Knoll finds all the holes
Raymond Knoll showed impeccable timing in crafting a round for the ages Tuesday at the Links at Carillon.
The Naperville North junior had back-to-to back saves for par early in his round and then authored a masterpiece over his closing 15 holes at the Class 3A Naperville Central boys golf regional.
Knoll had a pair of birdies on his outward nine to go out in 34 and then collected six more on his dominant inward nine for an almost-unheard of 30.
The resulting blemish-free, 8-under-par 64 powered Naperville North past a loaded field in Plainfield; the Huskies’ Michael Doherty, Braden Klaisle and Sean McDonnell combined to shoot 7-over for their rounds, leaving Naperville North collectively at 1-under 287.
Hinsdale South was a distant second at 301 with Chris Kopp firing a level-par 72 to finish second overall, while host Naperville Central (303) vaulted past both Waubonsie Valley (304) and Benet (306) when top-rated Peter Mandich, playing with Knoll, erased five shots off the Redhawks’ fourth score with his 1-over 73 in the final pairing.
Metea Valley had two at-large qualifiers in crafting a sixth-place 307; Downers Grove South (310) had three of the 10 individual qualifiers to the Bartlett sectional on Monday at Bartlett Hills.
Knoll missed an eagle bid by fractions of an inch in settling for his school-record performance.
Fate was certainly on his side at the last when he became a beneficiary of one the most arcane rules in golf — the “burrowed animal” rule.
“My ball was in a gopher hole,” Knoll said of his tee shot on the par-5 ninth at the White Course. “I didn’t know I got a free drop until I got back to the clubhouse. I thought I made par instead of birdie.”
Knoll birdied two of his first three holes on his inward nine and then rattled off three more in succession.
Overpowering the course with his lethal drives and pinpoint iron play, Knoll had glorified tap-ins at two of the holes; the par-3 sixth required a 15-footer to maintain his birdie streak.
“I was just striking it so well today,” Knoll said. “I was giving myself such comfortable yardages (on my approaches to the greens). I was able to get my irons close and make the birdie putts.”
Knoll left his playing companions in awe.
“Really, he could have shot 59,” Mandich said. “There were probably four or five birdie putts from inside 10 feet that he barely missed.”
“I like playing with guys who can play like that,” said Benet senior Conor Ryan, the third member of the final threesome who made the individual cut with a 73. “It was fun to watch.”
“I would never think I would see a 64,” Naperville North coach Ryan Hantak said. “It was Raymond’s day.”
Waubonsie Valley seniors Alex Koulos and Alec Meyer made their third straight sectional appearances with matching 74s.
Adam Kreiner and Matt Marsh made the at-large field for Metea Valley.
West Aurora was trying to conjure up memories from three years when its boys golf team stunned the field to win the regional at Links at Carillon.
But the Blackhawks were overwhelmed by the stellar programs in attendance, defeating only archrival East Aurora to place eighth overall at the Class 3A Naperville Central regional in Plainfield.
“It’s a tribute to how tough this regional is,” West Aurora coach Jay Bauer said of six teams only nine shots apart. “We’re young and hopefully we’re going to improve.”
Not a single one of the Blackhawks’ four counting scores played their last tournament round at the par-72 layout on Tuesday.
Junior Jackson Bailey fired an 83 to lead his team, while classmate Jonathon Hunecke was at 85 for the second-low team score.
Sophomores Mike Golich and Daniel Newhouse were at 90 and 95, respectively, to round out the Blackhawks’ 353 finish.
“The gap now between us and the other seven teams is enormous,” Bauer said. “We live in an area that excels as always in golf.”