Tournaments a good test

The boys golf season reaches an early apex Saturday at the Fox Valley Golf Club in North Aurora.

In the second of back-to-back weekend tournaments featuring traditional powers from throughout the western suburbs, the Batavia Invitational follows up the equally rich field at Fenton last Saturday at White Pines in Bensenville. Hinsdale Central is not only the defending champion at Batavia, but the Red Devils' powerful lineup is reaching midseason form after claiming the Fenton title by 8 strokes over Wheaton Warrenville South

"We put a lot of emphasis on (the two tournaments)," WW South coach Jimmy Selleck said. "They're good testers for how the rest of the season is going to play out."

"You can't really tell until after Fenton and Batavia how a team is going to do," said Fenton coach Pat Tantillo, whose squad is also at Fox Valley.

Naperville North coach Ryan Hantak inherited a program at the turn of the century that was steep in tradition, having won two Class AA titles as well as numerous other state trips.

"I think you can gauge how good you are because there are so many teams (at Batavia)," Hantak said.

The 18-hole tournaments provide coaches insights the nine-hold dual matches during the week periodically obscure.

"Now we are going to see who we can count on," Waubonsie Valley coach Dave Owles said. "We're not really too worried about what the other guys do."

On the other hand: There are other coaches who are adamant the weekend tournaments are less important than the conference dual meets.

"The only 18-hole tournaments we care about are the conference championship and the regional," Naperville Central coach Barry Baldwin said.

"We have one of the toughest conferences (the DuPage Valley) in the state. We don't look past any of them. (The league champion) is going to come down to who holds homecourt advantage and can sneak a couple of wins on the road. If you lose an early match, then you're really in a hole."

Wildcats off to good start: In addition to Hinsdale Central and Wheaton Warrenville South, which captured the season-opening tournament at Larkin, Neuqua Valley is reaping the benefits of a talent-laden squad seeking to defend its Upstate Eight Conference championship.

The Wildcats have already won the Naperville city tournament as well as a multiteam challenge at Bartonville-Limestone, where fifth-man Stephan Marbach was the individual champion.

"We have some good solid golfers, but what I'm finding is that we have a lot depth," Neuqua Valley coach Spike Grossheusch said. The Wildcats began defense of their league crown with a program first Tuesday in a triangular sweep of Elgin and Streamwood.

"Seven of my eight golfers shot in the 30s," Grossheusch said. "I've never had that happen before."

Reigning Naperville Central sectional champion Stephen Powers leads Neuqua Valley.

The Warriors, too: In the second year of the three-class boys state tournament, Wheaton Academy continues to impress in the middle division.

Then again, few programs have the luxury of Blake Biddle and David Flynn in their arsenal. At the Warriors' season-opening tournament in Normal - site of the Class 2A state finals - Biddle blistered the course with a school-record 65.

In its opening dual meet against Montini, Wheaton Academy was within a shot of its program benchmark; Flynn, seventh in state last fall, toured the par-35 layout at Pheasant Run in 31.

"It sure makes it easy on the coach," Wheaton Academy coach Bob Broman said of his two juniors. "What is so nice is the other boys see the scores they shoot and try to narrow the gap."

The Warriors' players are serving as caddies for the Midwest Amputee Golf Association event this weekend at Pheasant Run.

"It has become an annual event for us," Broman said.

Leading the flock of Falcons: After directing the Wheaton North underclass program the last four years, former St. Francis coach Mike Pribaz assumed the lead job for the Falcons.

Wheaton North is led by its senior trio of Matt Ward, Jack Ahern and Pat Corcoran, and Pribaz is optimistic the squad can make inroads at Batavia Saturday.

"They're excited to see what they can do against the competition," Pribaz said. "We know it's a great tournament. We just don't know where we are yet (due to limited play this season)."

Family on the course: The Wheaton Warrenville South golf programs have a markedly unusual look this fall. There are four sets of siblings competing for the Tigers, headlined by senior stalwart Steve Skurla for the boys team and his younger sister Sarah for the girls.

"I know (Sarah) worked extremely hard over the summer," WW South girls coach Art Tang said.

Emily Johnson is playing varsity for WW South as a freshman, and her older brother Dan is a mainstay on varsity.

"(Emily) is not afraid to go after anything right now," Tang said. "She is fearless, naive - however you want to put it."

Shawn and Jay Plepel are key contributors to the Tigers' varsity, while Taylor and Arthur Rhodes constitute the final brotherly duo.

"I think (the siblings) create links, either across the team from sophomore to varsity or from boys and girls," Selleck said.

A tough act to follow: John Farnan has the task of continuing Laura Jones' impressive four-year resume.

The Waubonsie Valley girls program has advanced to sectional play the last four years, and Farnan took over the program for Jones, who relocated to Hawaii when her club-pro husband accepted an offer at a resort course there.

"I think it has been a smooth transition so far," said Farnan, who oversaw the Warriors' underclass program in recent years. "I've had a lot of these girls on JV; in fact, I've had all of them. We're not going to try to measure up against any other (Waubonsie Valley) team."