The All-Racine County high school girls golf team may look a bit familiar.
Actually, very familiar.
Eight of the 10 first- and second-team selections for this year’s All-County team are repeat players from last year, led by Player of the Year Sarah Busey. The only two who were not on last year’s teams were Prairie senior Danielle Palmen, who could not play because of an injury, and Case senior Bryn Glennon.
There’s something else very rare about this year’s teams — all five first-team players are seniors and eight of the top 10 players will be graduating.
Here are capsule looks at the five first-team selections:
Sarah Busey
SCHOOL: St. Catherine’s
GRADE: Senior
HONORS: Won WIAA Division 2 individual championship. ... Four-time All-County first-team selection. ... Selected Player of the Year for the second time in three years. ... High Academic Honors; Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin All-Academic selection.
NOTABLE: Averaged 37.75, third-best in county history and didn’t have a round higher than 78. … Shot rounds of 75 and 76 for a 151 total at University Ridge in Verona to win Division 2 title. ... Became the first Racine golfer since Molly Redfearn of Park (Division 1) in 2001 to win an individual state title. ... Tied for second at St. Catherine’s Sectional with a 78. ... Won Jefferson Regional with a 75. ... Shot 77 at Rivermoor Golf Club in Waterford to win third straight Racine County Invitational title. ... Finished first in six of 10 individual competitions and second in two others. ... Set tournament record of 61 at the Elkhorn Scramble Aug. 17. ... Started season with a 2-under-par 70 at Oak Creek Invitational at Oakwood Park to lead the team to a school-record score of 352. ... Scored par or better on 70.6 percent of her holes in competition. ... Busey is co-captain of the Angels’ cheerleading squad and is involved with the Youth As Resources program through the United Way of Racine County.
COLLEGE PLANS: Busey received a scholarship to play golf for Santa Clara (Calif.) University.
QUOTABLE: “Sarah’s command of her full swing is as complete as I have seen in a high school player,” St. Catherine’s coach Dave Arkenberg said. “She managed to make bogey or better 98.9 percent of the time because she was very rarely out of position, and made good decisions when she was.”
Taitum Beck
SCHOOL: Waterford
GRADE: Senior
HONORS: Southern Lakes Conference Player of the Year. ... team captain and most valuable golfer.
NOTABLE: Averaged 39.7, a drop of 2.4 strokes from last year. … Beck is just second Waterford girl to qualify for the WIAA State Tournament, following Breanna Bertschinger in 2014. … Beck finished 14th in the Division 1 field at state with rounds of 80 (despite a 10 on one hole) and 79 for 159. … Shot 81 and won playoff at WIAA Division 1 Wilmot Sectional to earn first trip to state after near misses the previous two years. … Medalist at Catholic Memorial Regional with an 80. … Led Wolverines to unbeaten SLC dual meet record and first conference title since 1980. … Was medalist in every meet she played in except the Racine County Invitational (fourth), sectional (fifth) and state (14th). … Set records at Badger Par-3 Invitational (62), Mukwonago Invitational (personal-best 73) and Taylor Clarke Invitational (77). … Beat All-County Player of the Year Sarah Busey at Brian Schroeder Invitational with a 74.
COLLEGE PLANS: Beck wants to play golf in college and has received several offers.
QUOTABLE: “Taitum’s season is easily one of the best I’ve ever been a part of,” first-year Waterford coach Robb Shales said. “With her athletic ability and personality, she brought a dynamic to our team that will be irreplaceable next season. She’s a great person and a class act.”
Sarah Schuster
SCHOOL: Union Grove
GRADE: Senior
OTHER HONORS: First-team All-Southern Lakes Conference, High Honor Roll.
NOTABLE: Averaged 41.1 overall and 38 in SLC dual meets. … Shot 79 at WIAA Division 1 Wilmot Sectional to lead Broncos to second place and to their second straight WIAA State Tournament berth. … Came back from an 89 on the first day at state with a 78 to tie for 24th at 167 and lead Union Grove to 10th place. … Best round was a 77 to finish fifth at the Janesville Parker Invitational.
COLLEGE PLANS: Schuster plans on attending a four-year college, but is undecided on which school.
QUOTABLE: “Sarah is one of the best players I have had,” Broncos coach Eric Swanson said. “She has always hit the ball really far, but she has worked really hard to improve other areas of her game and it really paid off this year. She has an incredible work ethic and is just a great kid.”
Rachel Gentile
SCHOOL: Prairie
GRADE: Senior
OTHER HONORS: Four-year varsity player; three-time All-County first-team selection; three-time Golf Coaches Association of Wisconsin All-Academic selection; team co-captain.
NOTABLE: Averaged 41.7. … Shot 85-91—176 at WIAA State Tournament to tie for 13th and help the Hawks win their second straight Division 2 state title with 687, 50 strokes ahead of runner-up Spooner. … Shot 84 at Jefferson Regional and 85 at St. Catherine’s Sectional to help Hawks win regional and sectional titles. … Helped Prairie set school records of 160 for nine holes (at Thomas More triangular) and 327 for 18 holes (at Janesville Parker Invitational). … Played No. 1 position for last three years.
COLLEGE PLANS: Gentile plans to study orthodontics; she is undecided on which college.
QUOTABLE: “Rachel is a very consistent, driven player who improved her game each year,” Prairie coach Carrie Massey said. “She is very level-headed and has been a steady player for the past four years.”
Danielle Palmen
SCHOOL: Prairie
GRADE: Senior
NOTABLE: Averaged 41.9, second-best for the Hawks, after missing all of last season because of an ACL injury suffered playing basketball. … Lowered average from 46.2 as second-team All-County selection in 2014. … Shot 82-88—170 at WIAA State Tournament to finish eighth and miss a medal by two shots. … Had low round of 78 this season.
COLLEGE PLANS: Palmen is considering playing basketball and possibly golf in college; she is undecided on which college.
QUOTABLE: “Danielle played very consistently,” Prairie coach Carrie Massey said. “Danielle led by example this year and was very motivated to do so. She was a key player for Prairie and its success this year.”
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