Heelan, Mundelein to join Carmel at sectional
Mundelein’s Grant Heelan is getting accustomed to taking the next step. And he likes having some company while doing it.
Two years ago, Heelan, now a junior, had to wait and see if he would qualify as an individual to the sectional round.
But for the second straight year, Heelan has joined the rest of the Mundelein’s boys golf team as sectional qualifiers.
The Mustangs will compete in Monday’s Class 3A Fremd sectional at Hilldale Golf Course along with the full contingent from Lake Forest and Carmel.
The Scouts won Tuesday’s Mundelein regional with a 293 at Steeple Chase Golf Course in Mundelein. Carmel was runner-up with a 298, and Mundelein shot 301 on the par-72, 6,827-yard layout.
“Being a freshman, you’re a an underdog and not expected to play good,” Heelan said. “I was trying to be among the top 10 (then). Now I’m trying to be one of the top guys and win any tournament I can.”
Heelan carded a 1-under 71 and posted the second-best score behind Joe Willis of Lake Forest, who came in at 2 under.
“Here today, there were some nerves, but I got into a rhythm and it felt a lot better,” said Heelan, who shot 37 out and 34 in on his home course. “There was no wind and it was pretty calm out there.
“I thought my wedge game was good. My drives were straight and I had a lot of opportunities to keep the ball close to the pin. I succeeded to get up and down for birdies most of the time.”
Dave Krueger and Brett Cigelnik each with 75s for Mundelein; Derek Parola and Chuck Mohr carded 80s and Brady Witt 82.
“We got three real good scores and the fourth wasn’t too bad,” Mundelein coach Todd Parola said. “We’ve got some young guys and it was a good experience for them. We were good enough to advance for our next goal.”
Carmel was led by Tommy Schofield, who finished third with a 1-over 73. The Corsairs’ Mike Wilkinson tied for fourth with Lake Forest’s Ian Mankoff. Others Carmel competitors included Jackson Wietecha (76), Brian Miller and Jared Moore (77s) and David Thoensen.
“We do expect the sectional to be a dogfight,” said Carmel coach Jim Nolan, whose team shot 299 in the East Suburban Catholic Conference tournament last week. “We did have a big potential to get out of the regional, but the sectional will be pretty hard.
“We’ve done well all along this year and we just have to continue.”
The other individuals that advanced out of the regional were Alex Quenan (74) and John Cordon (75) of Libertyville, Justin Schwab (75) of Zion-Benton, Ryan McGuire ( 77) of Libertyville, Kyle Kane (78) of Warren, Keith Torola (81) of Zion-Benton, Adam Gogovsky (81) of Warren, Adam Schulte (82) of Lake Zurich, and Mark Mathes and Chris Oberto (83s) of Warren.
“I actually thought I might shoot in the middle 80s,” said Kane, who had 37 and 41 for his nines. “I never thought I would shoot in the 70s. I just had a smooth swing and had birdied 4 and 5 and kept going from there.”
Kane shot an impressive 73 just a few weeks ago at Willow Glen Golf Course, and he retains a clear memory at Steeple Chase from three years ago where, as an eighth grader, Kane holed in his first eagle on the 18th hole from 140 yards.
‘I’ve always liked this course,” Kane added. “The greens are always soft and it’s all-around in good condition.”