Boys golf: Mundelein advances to sectional

Crystal Lake Central's Eric Klutke took a bad start and turned it into something special for the second week in a row.

After the Tigers lefty took a bogey on the first hole at Tuesday's Class 3A Mundelein Boys Golf Regional at Steeple Chase, Klutke bounced back with two birdies en route to another runaway victory.

Klutke fired a 4-under-par 68 and will make his third sectional appearance in three years.

But, this time, he'll have a few more teammates along for the ride.

Klutke's 68 was 10 shots better than the next-closest finisher, and Central held the top score by 13 shots to win its first regional championship since 2013.

The Tigers won the regional team title with a 320, followed by Mundelein (333), Huntley (336) and Jacobs (337). The top two teams, Central and Mundelein, each advance to the Rockford Auburn Sectional at Aldeen Golf Course on Monday.

Woodstock North co-op (348) was fifth, then Cary-Grove (353), Grant (359) and McHenry (361).

It was Klutke's second consecutive 68, after he took medalist honors at last week's Fox Valley Conference Tournament with a similar start, a bogey on the first hole. The Tigers also won the team title at conference.

"I started off bad, I didn't have a good drive," Klutke said. "But after that, I got the momentum going and I was feeling good about myself."

Klutke had a chance to finish at 67 with a 15-foot putt for birdie on the 18th, but left it a couple of feet short.

"I didn't want to get too aggressive there and three-putt it," said Klutke, who birdied holes 2, 3, 14, 15 and 17. "The 18th hole was tough. It's sort of a tricky hole."

Klutke had great support, with Hubacher (81), Kevin Craig (85), Christian Wakeford (86) Ethan Bass (86) and Quinn Hankins (86) scoring.

"It feels pretty good," Hubacher said. "Overall, the conditions weren't the easiest. I'm just happy we made it (to sectionals)."

Wakeford, a junior, rejoined the Tigers golf team this year after playing soccer as a sophomore. Currently, high school boys soccer is not allowed to be played in Illinois because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wakeford has been a key addition.

"I really feel like if I work at golf more, I can be really good at it," Wakeford said. "It feels good to be on varsity and win my first regional."

Mundelein earned the second qualifying spot as a team, just beating out Huntley and Jacobs. The Mustangs' Carson Kowalski had a 78 and finished runner-up to Klutke, followed by Parker Neumaier (82), Brandon Hinkle (86) and Kevin Edquiban (87) and Jackson Koenigsknecht (87).

"I'm really proud of the team," Neumaier said. "I'm really proud of Carson for shooting a 78. That was awesome, and we really needed it. We needed that momentum from one of our guys, and it came from him."

"My putting was on. It was rolling for me," said Carson Kowalski, who hit a 30-foot birdie putt on the 14th. "A couple of holes before that, I was going into a bogey streak so it was good to end it with a birdie."

By finishing in the top-four individuals on non-advancing teams, Huntley's Danny Sheedy (79) and Josh Good (80) and Jacobs' Jason Seaholm (79) and Kyle Schutt (80) each advanced to sectionals.

Going into the last few holes, Sheedy and Good would check their phones to see where their scores stacked up on the leaderboard. For the postseason, the IHSA is using iWanamaker, a phone application that allows golfers to input scores on-the-go holy by hole.

"The last three holes, that was probably the most nervous I've ever been," said Sheedy, who came through with a birdie on the 17th to help calm his nerves. "You've just got to take deep breaths."

"I probably checked my phone 10 times the last two holes, just looking at the leaderboard," said Good, who recovered nicely after being 6 over through the first four holes.

Without a state tournament announced by the IHSA, next week's sectionals will serve as the culminating event for season.

McHenry's Ethan Jensen (81) was a shot shy of forcing a playoff. Woodstock North co-op's Luke Trewyn (82) and Brad Arnold (83), Jacobs' Ryan Frantik (83) and C-G's Maddux Tarasievich (84) all finished in the top 13.