St. Francis' Armbrust collects second tournament triumph

Luke Armbrust relishes the opportunity to compete against Class 3A schools in boys golf tournaments.

St. Francis' reigning Class 2A individual champion and Illinois recruit followed a level-par 36 on the back nine - his opening nine holes at White Pines Golf Club - withs a 2-under 32 at the Bensenville course on his inward nine.

The lone player to break 70 at the 25-team Fenton Invitational on Saturday, Armbrust won his second major tournament this fall with a 68.

"I just know that we can compete with the best," Armbrust said. "Today I hit the ball really well off the tee. I put myself in almost all of the fairways. It's a great feeling knowing our school is competing against schools with a lot of kids."

The Armbrust performance proved to be an omen for players from his hometown.

Two shots separated the top four programs for the team title.

But Wheaton Warrenville South also illuminated the advantage of having returning state experience.

Joe Donzelli, Jack Lillig, Cooper Kohout and Justin Seymour had the distinction of being members of the only team to have all four players break 80.

The seniors' collective play on the outward nine - one 34 and two 35s - resulted in a first-place 305 team total for the Tigers.

Maine South defeated York on the fifth card for runner-up after the two schools tied at 306.

DeKalb was fourth at 307, followed by Neuqua Valley at 309.

St. Francis (313), Marmion (315), Lake Park (318), Whitney Young (321) and Metea Valley (322) rounded out the top 10.

Donzelli was third in a scorecard playoff with his 2-over 72.

"The front nine played a little easier today," Donzelli said. "It was a little shorter than the back. We all played well today."

Lillig, Kohout and Seymour, all of whom played with Donzelli for the Tigers last fall in Bloomington at the Class 3A finals, had respective rounds of 76, 78 and 79.

"We're trying to come back this year and make it back down (to state)," Lillig said. "We have been working really hard. This is a big win for us."

"We were inspired," said WW South coach Jimmy Selleck, whose squad won its second significant tournament this year. "I knew we were off to a decent start. It was cold when we started. We warmed up."

York did not have a senior among its four counting scores as sophomore Joshua LaBounty fired one of three 72s to finish fourth overall.

Aidan Mann and Casey O'Malley were at 76 and 78 for the Dukes.

"I got off to a bad start, but I was able to turn it around," LaBounty said. "I was able to make putts all day."

"We're right there," York coach Jim Borel said. "We're a young team, but we have a lot of talent."

Top-rated Neuqua Valley senior Jack Vercautren matched the Ambrose low-front-nine score of 32 after a perplexing 41 on his opening nine.

"A rough back nine (at White Pines)," Vercautren said. "I started making some putts (on the front) and got some momentum going."

After returning to Class 2A last season and vying for a state championship, Marmion is making the transition back to the largest division this fall.

The Cadets' reclassification last season ended up being a cameo as the Marmion runner-up finish returned the squad to Class 3A.

Like Armbrust, however, the Cadets' Peter Thayer and Jimmy Morton have the battlefield experience to compete at any level.

Thayer and Morton powered the Marmion seventh-place team finish with rounds of 73 and 75.

"I thought I played pretty solid," said Thayer, who fashioned 4 birdies to compensate against 5 bogeys and a dreaded double bogey. "I almost had an ace (on No. 13). I was only a couple of inches away. There are some tough holes on the back nine. I had a couple of bad holes in a row. That's where I got my bogeys."

Thayer, a junior, was sixth overall.

Morton was looking to replicate under-par rounds from earlier in the tournament season.

But the putter was not always cooperative for the Cadets' senior.

"I was hitting the ball well," Morton said. "I just couldn't make a putt; everything was short."

After playing the back nine in sluggish fashion, Morton had a series of routine pars to close out his round, including a near-eagle on his final hole, the par-5 seventh.

"It was the only birdie I had," Morton said after reaching the seventh with a driver and 5-iron. "I just continued what I was doing (earlier). The first putt I actually got to the hole, that eagle putt."

"I think our younger, inexperienced guys learned a lot today," Marmion coach Russ Huggins said of the Cadets' experience. "I think we're going to be one of those underestimated teams as we get close to the regional."

Other than Thayer and Morton, the only other local player to earn an individual award was Batavia junior Will Huber, who carded a 77.

"I started of pretty hot," Huber said. "I was even par through, maybe, 12 holes. I went 5 over on my last six holes. I just couldn't putt (during the stretch). I just couldn't get the ball in the hole."

Batavia and Bartlett finished in a tie for 17th place with their scores of 348.

St. Charles North, led by senior Cole DePaul (81), was 15th with a 346 team total.

Nathan Turco had an 84 to pace Aurora Central Catholic (370).

Nate Gorniak was the leader for Bartlett with an 82.