The day Allee Rose Booten has dreamed of for years finally arrived Tuesday.
And the Notre Dame-West Burlington freshman girls golfer made sure she made the best of it.
Booten, who has torn up the youth circuit for years, made her varsity debut during the Nike Invitational at Flint Hills Municipal Golf Course.
If Booten was feeling any nerves, she certainly didn’t show it on a windy, warm day.
All she did was fire a 2-over-par 73 to win medalist honors by five shots over Highland’s Emersyn Schuldtz.
It is the start of what looks to be a sensational career for one of the top young golfers in the state.
“It’s amazing. The environment is super cool. The girls I played with are so nice. I hope I get to play with them again in the future,” Booten said. “It’s so cool being able to play at the high school level. It’s a cool environment for sure.”
Booten carded birdies on six, 13 and 17 after a bit of a rocky start due to a rain shower which forced a delay at the start.
Booten was able to shake off the early adversity.
“It started off with some rain and then we had a little delay. It was pretty windy at times, but overall it was a pretty nice day,” Booten said. “At the first tee box I felt those jitters. And then obviously waiting didn’t help.”
Booten, who has an extensive background in the sport, is benefiting from the mental aspects she is learning from second-year ND-WB coach John Neil.
“He’s super cool,” Booten said. “He helps me keep my head in the game and keep moving on, not doubting myself.”
ND-WB finished sixth as a team with a 441. Highland posted a winning score of 370, 21 shots better than runner-up Fort Madison. Winfield-Mount Union was third with a 408, Van Buren County was fourth with a 435 and Mount Pleasant was fifth with a 438.
Also for the Nikes, Paige Kramer shot a 121, Abby Ritter had a 122 and Sophia Blindt carded a 125,
“Just going out and having fun. I just try to go out and play golf,” Booten said. “It’s definitely going to be fun. I’m going to try to recruit some freshmen. It’s going to be a cool experience.”
BOYS
The Notre Dame-West Burlington boys team got off to a solid start to its season, finishing fourth in the team standings with a 331. Central Lee won with a 311, followed by Mount Pleasant with a 322 and Winfield-Mount Union with a 323. Van Buren County was fifth with a 336, Danville was sixth with a 338 and Highland was seventh with a 395.
Sam Yonker led he Nikes with a 79.
“I had two birdies today. I birdied six and then I birdied 12, too. I stuck it really close on 12 and made the putt,” Yonker said. “I played pretty well. My back nine I played pretty good. I kind of fell apart on the front nine. That’s okay. I made some good up and downs today. That’s was the best part of my game most of the day.”
ND-WB sophomore Kohen Dietzenbach had his share of memorable moments on his way to an 81. He nearly holed out from 100 yards for eagle on 16, then nearly picked off his dad with an errant tee shot on 10.
“I had an eagle chip from a hundred yards out that was an inch from the hole on hole 16. I had a tap-in birdie. That’s always a good feeling getting a birdie,” Dietzenbach said. “It was pretty windy, so keeping the ball in play was tough. I hit a lot of irons off the tee which is something you never want to do. But it’s better to just play it safe.”
Also for the Nikes, Kael Cook had an 85, Kale Eggar shot an 86, Ari Jennings fired an 89 and Hudson Neally shot a 91.
“It’s fun,” Yonker said. “We’ve got some young guys coming up and some familiar faces, too. It’s been really good.”