Lim, Barrington soak up a state-qualifying success
Timothy Lim wasn't alone in having to deal with the rainy, foggy and wet conditions as the day went on Monday in the Class 3A Lake Forest boys golf sectional.
But it sure didn't seem to affect him as much.
The Barrington sophomore used a steady approach to get past the weather conditions and card an even-par 72 on the 6,589-yard course at Lake Bluff.
"I just stayed calm throughout the entire round," Lim said. "I stayed within my entire routine. I was just thinking about the next shot. Toward the end of the round it started to rain. I just stuck to my routine and just tried to play golf. I didn't worry about the rain. I just tried to make the rain my friend, and not my enemy, so I can play with it."
Lim's effort helped Barrington shoot 299 for the second straight time as the Broncos earned a spot in the Class 3A state touranment. They finished second, behind Lake Forest (293) and ahead of St. Charles East (306) - or at least it looks that way, pending the official conclusion of the sectional.
Play was suspended Monday after the course eventually become unplayable, with about 80 percent of the field having completed their rounds. There were two early stoppages of play due to lightning and heavy rain.
Those who didn't finish Monday will try to do so Tuesday, so the individual state qualifiers list will have to wait until then.
The Broncos shot the same team score they produced in the regional at McHenry Country Club last Tuesday. On Monday, the other couting scores for Barrington were Burke Barsamian (75), Kevin Altenberger (76) and Joey Batliner (76).
"We've pretty much have been around that number all year long," Barrington coach Mike Kallenbach said. "It's been pretty consistent. We've been to state before, and each team is different. These five guys didn't make state last year. We do have a young team still, and they had their first exposure (to state-qualifying pressue) in the sectional. It's a different beast. They haven't been there before. With the emotions, tenseness, it can be tough mentally."
Lake Forest appears to have the sectional title in hand and will reach the state field after missing out last year. The Scouts were led by Quinn Gaughen with a 2-under par 70, Mac Montagne (73), Elliot Georges (74) and Jack Garrity (76).
"It was a great day and we've been ready to play here literally all year," said Lake Forest coach Jim Matheson, whose team was second in both the North Suburban Conference and the recent regional touranment. "We do go out to win every time we show up. We weren't far off in either of them. It was a couple of shots here and there. Just going back to our home course helped."
St. Charles East managed to get the final team spot. Though the Saints tied Stevenson at 306, the Saints had the edge in the fifth-player score, 79 to 84.
"We were sent up north, and the last time we were sent this way we won in Glencoe and finished second in the state." said St. Charles East coach John Stock, who will lead a team to state for the sixth time in 15 years. "We came up here figuring Barrington had a great year, Lake Forest had home course advantage ... I figured third place was up for grabs, we should be right there. We had five scores under 80 and had a great battle with Stevenson."
The Saints' counting scores came from Colin Johnson (75), Daniel Haugen (76), Kyle McWeeney (77) and Gary King (78).
Kameron Sandhu led Stevenson with a 2-over 74 and will likely be an individual qualifier. Other Patriots scores came from Jason Gohde (75), Luke Feder (76) and Kevin Chin (81).
"We battled today and did really well," said Stevenson coach John Rueth. "You lecture all the time - it comes down to one shot, you can't lose your focus. There's 306 shots, and everybody can find a shot here and there along the way. From where we started at the beginning to where they are now says a lot."
Some of the best individual scores so far came from Ethan Farnam (73) and Cameron Karney (76) of Prairie Ridge, Justin Lenzini (75) of Jacobs, Connor Hoyle (75) of DeKalb and Adam Norwood (76) of Rockton Hononegah.