Batavia, Geneva team up for unique win

For one day, the Hatfields and McCoys were on the same side.

In the inaugural installment of the McChesney Cup, a Ryder Cup-type event featuring the boys golf teams from Batavia, Geneva and the two St. Charles high schools, the six-man teams from Batavia and Geneva came out on top.

Playing at water-logged Geneva County Club Monday morning and afternoon in three separate nine-hole competitions, the Batavia-Geneva combined squads turned back the St. Charles contingent 114-102.

A point was given for each hole of the 24 matches, and the Batavia-Geneva squads used a 10-point advantage in the singles match play to capture the competition.

"We don't normally play match play, so it was a completely new experience," said Batavia junior Shaun Steurer, who teamed with the Vikings' Reese Pagel and Cole Oostuizen to win the opening scramble and better-ball competitions. "We talked about (strategy) as we played."

Oostuizen was the star of the day for the Batavia-Geneva teams; the junior partnered with Bulldogs' Steurer and Tim Swanson to help give the squad a 55-53 lead after the first two rounds of matches.

In the all-important singles division -- man on man in 12 matches -- Oostuizen won 7-2.

"I feel like I play more consistent in the rain," said Oostuizen. "My short game and putting was out of this world. When (the two teams are) at tournaments, we want to beat each other. It's a great rivalry. It was really fun (playing together)."

The singles match between Steurer and St. Charles East top gun Chris Niemiec was halved, but Batavia-Geneva took a commanding lead when the Vikings' Grant Douglas and the Bulldogs' James Henkelman combined for a five-hole plurality.

Geneva senior Mike Parola also enjoyed a big day as the event -- conceived in a collaborative effort between Geneva coach Bill Koehn and Geneva Country Club professional Pat Lenski -- was greeted with universal acceptance.

"The camaraderie and sportsmanship was No. 1 in importance," said Koehn.

In other singles matches, the North Stars' Matt Schroeder doubled up the Bulldogs' Tim Schofield, but Henkelman returned the momentum to Batavia-Geneva with a duplicate score.

Pagel and the North Stars' Matt Sprengel halved their match, and Parola put the Western Sun rivals over the top with a one-sided win in the 10th match.

"The competition was secondary," said St. Charles North coach Rob Prentiss. "It was a celebration of Tri-Cities high school golf."