Harkins steps on pedal

Lance Booth – lbooth@shawmedia.com Lexi Harkins of Crystal Lake Central tees off Wednesday during the McHenry County Girls Golf Tournament at Boone Creek in Bull Valley. Harkins won by 11 strokes with a 3-under-par 67. (Lance Booth ())

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BULL VALLEY – In Lexi Harkins’ case, exercising a double standard is not necessarily bad.

For most of the competitors at the McHenry County Girls Golf Tournament, a first-round 1-over-par 36 would have been a dream score. For the Crystal Lake Central sophomore, who consistently has been under par, Tuesday’s round was slightly disappointing.

“When we got here today, I said, ‘Are you mad today?’ ” Central coach Kathy Speaker said. “[Harkins] said, ‘Yes.’ And I said, ‘Good.’ ”

Harkins fired four birdies, along with five pars, for a 4-under 31 Wednesday at Boone Creek for a two-round 67, breaking her own tournament record from last year by four strokes and winning the county title by 11. Central also won the team title for back-to-back years with 314. Prairie Ridge (328) was second and Marian Central (345) was third.

“My approach shots were definitely a lot closer today,” Harkins said. “It was really exciting the whole time. I’m really happy [with that 31].”

One highlight of Harkins’ round came on the par-4 No. 5 after she came up short of the

green by 20 feet on her wedge. She then chipped the ball in for a birdie.

“I misjudged the distance,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it went in. I wasn’t even thinking about that.”

Two holes later, Prairie Ridge’s Robin Manarik almost chipped in as well. Manarik shot a 78 for second place, and teammate Delainey Peterson shot an 80 for third.

“My chipping and putting was really good, and that helped me out a lot,” said Manarik, a junior. “My drives and approach shots were flaring a little bit. I was better at that yesterday.”

Manarik thought she had put her chip from the fringe into the cup on No. 7.

“I think it left a dent in the side of the hole,” she said. “My goal was to be in the 70s for the tournament, so I’m happy with this.”

Central’s other three scores came from Amalia Emma (81), Larisa Luloff (82) and Ann Bandolik (84), who finished fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively.

“I was a little worried after we shot 159 yesterday,” Speaker said. “In general, this round [155] seems much better.”