Thuroe etches name in IHSA golf books to cap stellar year

Iben Thuroe put on a clinic this past weekend at the Class A girls golf state tournament at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur.

The Mid-County senior Danish foreign-exchange student finished in a tie for second place by shooting a round-low, 2-over-par 74 on Saturday. In fact, Thuroe had the day’s lowest score throughout entire second round of the two-day tournament and led for the first 14 holes of Friday’s round as well.

If not for the final four holes of Thuroe’s first round, the senior could have won the state championship in just one year of playing high school golf. Thuroe has little to regret from this past weekend, but the 15th hole of Friday’s round did make her lose some sleep before her final round, Mid-County coach Dick Behringer said.

Thuroe took an eight on the par-4 hole after hitting back-to-back balls into a ditch, forcing two lateral drops. That hole took Thuroe out of the lead and stalled her momentum as she struggled on the last three holes, dropping to 16th place after Day 1.

“I think that hole threw her off her game a little bit,” Behringer said. “She might have lost a little bit of concentration, and she told me the next morning she spent Friday night thinking about that hole. That hole really killed her, but she came out on Saturday and ripped that course up.”

With a number of her teammates and her host family in attendance, Thuroe vaulted over 14 other golfers on the final day.

“Everything was working for her,” Behringer said. “It was a fantastic effort and everyone watching was amazed and excited to watch her play.”

As part of her student-exchange program, Thuroe will have to return to Denmark upon graduation this spring, but Behringer believes she might be back in the United States before too long.

“I know at least one college that has talked to me about Iben playing for their school,” Behringer said. “We still need to sit down and talk about what she wants to do, but I would imagine after what she did this weekend, there is going to be quite a bit of interest in Iben.”