Fox Valley prep golf outlook
Scouting report
Top area teams: Geneva, Marmion, West Aurora, Batavia, St. Charles East, St. Charles North, Aurora Central Catholic, St. Francis
Top players: Blake Biddle, jr., Wheaton Academy; Kurtis Luedtke, sr., West Aurora; Bryce Emory, sr., Marmion; Brett Weiss, sr., St. Charles East; Shawn Steurer, sr., Batavia; Cole Oosthuizen sr., Geneva; Mark Torres, sr., West Aurora; Brad Weiss, sr., St. Charles East; Tim Johnson, jr., Marmion; Reese Pagel, sr., Geneva; Braden Dalton, sr., Geneva; Braden Thompson, sr., Geneva; Tim Schofield, jr., Batavia; Jeff Thomas, sr., St. Charles North; Brian Kirhofer, sr., West Aurora; Jeff Hund, sr., Aurora Central Catholic; Wes Apple, so., St. Charles East; Joe Karkos, jr., Aurora Central Catholic; Bryce Renninger, jr., Aurora Christian; Kurtis Lublic, sr., Kaneland; Jeff Smith, sr., Kaneland; Jon Woods, so., St. Charles East; Nick Lappin, so., Marmion.
Season outlook: It was a bountiful regular season for several area teams last year in boys golf. Geneva, Marmion and West Aurora all claimed conference championships, but it was Batavia and St. Charles East who stole the thunder in the postseason. In the first year of a three-class state tournament, the Bulldogs and Saints advanced to the Class 3A Naperville Central sectional. This season promises to be another barnburner as Geneva returns virtually its entire lineup from last year; Marmion and West Aurora are also primed to defend their league titles. Biddle and Luedtke headline the individual returnees; the latter was the first-round co-leader of the Illinois Open this summer, and Luedtke had an equally impressive summer. In the Western Sun Conference, Batavia and Geneva will go head-to-head in a critical early-season dual match this week. The two rivals also host major 18-hole tournaments with star-studded fields from throughout the western suburbs in the opening weeks of the season. Kaneland seeks to improve upon its consecutive poor seasons in the league behind twin sectional qualifiers Lubic and Smith. The two St. Charles schools will battle league foes Neuqua Valley, Waubonsie Valley and Bartlett for supremacy in the Upstate Eight Conference. West Aurora, meanwhile, will face stern tests from Wheaton Warrenville South, Naperville North, Naperville Central and Wheaton North in the rugged DuPage Valley. Marmion has captured the last two Suburban Catholic Conference titles, and Emory, a three-time Aurora city champion, is the Cadets' four-year mainstay. Aurora Central Catholic is primed for movement up the league food chain; the Chargers won their first tournament in over two decades to start the year at Aurora Christian. St. Francis has three sectional qualifiers in its quest to end the Cadets' two-year dominance.
Key dates: Aug. 27, Geneva Invitational; Aug. 30, Fenton Invitational; Sept. 6, Batavia Invitational; Sept. 13, Aurora Central Catholic Invitational; Sept. 17, Aurora City Meet; Sept. 20, Dundee-Crown Invitational; Sept. 22, Ivanhoe Tournament; Week of Sept. 30, Conference tournaments; Oct. 4, Lake Park Invitational.
Predicted state champions: Class 1A, Champaign St. Thomas More; Class 2A, Normal U-High; Class 3A, Hinsdale Central.
- Kevin McGavin