Cahill masters tough course

Scott Cahill didn't think too much about golf over the Labor Day weekend.

In fact, the Jacobs golfer didn't pick up his clubs before taking 5 practice swings just prior to Tuesday's Elgin Country Club Classic.

The junior then battled through a tough course and gusty winds to finish with an even-par 72 and take top individual honors.

Cahill used trees to block the wind on the back 9 and took a 2-under par through his first 13 holes.

St. Charles East (316) edged out Geneva (319) for the team honors at the annual event held at Elgin Country Club.

"A lot of the trees made the shorter shots a little easier," said Cahill, who was 1-under on the back 9. "I shot it well all day, my wedge game was on."

Not everyone had the luxury of the wind-blocking trees to keep the scores down. Although East took first in the 14-team event, the Saints admittedly struggled with the difficulty of the course and weather conditions.

"The long par 4s became even longer," said STC East's Jon Cook, who placed eighth with a 79. "You couldn't make birdies. It was a tough course."

Jordan Wetsch (4th, 76) led the Saints, who counted 4 scores in the top 14. Geneva counted its 4 highest scores in the top 13, with Andrew Cisco leading the Vikings with a 78 to finish sixth.

Neither Cisco nor his teammates had played the course before, which led to some of Tuesday's scores being a little higher than the Vikings would have liked.

"With the slopes, on some of the holes, you have to put it in the right spot," said Cisco, a junior said. "I'm happy with the team score."

Coach Bill Koehn was familiar with how tough the country club course is, and made sure he pointed out some of the more difficult spots to his team before they teed off.

"This is a tough golf course, there is no question about that," Koehn said. "Then the wind came up, which made it tougher. No one had played here before and this was a treat for them to come here and play."

Led by Grant Yoder's third-place finish (75), Hampshire took third as team with a 338, 1 stroke lower than Jacobs (339). South Elgin (346) was 3 strokes better than St. Edward (349), but the Green Wave did get a second-place finish from Mike Holevas. Holevas turned in a 36 on the front 9 and shot a 38 on the back 9.

"On the back 9, I was hitting the fairways," Holevas said. "I putted pretty well. The wind made it tough."

Luke Fleming led Burlington Central with an 85.