Scouting Lake County boys golf teams

ANTIOCH

COACH: Jeff Moxley

RETURNING GOLFERS: Avery Cielek, Tom Koch, D.J. Komarchuk, Grant Smith, Eric Pasqual, Kevin Boudreau

NEWCOMERS: Jessica Poirier

OUTLOOK: Cielek and Koch led the Sequoits in Thursday's Woodstock invitational at Plum Tree National, shooting 94, respectively.

CARMEL

COACH: Jim Nolan

RETURNING GOLFERS: Doug Meyer (Jr), David Markiewicz (sr.)

OUTLOOK: The Corsairs placed fourth in the Class 3A state meet last fall and graduated a pair of stars in Jack Watson (third at state, Kansas State) and Billy White (tie for sixth at state). They should be competitive again. Seniors Meyer and Markiewicz both played downstate last year.

GRANT

COACH: John Eiduke

RETURNING GOLFERS: Sean Thandupurakal (sr.), Michael Carrier (Jr), Matt Hunsinger (sr.), John Schenning (sr.)

NEWCOMERS: David Bouma (Jr), Trenton Frank (sr.), Brandon Weber (Jr)

OUTLOOK: The Bulldogs boast many players who gained varsity experience last year in helping the team earn a share of the North Suburban Prairie title. "Hopefully our returning players and our newcomers will be able to focus on the challenges at hand, maintain that focus and work on taking one shot at a time," Eiduke said. "If we can do that, we will make progress and have a fun season."

GRAYSLAKE CENTRAL

COACH: Jim Mazzetta

RETURNING GOLFERS: Eric Hogenkamp (sr.), Nick Wysocki (sr.), Cody Stover (Jr), Colton Brunk (Jr)

KEY NEWCOMERS: Dan Choi (so.), Tanner Hermes (so.), Kyle Balling (so.)

OUTLOOK: The Rams qualified for the Class 2A state tournament last fall and will seek to get back downstate with a group that is led by seniors Hogenkamp and Wysocki. "Time will tell," first-year coach Mazzetta said. "It's a young team. I think the kids will step up by the end of the year."

GRAYSLAKE NORTH

COACH: Tim Hough

RETURNING GOLFERS: Matt Bergstrom (sr.), Zach Boyce (sr.), Mike Gruzalski (sr.), Danny Santelle (sr.)

NEWCOMERS: Christian DiBerardino (fr.), Joey Meyer (Jr)

OUTLOOK: Bergstrom, the Class 2A regional medalist at Renwood last season, opened the season by firing a 1-under 35 at Prairie Isle on Tuesday, winning top honors. That's the kind of effort the Knights will look for from their seniors. "We need key contributions from our seniors to be successful, but we can be competitive in the Fox Valley," said Hough, whose team won its own regional last year, but graduated state-qualifier Sean Humphrey. "Matt Bergstrom could be one of the better golfers in the area."

LAKES

COACH: Bill Hamill

RETURNING PLAYERS: Cody Franke (Jr), Johnny O'Connor (Jr), Logan Edwards (Jr), Ryan Reitmayer (Jr), Brandon Schlaeger (Jr), Sam Renschen (sr.), Matt Hirsch (Jr)

NEWCOMERS: Jake Bathery (so.)

OUTLOOK: The Eagles graduated only David Riedel and boast a strong group that includes 2009 sectional qualifier Hirsch. "It is a pretty solid team," Hamill said. "We haven't shown it yet. We're working through some things, but these guys (top six) are all sub-80 shooters. Which is a nice thing to have."

LAKE ZURICH

COACH: Terry Geoghegan

RETURNING GOLFERS: Mike Nutter (sr.), Blake Stezskal (sr.), Austin Reitsch (sr.), Bryan McHenry (sr.), Jacob LaRue (Jr), Doug Murphy (Jr), Tanner Hughes (Jr)

NEWCOMERS: Adam Schulte (so.)

OUTLOOK: Geoghegan calls Nutter the "the foundation of our team and has been since his freshman year." Stezskal has "improved a lot over the years and is striking the ball very well," Geoghegan adds. The Bears should contend in the North Suburban Conference. "We have a strong top part of the lineup, but are looking for consistency from a few of the others," Geoghegan said. "If we can manage to do that, we will have the opportunity to surprise some people."

LIBERTYVILLE

COACH: Sean Matthews

RETURNING GOLFERS: Matt Dohse (sr.), Eric Hollenbeck (sr.), Alex Quenan (Jr), Andy Lee (sr.), Erich Held (sr.), John Cordon (Jr), Andrew Ross (Jr), Mike Mudd (Jr)

NEWCOMERS: Ryan McQuire (Jr)

OUTLOOK: Everyone except the athletic McQuire, who played football for two years, played in the program last year. Dohse was medalist at the North Suburban Conference tournament. Matthews says he has a strong upper class with leadership for his younger golfers. He thinks the Wildcats will be competitive and hopes they will be ready for the state series.

MUNDELEIN

COACH: Todd Parola

RETURNING GOLFERS: Grant Heelan (so.), Sean Forsythe (sr.), Eric Nelson (sr.), Eric Steagall (sr.), Bryan Wiener (Jr)

NEWCOMERS: Connor Hartnett (sr.), Tim Jones (sr.), Dave Krueger (Jr), Colin McCarthy (sr.), Brett Cigelnik (fr.)

OUTLOOK: This is a deep and talented team, with Parola saying practices have been "good, very competitive." Heelan, Forsythe, Nelson, Steagall and Wiener all qualified for the sectional last fall. The others vying for varsity spots include Hartnett, Jones, Krueger and the freshman Cigelnik. "I think it's as good as we've been," Parola said. "I think we can be competitive."

STEVENSON

COACH: John Rueth

RETURNING GOLFERS: Landon Kowalski (sr.), Ryan Prince (sr.), Reen Aren, Sam, Less, Amaran Sandhu, Nick Geissler, Jeff Antoni

OUTLOOK: The senior Kowalski got his season off to a great start, firing a 1-under 71 to win the season-opening Rolling Green Invitational on Monday. Fellow senior Prince qualified for state last year. The Patriots have good depth and could be one of the better teams in the state.

VERNON HILLS

COACH: Shawn Healey

RETURNING GOLFERS: Kris McGovern (sr.), Brendon Heneks (sr.), Jimmy Tyrcha (sr.), Jake Zoll (jr.), Chris Edwards (so.), Eric Swanson (so.)

NEWCOMERS: Jack Rieke (sr.), Alex Leigeber (Jr), Jeremy Szwaya (Jr)

OUTLOOK: Healey returns a good nucleus. "We have a much stronger and deeper team than we've had for the last two years," the coach said. "We have 7 or 8 guys capable of breaking 80 on any given day." The Cougars tied for the Prairie Division championship last year with Lakes and Grant and have three returning sectional qualifiers in Zoll, Edwards and Swanson. McGovern is the defending Ivanhoe Classic champion. "They played a lot of tournaments this past summer and are looking forward to a strong season," Healey said.

WARREN

COACH: Mike Wittes

RETURNING GOLFERS: Brian Sears (sr.), Michael Grum (sr.), Kurt Globerger (sr.), Max Hovey (sr.), Harrison Chiesa (sr.), Adam Glogovsky (Jr)

KEY NEWCOMERS: Jimmy Turkowski (Jr), Mark Mathes (Jr), Mike Salaman (Jr), Eric Friend (Jr), Chris Guerriero (Jr)

OUTLOOK: "We are inexperienced so we are looking to improve as the season moves into September," Wittes said. "We would like to be playing our best golf by the time conference and regionals come rolling around."

WAUCONDA

COACH: Lee Oler

RETURNING GOLFERS: Henry Manahan (sr.), Trevor Middleton (jr.), Matt Liddell (jr.), Luke Bernard (jr.), Keith Zdeb (jr.)

NEWCOMERS: Jon Pryde (sr.), Alex DeLeon (jr.), Jordan Motley (jr.)

OUTLOOK: Manahan, a two-time sectional qualifier, is the Bulldogs' established No. 1. They'll need other players to step up. "Besides Manahan, who's proved he's going to be our best, for all the others, consistency will be the key," Oler said. "Hopefully, with a year or two of varsity experience, they'll be a little more consistent."