Boys golf: Chung, Neuqua Valley claim DVC titles

Neuqua Valley coach Bart Carbonneau said that Wildcats sophomore Brady Chung was “struggling a little” heading into Thursday’s DuPage Valley Conference boys golf championship.

For his part, Chung himself said that his goal was just to “break 75.”

As they say, forget about it.

Chung absolutely scorched the course and the field at Blackberry Oaks Golf Course, shooting a 5-under 67 to win the DVC individual title.

His stellar round also led Neuqua Valley to the team championship.

“He really bounced back today,” said Carbonneau, “but he’s worked so hard the last couple of weeks.

“We’d have practice after school for a couple of hours and then he’d go out and hit balls. Even on our days off he was playing, working, working, working, and today everything just clicked.

“Brady shot a beautiful round of golf. He didn’t get hyped up and was throwing darts.”

Chung’s day included three birdies and not a single hole played over par.

For good measure, he also threw in an eagle on the par-5, 492-yard 16th hole.

“I hit my driver down the middle with a little draw,” Chung said, “and then from 187 yards downwind I hit a seven iron. It just cleared the bunker, rolled to within two feet, and I tapped in.”

Chung added that his first birdie of the meet, on the par-5 7th, gave him a lot of motivation.

“No blemishes on his scorecard today,” added Carbonneau.

Neuqua Valley’s score of 300 Thursday, combined with their 4-1 record in conference play, saw them finish first and win the team crown.

Waubonsie Valley was second at Blackberry Oaks with a 303, and Naperville North finished third at 312.

Another sophomore, Aanish Kamdar of Waubonsie Valley, was second individually with a 72.

“On the back nine,” he said, “I started feeling like I could make some shots and make some putts. I feel like I really progressed as the round went along.”

“It feels great,” he added about the runner-up finish. “All I know is that there’s room for improvement and I can’t wait until (the tourney) next year.”

Ryan Watson of Neuqua Valley, a senior, was third with 73.

“We’ve got a bunch of gritty guys out here,” he said of his teammates, “and this was definitely the goal at the beginning of the season.

“We knew we had the guys to get it done today, and we didn’t worry about what other kids were shooting. When you do that you start feeling down, but we just (went out) and played our game.”

Lincoln Schultz of Naperville North tied Watson for third with a 73, while rounding out the top 5 was Jonah Keck of DeKalb, who carded a 74.

“This means a lot,” said Keck, a senior. “I’ve put in a lot of work all four years, and this year was definitely special. I kept it simple today and it turned out well.”

Barbs teammate Sean Kolkebeck, a senior playing his first year of high school golf, said he really appreciated the atmosphere at Blackberry Oaks, and the course itself.

“It was a lot of fun being out here with my teammates,” he said. “This is a beautiful course, but it has very tight fairways and you have to work on your accuracy. This course can make or break a golfer.”

In addition to Chung and Watson, Daniel Zhang (79), Drew Allen (81), and Jack Boehmke (81) also counted scores for the winners.

“Shout out to Brady today,” said Watson. “An incredible round, amazing.”

"I was actually more excited about the team win," added Chung, "than I was about my 67."