Naperville North boys, Waubonsie girls win City Championship
Naperville North’s boys golf team is guaranteed of nothing this season, except a good start.
Day 2 of the good start was Tuesday at the Naperville Country Club, where the Huskies won the McGonagle Naperville City Championship by 15 strokes over second-place Neuqua Valley’s 325.
“It’s always nice to win your city championship,” Huskies coach Ryan Hantak said. “It’s a pride thing for them. We talked about it yesterday: Hey, we can’t wait to go play the country club. The kids love it here. The people are so nice, the members and staff, and the course is just awesome. They tried to trick it up today, but the kids handled it well.”
On Monday the Huskies took second to highly rated Lyons Twp. at the Bob Sterr Redhawk Open, losing only on a fifth-card tiebreaker.
The Huskies’ Braden Klaisle won medalist honors with a 76.
“He did great,” Hantak said of Klaisle. “He had a great summer and he really worked hard in the off-season to improve on his game. We’re just happy for him and happy for our team. We’re deep this year and the kids really care for each other. I’m very pleased with that.”
Sean McDonnell, Nick Harris and Pat Hendrickson each shot a 76 for the Huskies, so good that the 79 of senior stalwart Raymond Knoll, Monday’s medalist, wasn’t needed. It’s a good sign for the Huskies, who have high hopes for the season.
“We set some good goals to do the best we can, but we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves either,” Hantak said, noting the Huskies want to win the DuPage Valley Conference and go downstate again. “We’ll see what we do.”
Knoll has high hopes individually also.
“He’s always solid,” Hantak said of the Iowa recruit. “I never have to worry about Ray. Sometimes I think he puts too much pressure on himself, but he’s just got to relax and enjoy his senior year. He’s one of the best players ever to play at North.”
On the girls side, Waubonsie Valley’s 367 was 11 strokes better than second-place Naperville North.
“This course always plays tough,” said Warriors coach John Farnan. “I was telling the girls out there, you never beat this course. It always beats you. I was trying to get their mindset to realize that. It’s not your typical course.”
Sophomore Bing Singhsumalee took medalist honors with a 78, 1 stroke better than the Wildcats’ Jessica Yuen.
“She’s really consistent. She’s a great golfer,” Singhsumalee said of Yuen. “I played with her a couple of times last year and her short game is really fantastic. She’s definitely going to do well this year. It should be fun to play with her.”
The Warriors were 42 strokes better Monday at Coyote Run, a sign of how tough the country club course played Tuesday. It can work out in the long run for the girls, however.
“There’s benefits,” Farnan added. “We’ll never play on greens this speed. Maybe when we get to sectionals, they always try to roll the greens a little bit. This is definitely the toughest course we’ll play all year.”
Farnan was pleased, as usual with Singhsumalee’s score, but Courtney Williams’ 83 stood out also.
“The difference this year has been Courtney,” Farnan said. “She’s solid. She missed a couple of putts out there. Even yesterday she missed a couple of putts that were right on the edge. As soon as those start dropping she’ll be right there with (Singhsumalee).”