Boys golf: Prospect comes up big in regional

Prospect senior Nick Tenuta followed up a spectacular round in last week's Mid-Suburban League meet with another solid showing at Tuesday's Mount Prospect 3A boys golf regional tournament.

Tenuta carded a 78 at Mount Prospect Golf Club, and teammate Robert Garmoe shot 76 to lead the Knights to a second-place regional finish and a spot in next Monday's Loyola sectional.

"This is big," said Tenuta. "Not many teams make it out of regionals, so it's a big deal."

It was only eight short days ago that Tenuta fired an unheard of 67 - 5 shots under par, and 6 strokes better than his nearest competitor - to win the MSL individual championship.

"My putter was working and I was chipping well," said the senior of his stellar day at the MSL title match.

Prospect also tied with Barrington for the MSL team crown on that day, and Tenuta said that was more important to him than any individual accolade.

"It's a lot more fun," said Tenuta, " to accomplish something as a team."

Maine South won Tuesday's regional with a score of 316, just 2 shots better than Prospect (318), while Hersey (325) claimed the final team sectional qualification on a day where most players said the course was playing "very tough."

"This is one of the best (Hersey) team scores in what I call the 'major championships' - the regionals, sectionals and state finals," said long-time Huskies coach Dan Caporusso. "It was personal bests today for Joey (Carlson, who finished at 80), and Josh (Glassman, who shot 77)."

Glassman, a senior, said that all year long he wasn't playing up to his potential, but finally put it together at the regional.

"I was losing focus during the season," said Glassman. "I'd screw up and hit a bad shot and then I'd start thinking that my round was over.

"Coming out today I made my mind up just to keep going, no matter what, and see how it turned out."

Glassman had 37 on the front nine with a birdie, then scored another birdie on the back nine when on the par 14th hole he hit his drive right down middle within 100 yards of the green, chipped to about 3 feet from the hole and drained the putt.

"The course was in good shape and the weather was perfect today," the senior said. "Now I've just got to do (at the sectional meet) exactly what I came out and did today."

Jack Curcio of Maine South won medalist honors by shooting 75, while Garmoe's great day earned him a tie for second place.

Kyle Kornblum of Rolling Meadows also posted a 77 to tie Glassman for the fourth-place medal, but it was bittwersweet for the senior as the Mustangs finished fourth overall, just 4 strokes away from a team qualification to Glencoe Golf Club, where the Loyola sectional will be held.

"I made a couple of long putts today," said Kornblum, "and that boosted my confidence, but I'm extremely disappointed that we didn't get out as a team."

Kornblum did see a few teammates move on as well though, as Mustangs Danny Luhan (82), Chris Cho (84) and Matt O'Grady (86) were among the top 10 individual qualifiers.

Also advancing to the next round in the state series will be Nzelu Maitha (85) and Dan Meister (86) from Schaumburg, as will Kevin Andjulis (83) and Tyler Mercurio (86) of Conant.

Matt Mustari of Maine West earned the final individual spot with an 87, while senior Nick Tudor from Schaumburg said he had a feeling of "relief" after carding a sparkling 80 to move on.

"My iron play killed me today," said Tudor, who was not satisfied with his score. "I didn't hit many greens in regulation. A lot of up and downs today.

"The greens were tough. The slopes were ridiculous, and the cleats were making everything mushy so it was difficult to get a line."

Jason Deans (83) and Michael Thomas (85) made contributions to Hersey's clutch performance, while Charlie Busch and Kevin Placko hit the scorebook for Prospect with 82s.

Now it's on the sectional tournament, and Tenuta knows it will be a difficult test with the likes of perennial contenders New Trier, Loyola and Lyons in the field in the hopes of making it to the 'Den" in Bloomington for the state finals.

"We'll be the underdogs," said Tenuta. "We've just got to come out and prove we can play."