St. Charles East wins Larkin regional
It came as no surprise Tuesday that St. Charles East tallied a 305 to win the Class 3A Larkin regional at Bartlett Hills Golf Course, but it did raise a few eyebrows that the Saints needed their sixth player to notch his season-best score to do it.
It came as no surprise that Bartlett was able to advance to sectional play by finishing second with a 308 on its home course, but it did raise a few eyebrows because the Hawks were 1-5 in conference matches and finished third in the Upstate Eight Conference tournament last week.
It came as no surprise that St. Charles North locked down the third and final spot to advance as a team with a 314, but it did raise a few eyebrows that the North Stars' top player bounced back from a disastrous round on the same course last year to win medalist honors.
St. Charles East locked down its sixth regional title in the past six years when the Saints' final player coming off the course, Stephan Osland, carded his season-best at 73.
“My coach told me to go out and just have fun, and my swing felt good all week, Osland said. “I birdied No. 7 to go one-under and I stayed there through the front nine, but the back nine I was a little shaky.
“I'm really happy right now, this is awesome, said Osland, who had been averaging about 79 coming into the regional. “The coaches told me I was the last man on the course and just go out and post a good score.
It allowed St. Charles East coach John Stock to breath a sigh of relief as his Saints held off Bartlett's run at the title.
“It was a close match, we were only ahead by four at the turn, and we had to hang on, said Stock, who got scores of 75 from Jordan Wetsch, 79 from Jon Woods, and 78 from Nick Maze to move on to the Naperville sectional next Monday at Naperbrook.
“We talked to Stephen a lot about keeping the ball below the hole, and I'm really happy for him.
Bartlett coach Tommy Boyle had a feeling his team would make a good run, based on how his players were talking earlier in the day.
“All season, I have been able to get three good scores, but we've always had trouble with the fourth or fifth score, Boyle said. “We had quite a talk this morning and the players assured me they were going to do it today. They were really into it this morning, and I felt real good about our chances.
It all came to fruition for the Hawks when Mike Marciniak shot 73, Ryan Wolfe and Ryan Starks each shot 74, and No. 6 player Cody Wadlin coming through at 77 to round out Bartlett's four scores.
Nathan Clark shot a medalist round of 72 to lead St. Charles North to its first sectional qualifying in seven years. And he wiped out any lingering thoughts of his regional round last year that was sabotaged by a terrible back nine.
“This will be my first sectional appearance, Clark said. “Last year I went 36-49 and hit out of bounds four times. “But today the weather was perfect and I had only one mishap, when I four-putted for a double bogey on No. 14, said Clark, who was a victim of the fast greens that generally boosted scores higher than most expected.
Clark's score was supported by Kris Davison (77), Stephen Gow (82), Dan Shepard (83) and Raghav Cherala (83) for the North Stars.
Non-advancing teams and their scores were South Elgin (335), DeKalb (339), Batavia (341), Larkin (367), Streamwood (374) and Elgin (421).