The honors will be flowing in this week for Maddie Hurt, IC Catholic’s newest state champion.
Hurt made history on Saturday, Oct. 17, by becoming the school’s first Class A girls golf champion and medalist after winning a two-hole, sudden-death playoff at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.
Hurt was scheduled to be recognized at IC’s girls volleyball match Tuesday, Oct. 20, against Riverside-Brookfield. She is set to be honored again during the final regular-season home football game on Friday, Oct. 23, against Fenton at Plunkett Field.
Her title didn’t come easy. The junior from Elmhurst had to score birdies on both of her playoff holes to hold off Rochester senior Morgan Savage. On the first playoff hole at the par-4 10th, Savage’s approach shot landed inches away from the cup. Hurt sank a five-foot putt to stay alive.
She clinched the title with a 16-foot putt on the par-4 11th hole, while Savage took a par.
“I knew I had a shot (to win),” Hurt, who also won the regional and the sectional, said. “My game now has been really solid — my short game, my putting — even in the playoffs.”
Hurt had no idea on Saturday that she was even in the running to win the state championship when she came off the course. Because cold weather was expected, tournament officials determined that the second round would have a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start.
Savage and Hurt played in separate groups on different parts of the course and were unable to follow each other’s scoring.
“When I got off No. 18, my mom (Julie) gave me a hug and asked, ‘Do you know where you’re at?'” Hurt said. “I had no idea. She said I came off 18 tied for first.”
After the regulation scores were tabulated, Hurt and Savage immediately headed out to the playoff tee.
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Hurt (79-73 —152) had the lowest score of the second round and parred six of her final seven holes in regulation. She was tied for fourth after the first round, five shots behind Lauren Chappell of Charleston. Chappell, a two-time champion, tied for fourth.
“Maddie is quite a young lady,” IC Catholic coach Don Sujack said. “She’s very competitive, very calm, very even. This was a great experience for her.”
Since IC does not have a girls golf team, Hurt plays with the boys during the regular season and hits from the boys’ tees.
She started playing golf when she was 9 and joined her father, Jay, on trips to the driving range. She embraced the gameand takes lessons with The Players Service academy in Oak Brook, while also competing at offseason tournaments with the Illinois Junior Golf Association.
“I like how it’s an individual sport and I can really drive the ball as far as I want,” Maddie Hurt said. “My parents have paid for so many lessons and I’ve had great coaches.”
She is the second girls athlete at IC to win an individual state championship. Linda Tully won back-to-back Class A championships in the 800-meter run from 1979-80.
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