslauski, along with seniors Emilee Crabbe, Moira Mulhern, Samantha Ryan, and Emma Clary are the only returning players for the Kits.

One nice surprise for the Kits this season has been rising freshman Drew Patterson. Patterson, who played a lot this summer, is no stranger to competitive.

“Drew has really been a core piece of our team this year,” added Maslauski. “She usually comes in with one of the top scores.”

Drew played in local IJGA (Illinois Junior Golf Association) tournaments throughout the summer and placed very well in a several events. She tied for seventh place in the IJGA Regional #12 at Shepherd’s Crook and got eighth place IJGA Sectional #10 at Highland Park Country Club.

The Jacobs Invite, the tournament Kits will be playing in tomorrow, will be hosted at the Golf Club of Illinois. Located in Algonquin, Illinois, The Golf Club of Illinois presents many difficult obstacles for amateur golfers. The course is a par 71, par 35 on the front nine and par 36 on the back nine. The front nine is 2812 yards long from the white tees, the tees the girls will be playing from, and the back nine is 2833 yards adding up to 5645 total yards. It also has a course slope rating of 68.4/117 from the white tees.

The Kits will be matching up against several strong teams from the northwest suburbs. Dundee Crown, McHenry, Prairie Ridge, Johnsburg, Lake Zurich, the Lakes, and Jacobs will all be competing in the tournament. All schools have strong golf programs and will definitely give the Kits a challenge.