Mundelein measures up in Warren regional
Mundelein's boys golf team finished fourth in the North Suburban Conference meet last Tuesday at Willow Glen Golf Course.
The Mustangs left that meet a bit discouraged about their performance, certainly wanting a better outcome in regional play Tuesday afternoon
Mundelein got what it wanted, producing a superior effort in an outstanding field and to take top team honors in the Class 3A Warren regional. It's Mundelein's second straight regional title.
Mundelein carded the top spot with 311, 2 shots ahead of Lake Forest (313). Stevenson shot 321 at Bittersweet Golf Club in Gurnee to grab the final sectional team qualifying spot.
"When you switch the regional up and bring more North Shore schools in the mix, it suddenly gets tougher," Mundelein coach Todd Parola said. "It's unexpected, but we were hoping to play well. I saw a different sense of purpose this past week in practice and had a feeling we would play better. Hopefully we can continue and go into uncharted waters. We've never had a team go down, as a team, to state."
The Mustangs were led by Nick Chuma and Ryan Magee as each had 77s. Right behind were Jeff Lee (78) and John Lentz (79).
"I thought I had a pretty good round," Chuma said. "Mostly, the tee shots are the hardest part about this course. If you don't hit the fairway, you can be in a hazard, the trees or the rough. I think I shot well with my score."
Mundelein, Lake Forest and Stevenson will compete in the Lake Forest sectional at Lake Bluff Golf Course on Monday.
"The main goal was to get through the regional," Stevenson coach John Rueth said, "When you step up here, anybody can have a bad day. This course, if you hit two bad shots, your whole season can be done.
"We didn't play our best. But we advanced, and that's the main thing."
The Patriots' Kevin Chin and Jason Gohde each had 78s, while Kamaren Sandhu shot a 79 and Will Sebastian added an 86.
Jack Garrity (74) of Lake Forest beat Noah Apter (74) of Highland Park on the second playoff hole to earn top medalist honors.
Warren's Orlando Avila will be making his first trip to the sectional. He shot an 84 to force a tie for the final individual qualifying spot with Carmel Catholic's Mike Roy. In a playoff that was decided on the second hole. Avila defeated Roy to move on.
"There was a lot of pressure, and I've never been in a playoff before," Avila said. "It feels great to do it, and I'm fortunate to beat him. I'm pretty nervous about going to the sectional, I've never been there before. But it's exciting as well."
Others to qualify as individually included Apter (74), Deerfield's Jason Krugman (75) and Eric Bagg (77), Ari Herzog of Highland Park (78), Zion-Benton's Jeremy Schwab (79), Warren's Karl Tolentino (80), Libertyville's Jacob Mueller (80), Tyler Anderson of Carmel Catholic (81) and Deerfield's Sam Gascoine (83).
"I just hope to improve in my next match," said Anderson after his qualifying round. "It was a tough course and I had a tough time playing it. Every hole here you can hit the ball out of bounds or into the water. It's exciting to move on, and I'm hoping to do better at Lake Bluff."