Barrington meets the challenge in regional
The rolling hills and scenic, open vistas that draw golfers to Oak Grove Golf Course in Harvard on beautiful summer afternoons become challenges to overcome on schizophrenic fall days like Tuesday.
Conditions deteriorated midway through the Class 3A McHenry boys golf regional at Oak Grove, and the scores headed up. A steady rain blowing sideways made it hard to see without squinting during the final two hours of play, let alone score, giving an advantage to those who finished their rounds early.
The bulk of the Barrington, Cary-Grove and Crystal Lake South contingents populated the final eight threesomes on the course. They battled the elements and each other on the back nine as each squad aimed to go lower than the 329 turned in by clubhouse leader Mundelein.
"You had to adjust to blowing wind, soft ground, the rain pelting you," Crystal Lake South sophomore Nick Robles aid. "You try to get your hands dry, your grips dry before you hit. It was shaky at times."
Talent prevailed over nature in the final tally.
Barrington, led by medalist Marc Ackermann's 4-over par 75, won the regional title with an aggregate score of 315, edging Cary-Grove (319) and Crystal Lake South (324). Those three teams advanced to next Monday's Lake Forest sectional at Lake Bluff Golf Club.
Ackermann, a junior, edged Cary-Grove senior Matt Efflandt and CL South's Robles by 2 shots. Playing in the final group, Ackermann hit driver from the white tournament tees on Oak Grove's 469-yard, par-5 finishing hole. Left with a nine iron to the green, he stuck his approach 15 feet past the cup.
"I lipped out my eagle putt and made birdie, so it was a fun ending to a not-so-fun day," said Ackermann, who notched his third victory this year and his ninth top-five finish in 11 tournaments. He was supported by Barrington teammates Nick Schiavi (78), Jimmy Cook (80) and Greg Conrad (82).
"That's about what I'd expect," Broncos coach Mike Kallenbach said of the order of finish. "Nick played another solid round. He and Marc have been the leaders of our team: No. 1 and 1A."
Cary-Grove qualified for sectional play for the second time in three years with Efflandt's 77, and good scores from Scott Brady (79), Mike Olszewski (80) and Ryan Laughlin (83).
Efflandt overcame an 8 on the par-3 fifth hole, when his tee shot found unforgiving fescue.
"That was the only bad part of my round," Efflandt said. "Otherwise, I was hitting my iron shots pretty good and my putting was decent."
"With the conditions the way they were the scores were a little high, but we're happy to move on," Cary-Grove coach Kelly Muzzy said. "We'll take it."
CL South qualified for sectional play for the first time since 2002. Backing Robles' score of 77 were juniors Scott Stalo (80), Kel Portera (81) and Mike Digrazia (86).
"I'm really proud of the guys," Gators coach Curt Wadlington said. "I just think it's fantastic that they were able to step off the bus with a plan, were able to execute it and do what they needed to do. The kids are excited, and we're ready to take the next step."
Due to a six-way tie for sixth place, 11 individuals from non-advancing teams advanced to the sectional, including the entire Mundelein team. Lake Zurich junior Mike Nutter was the low at-large qualifier with a score of 79, followed by Mundelein's Sean Forsythe (81), Eric Steagall (81), Bryan Wiener (83), Grant Heelan (83), Will Petlak (84) and Eric Nelson (84,) Dominick DeJuilio of Lake Zurich (84) and McHenry's Spenser Buenzli (84), Joe Ray (84) and Paul Damiani (84).