Sarah Armstrong carving out own golf niche at H-F

FLOSSMOOR | Following in the footsteps of an accomplished parent can be a daunting task.

Doing the same with a sibling isn't exactly a breeze, either. Sarah Armstrong is managing to handle the latter situation quite well, however.

Armstrong, a sophomore golfer at Homewood-Flossmoor, definitely has big spikes to fill: Her sister, Ashley, keyed a magnificent three-year run on the links for the Vikings, who won the 2009 Class AA championship and sandwiched it between a pair of runner-up finishes.

Ashley Armstrong has since moved on to Notre Dame, and former teammates Michelle Mayer (Illinois) and Ryann Gilley (Southern Illinois) also graduated in the spring.

That meant a significant makeover was in store for H-F this fall, but Sarah Armstrong was actually more nervous prior to her freshman season.

"It was harder last year because people were like, 'Oh well, Sarah, she'll be 3 or 4 or 5 on the team and she really needs to do good at state,''' Sarah said. "Coming into high school with that expectation was hard.

"This year, we were kind of expected to not do good, so now that we're doing better, it's coming natural."

The Vikings couldn't bag another regional title Wednesday at Coyote Run, but they did finish second to Marian Catholic and qualify their entire squad for Monday's Marist Sectional.

Armstrong led the effort with a team-low round of 81, which continued a late-season surge for her.

"It was never like everything was off, but I patched up what was wrong," she said. "Toward the end (of the regular season), we really started to concentrate in practice on what we needed to get done, and I really fixed my swing."

Armstrong's best score is a 78, and H-F coach Rick Pavinato believes there are more good things in store for her.

"The more she's played, the better she's gotten," said Pavinato, who cites putting as Armstrong's biggest area of improvement.

He also wants people to remember that Sarah isn't a clone of her older sister.

"They're not twins and one's not a robot of the other -- they each have their own personality," Pavinato said. "I think Sarah was very happy that Ashley had the success she had, and I think Ashley was very supportive of Sarah."

Sarah confirmed her coach's opinion.

"It was a little scary (following Ashley) -- even a girl in my (regional) group called me 'Ashley' on accident," Sarah said. "People ask her, 'Do you feel bad that your sister's compared to you?', but she sticks up for me with all that stuff.

"She's really helped me ignore everyone and be my own person. It would get me shaken a lot when I got compared to her, but we're best friends. I love her and she's helped me become a better player."