Naperville North’s DVC streak reaches 32 victories
Raymond Knoll has never tasted defeat in a DuPage Valley Conference boys golf dual match.
If the Iowa-bound Naperville North senior plays as well as he did on Tuesday against Glenbard East, the Huskies may not lose again this fall.
Springbrook Golf Club was helpless against Knoll as the reigning junior state amateur champion put on yet another clinic by matching his career low with a 4-under 32.
The Knoll masterpiece enabled Naperville North to shoot level par as a team in its latest league triumph, a 144-169 victory over the Rams.
It was the 32nd consecutive conference victory for Naperville North (7-0, 5-0), which can make a clean sweep for the fifth straight year with wins over West Aurora and Naperville Central in coming weeks.
Glenbard East (0-4, 0-4) is still searching for its first win.
“It makes me feel awesome,” Knoll said of the Huskies’ perfect record during his four years on varsity.
On an afternoon with several signature moments, Knoll delivered his defining shot on the par-5 second when he launched a 3-wood from 240 yards — into the teeth of a significant wind — to within 3 feet.
The resulting eagle enabled Knoll to brush aside an uncharacteristic short miss for par at the fourth hole.
Knoll played his last five holes in near perfection, recording four straight 3s to end his day.
Of his two pars coming in, Knoll had aggressive birdie efforts sail by the hole, only to make the second efforts look like tap-ins.
“I felt good with the come-backers,” Knoll said of his putting.
On his last three par-4s, all of which resulted in birdies, Knoll appeared as if he were playing a video game with his pummeled drives and routine 1-putts for red numbers.
He nearly drove the sixth green, easily getting up and down from a greenside bunker, and the eighth and ninth holes were further compromised with second-shot wedges.
“I’ll take birdie any day on that hole,” Knoll said of the typically brutish front-nine closing hole at Springbrook. “Whenever (the sixth) hole is downwind, I will try to put it in that (front) bunker. I have gotten up and down both times this year.”
The latest Knoll gem was nothing Ryan Hantak has not witnessed before.
“Raymond Knoll is the best player I have ever seen in high school,” the Naperville North coach said. “And I have had a lot of great players.”
“I think (Knoll) shoots 32 every time we play them,” Glenbard East coach Chris Wienke said. “I root for him. He’s a great kid. You can’t not like him.”
Ben Martin shot a 36 and Michael Doherty a 37 for Naperville North; Brendan Kottman fired a 39 for the Huskies’ fourth score.
“I just try and play as well as I can when I get the chance,” said Martin, making the most of his second start this fall.
Greg Ludwig, Jeff Logan, Adam Donahue and Nick Knowles carded respective rounds of 39, 41, 44 and 45 for Glenbard East.