Boys golf / Scouting northwest suburban regionals
Elk Grove junior Ryan White may be the hottest local golfer heading into Tuesday’s regional tournaments.
White earned medalist honors at last weekend’s Lake Park Invitational, and just missed out on the playoff at the Mid-Suburban League championship by firing a 75 at Mount Prospect Golf Club, 1 stroke behind the leaders.
The junior will lead the Grenadiers at the Addison Trail regional tourney at Maple Meadows.
“His goal has been to get to state,” said Grens coach Mike Meyer of White. “He played well at our opening tournament of the year at Maple Meadows, and now he’s playing with such precision — at Lake Park he was relaxed, and his drives, pitches, putts, everything was working so well.”
Elk Grove will tee off at the AT meet against the likes of the host Blazers, Conant, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg and Bartlett.
Maine West will compete at the Nore Dame regional at Mission Hills Country Club. The Warriors will face some daunting competition with last year’s state meet runner-up, New Trier, in the field, along with stalwarts such as Loyola and the host Dons.
Maine West coach Mike Godlweski will be counting on senior Tim Burchard, who set a school record for a 9-hole dual this year by firing a 3-under against Evanston. Juniors Tony Volk, Tom Kukec, and Janos Von Aulock also give Maine West a lot of reason for optimism.
Leyden will tee off at the Oak Park-River Forest regional at Willowcrest Golf Club versus top contenders such as Fenwick.
Hersey coach Dan Caporusso knows that the Huskies have their work cut out for them at Deerfield Golf Course at the Deerfield regional. Hersey’s Grant Manno has been playing extremely well, with a recent fifth-place finish at the MSL championship tourney. But state-rated teams such as St. Viator, Prospect, Stevenson and Glenbrook North will pose a huge challenge.
“The IHSA has grouped some of the best teams in the state into one regional,” said Caporusso.
Prospect recently carded a team score of 308 to win the Mid-Suburban League meet and tie Barrington for the MSL title.
Buffalo Grove rounds out the local flavor at Deerfield, as does Wheeling and junior Jack Ferguson, a state qualifier as a freshman.
Speaking of the Broncos, they’ll be favored to advance heading into their own regional held at Makray Memorial. Junior Greg Conrad, the MSL’s individual champ, leads the way but Barrington will be challenged by Fremd, which may be peaking at the right time based on its third-place MSL finish. The Vikings’ Steven Rawls tied Conrad with a 74 at Mount Prospect Golf Club but just missed out on medalist honors in a playoff.
“We’ve had a season marred by highs and lows and not much in between,” said Vikings coach Josh Teschner. “But judging by the way we’ve hit the ball the last two weeks, we’re ready.”
Rolling Meadows and Palatine will also look for advancement at Makray.
“Our seniors, Kyle Chisholm and Joe DeSario, have worked hard and have laid the groundwork for the future of our progam,” said Palatine coach Mark Johnson.