Rockets hope to keep record season going
Burlington Central's boys golf team is having a record-breaking season.
The Rockets, who went into Thursday's Big Northern Conference meet with an 8-1 record and a legitimate chance to win the program's first league crown since 1994, have broken a number of team and individual marks this season.
As of earlier this week, Central broke the school record for lowest team score three times this season.
Veteran Sam Schmalz set the 18-hole low round mark when he shot 71 in DeKalb earlier this season. Fellow 4-year varsity vet Peter Cappas fired a 31 (4-under) at Southpointe Greens in DeKalb, which broke Schmalz's old 9-hole low round record of 32.
Schmalz was leading the Rockets in 9-hole scoring earlier this week at 37.1, while Cappas was right with him at 37.5. Both are returning sectional qualifiers. Schmalz missed state by 2 strokes last year.
Sophomores Luke Fleming and Matt Allison have also been major contributors for the Rockets.
"The two sophomores have really improved this year," said Central coach Brody Hamel. "Both were on the varsity as freshmen last year and both are shooting 41 per 9 holes. They have improved big-time. Last year they were the last few guys to make the varsity and now they've improved 4 or 5 strokes this season."
Hamel feels his team's success (9-2 overall in duals) has come from a deep roster.
"The whole team down to the JV, we've got 14 guys averaging under 45," said Hamel. "We're really deep. In the past, maybe we had 7 guys that averaged that."
Central will be part of the Class 2A Aurora Central Catholic regional Tuesday at Phillips Park in Aurora. Hampshire will also be part of that field.
Hamel likes how his team is shaping up heading into the regional.
"I feel good about it," said Hamel. "We share a course with Sycamore, so we know they will be tough. We played them earlier and stayed right with them. That's ACC's home course so they will have an advantage there. Marian Central is typically a good team. We're going to have to play well to make it out of there. It's a pretty good field."
The top 3 teams and the top 8 golfers not on qualifying teams advance to the Class 2A Marian Central sectional at Crystal Woods in Woodstock Monday, Oct. 13.
At Prairie Isle: Jacobs and Cary-Grove are a pair of teams to keep an eye on heading into Tuesday's Class 3A Prairie Ridge regional in Prairie Grove.
Jacobs went into the Fox Valley Conference tournament with a strong shot of winning the crown (2 league losses).
The Golden Eagles received a big boost when Mike Kneip returned from a back injury recently.
"Mike has come back and has really contributed," said Jacobs coach Jeremy Bauer. "He has played in only 3 matches (as of Tuesday) and has already helped quite a bit."
Jacobs has also been bolstered by sophomore Scott Cahill, junior Josh Kopka and seniors Donnie Langland and Tyler Vachio, as well as Andrew Meier.
"We've got some guys who can go pretty low," said Bauer. "Sometimes it's one guy and sometimes it's another guy. This is the first year I've had to make some decisions at the end of the year (in terms of meet rosters). It's good because we've got a lot of good golfers, but it's tough to make decisions like that. Without Mike there, we've had 5 guys who have really been consistent. One guy goes low and the other guys are there to fill in and help out."
Cary-Grove, which qualified for the Class 3A state tournament as a team last year, has posted some impressive numbers this season. The Trojans' Ryan Kwech shot a 31 (6-under par) at Cary Country Club recently. Cary-Grove also played well against Crystal Lake South at CCC but the Gators shot a 145 (2-under as a team) to set an opposing team record on the course. Cary-Grove also lost to Jacobs by 2 strokes when the Golden Eagles shot 1-over as a team.
"We've had some good matches down the stretch," said Cary-Grove coach Kelly Muzzy.
Kwech had a 76 and Scott Brady shot a 78 in a recent tournament at Stonewall Orchard in Grayslake.
Matt Efflandt and Ryan Laughlin have also been playing well for Cary-Grove. Tyler Bulterman has improved his game of late (38 against Jacobs).
"I think we are playing well," said Muzzy. "I think as well as we have been playing that's good for us. With the conference so strong this season, it's going to be a tough postseason (6 FVC teams will be in the Prairie Ridge field)."
Dundee-Crown and Crystal Lake South are also part of the Prairie Ridge field. The top 3 teams and the top 8 individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the Monday, Oct. 13 Class 3A Barrington sectional at Makray Memorial.
At Aldeen: Huntley is the lone area team competing at the Class 3A Rockford Guilford regional at Aldeen Tuesday. The Guilford regional also feeds into the Barrington sectional.
Red Raiders coach Jim Rolando likes how his team is rounding into form late in the season. Both Tyler Lawrence and Zach Pettit were in the top 20 at the recent Mundelein invitational at Steeple Chase.
"We're playing some of the best golf we've played all year," said Rolando, who also lauded the play of seniors Caleb Brown and Mackenzie Roeser.
At The Highlands: Larkin will play host to a regional here on Tuesday. That field also includes fellow Elgin District U-46 schools Bartlett, Elgin, South Elgin and Streamwood.
Larkin has been paced by juniors Ryan Smith and Scott Harm.
"Those two have been in the top 10 and top 20 in our 18-hole matches," said Larkin coach Tim Jones, who noted both Smith and Harm were averaging in the neighborhood of 76 for 18 earlier in the week.
As a team, Larkin has been on a rollercoaster of sorts in 2008.
"We're up and down," said Jones. "We've had two very, very consistent guys (Smith and Harm) who have played well all year. We've had some good rounds and some not-so good rounds. We shot a 150 and then we shoot 172. We shoot 309 or 315 and then we also have a 330. It's the same thing as everyone else, if you can get four consistent guys all the time you are going to be in pretty good shape."
Jones noted Larkin shot a 309 at Batavia earlier in the season and took 12th. Hinsdale Central shot 9-under as a team (279) and Lyons shot 3-under.
"Golf around here is getting better and better," said Jones. "We played Neuqua Valley and they had 7 or 8 guys under 40. It was unbelievable."
Jones, whose team qualified for the sectional last year, feels Geneva and St. Charles East are favorites in the regional.
"It will probably be wide open for that third spot," said Jones. "It's a tough regional."
Bartlett is led by the low-scoring tandem of Trace Pomplun and Anthony Burdi. Both were part of the Bartlett team that qualified for the Class 3A state meet last year.
Pomplun and Burdi were tied at the start of the week for the team lead in 9-hole average at 37.8.
"I think both of them have a real good chance to advance," said Bartlett coach Tom Boyle, who noted freshman Cory Linkenheld has progressed throughout the year.
Bartlett has been in search of a consistent 3 and 4 score throughout the season.
"We need to get those support scores," said Boyle. "That's the trick. That's what keeps you balanced. I've always preached that we need everybody to score."
Streamwood is led by returning sectional qualifier Garrett Eddy, along with improved Matt Berggren and Greg Nevius.
"Matt didn't play in any major tournaments last year," said Streamwood coach George Rosner. "He's done really well. He's playing 2 or 3 and has stepped up a lot and Greg has played well."
The top 3 teams and the top 8 individuals not on qualifying teams advance to the Class 3A Bartlett sectional at Bartlett Hills Monday, Oct. 13.
At Oak Club and Glendale Lakes: The area's three Class 1A golf teams will be playing at two different regional sites.
Westminster Christian is part of the Class 1A Genoa-Kingston regional at the Oak Club of Genoa. The Warriors are coming off a program-record 166 round against Elgin Academy earlier this week.
St. Edward and Elgin Academy are part of the Class 1A Driscoll regional at Glendale Lakes. St. Edward's Eric Winters (83) and Michael Holevas (85) led the team at the recent Suburban Catholic Conference meet at The Highlands in Elgin. St. Edward qualified as a team for sectionals in 2007.
The top 2 teams and top 8 individuals not on qualifying teams from both the Genoa and Driscoll regionals advance to the Class 1A Byron sectional at Prairie View on Monday, Oct. 13.