Excellent postseasons boost SJ-R girls golfers of the year Hassebrock, Easley

Having just won the Class 1A girls state golf championship, Sacred Heart-Griffin junior Izzy Hassebrock had almost an anticlimactic trip home.

Hassebrock sailed through the regional at Edgewood Golf Course in Auburn with a 67 and fired a 69 at Belk Park in Wood River to take the medalist honor in sectionals. At state, she shot 147 over the two days — a 4-over 76 and a 1-under-par 71 — to take home the individual title at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.

After the awards ceremony, Hassebrock got in her car — alone — and made the drive along Interstate 72 from Decatur to Springfield. She put on music, did a media interview but made the trip in solitude.

“I actually drove myself to state so I drove home alone,” said The State Journal-Register's Large School Girls Golfer of the Year , who added she wore her medal around her neck on the drive west. “I’m a really big music person so I got to enjoy my music with no stress knowing I did everything I could.”

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How did she spend her first hours back in Springfield? With her team, which finished with the second-place trophy.

“We had a celebration for the whole team at my coach’s house,” Hassebrock said. “I went home, got changed and then went to that.”

Hassebrock joined Springfield High’s Tracy Tate as the only individual girls golf champions in Springfield history. Tate won back-to-back championships in 1980-81.

“I don’t think it was a feeling I could’ve imagined until I was in that position,” Hassebrock said.

She birdied her first hole on the final day at state and gained confidence to lift her to the title — despite a double-bogey later in the round.

“She kind of just kept her composure, hit really good golf shots when she needed to and deservedly won,” SHG coach Bob Ralph said at the time.

Some golfers don’t look at the scores of the competitors, but Hassebrock said that helped her keep the goal in sight.

“There were times I’d look at the leaderboard and I’d see what I needed to do but I think sometimes, I tend to respond better under pressure,” she said. “I think it helped me know what I had to do and it helped me get it done.”

Hassebrock doesn’t get too many chances to work on her game during the winter due to the basketball season. But when spring returns, she will be back on the course, attempting a repeat to join Tate in that category as well. But she knows that might be even more difficult than winning the first one.

“The pressure can be a lot,” Hassebrock said. “I’m proud of our team and I think we all have such a great opportunity to get a lot better next year. I’m very excited for next season.”

SHG will return four other state golfers: freshman Maddy Johnston, junior Macie Petropoulos and sophomores Layden Tamblin and Natalie Zak.

Athens’ senior Catalina Easley finished ninth at state with rounds of 79 and 77 for a 156 to win The State Journal-Register's Small School Girls Golfer of the Year award. She was second at regionals with a 75 at Edgewood and fourth at the Belk Park sectional with a 1-over 73. Attempts to reach Easley for this award were not returned.

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: SJR girls golfers of the year: state champion Hassebrock, Easley earn honors