Lauren Beaudreau was bound to be a state champion. She had been working towards this goal her entire life. Beaudreau re-joined the Benet Academy varsity golf team after taking a year off to play in two national invitationals: the American Junior Golf Association Championship in South Carolina and the Swinging Skirts Invitational in California. She finished in the top 20 in both tournaments and perfected her game along the way. After spending time competing with some of the best junior golfers in the world, she returned to Benet’s varsity golf team for her senior year.

Coach Michael Bremner recalls that the most impressive part of the Benet senior’s regular season wasn’t improvement in any particular area so much as her unwavering consistency. Throughout the season, she played every 18 and 36 hole contest under par. She only shot over par twice in nine-hole rounds, tallying a 37 and 39, respectively. Beaudreau described the state tournament as different from her regular season competitions in the way that it was one of the more challenging courses that she had come up against. This course had the longest yardage that she had competed on, but it set up in her favor because she was able to use her driver often, which is one of the strongest parts of her game.  

The IHSA State Golf Tournament was held at Hickory Point Golf Course in Forsyth and Decatur, Illinois. As part of the Class 2A division, Beaudreau competed on October 12 and 13 in undesirable conditions. Friday’s variable rainfall in 36 degree weather soon turned into heavy snowfall on holes 11-16, but this only encouraged her to do better. She went on to birdie on four of the next five holes.

“While some of her playing opponents began to fade, she grew stronger in the tough conditions,” Coach Bremner said. “It was really impressive to see.”

Beaudreau finished on Friday with a four-shot lead going into Saturday. She kicked off the day with two birdies on the first three holes and was able to hold onto victory with a one stroke lead. She finished the tournament with a 67-73-140, which was four under par. Her parents joined Coaches Bremner and Carlevato to help celebrate her championship win, as well as teammates Caroline Wing and Missy Oei.

After a redeeming win in the state championship, Beaudreau is prepared to enter University of Notre Dame, where she will be competing under a golf scholarship, on a high note. Her ultimate dream is to become a professional golfer, and she believes Notre Dame will help her achieve this goal. Both of her coaches are excited for her, “Being that Notre Dame is the alma mater of both her coaches, we are both thrilled for her that she is going there: her dream school since she was a kid. She is a tough competitor, a hard worker, and a wonderful kid…the kind that is really easy to be happy for!”