Woodhull wins regional

With Chicago Latin and North Shore Country Day advancing through Tuesday's 13-team, Class A boys golf regional in Glendale Lakes, all that golfers on the remaining 11 teams had left to fight for was individual glory.

And of the eight individual spots left for sectional advancement, local boys took seven of them.

Timothy Christian's Andrew Woodhull led the field by shooting a 1-under-par 70 at Glendale Lakes Golf Course for a Trojans team that finished third on the day.

Not that Woodhull was ready to accept much praise for posting the only under-par score of the day.

"It's a short course, so I had to be accurate, but I wasn't hitting my driver very well," Woodull said. "My iron play and putting was good."

St. Edward sophomore Eric Winters took third by shooting a 77 on a cool, wet day, and freshman teammate Michael Holevas's 80 gave him the fifth sectional spot.

"It was a pretty good day, considering the conditions," Winters said. "I was hitting pretty good irons today, but I hit a lot of good putts that just weren't dropping. It was good to see a few guys come through today."

"I think we met our expectations," said St. Edward coach Greg Winters, whose squad placed fourth. "We're young, but our young guys have experience and they don't get rattled."

Fifth-place Immaculate Conception also had a pair of golfers get through to Monday's Byron sectional at Prairie View Golf Course, Tommy Hart, who shot an 82, and Patrick Haggerty, who shot a 78 on Tuesday.

"The first few holes you always feel pressure, but then the adrenaline kicks in. I parred the first three holes, so I felt pretty confident from there," Haggerty said.

Perhaps the surprise of the day came courtesy of Lisle sophomore Adam Kuzma, who "shot the best round of his life today," said Lisle coach Scott Waibel. Kuzma shot a front-nine 39 and a back-nine 42 to secure the sixth spot individually.

"He's been getting better and better, shooting 42 and 43, but he's never done it in a big match like this."

"Everything," Kuzma said, when asked what parts of his game went well. "I had great drives, my putts were on, and I was chipping really well. I surprised myself."

It's likely the sign of a good golfer when he doesn't have his "A" game working but manages to survive a regional, and regional host Driscoll's Rick Gattone did just that in posting an 82 on his home course.

"I struggled with every aspect of my game today," Gattone said. "After winning conference last week, my swing just went downhill. It wasn't good today. This was a gift.

"I need a lot of practice, and hours on the range before next week."