Boys golf: Geneva, Batavia team up to win McChesney Cup

Eric Hatczel could only wonder what would have transpired last fall in Bloomington.

"It would have been six in a row," the Geneva boys golf coach said.

Hatczel was referring to the Vikings' five consecutive Class 3A team state appearances temporarily ending when the pandemic wiped out all fall state tournaments last year.

But Geneva, with a most unlikely rival riding shotgun at the Geneva Country Club, was in fine form on Monday.

At the annual season-opening McChesney Cup, a Ryder Cup-style 27- hole tournament in which the otherwise archrival Vikings and Bulldogs collaborate against the two high schools from St. Charles, any drama was extinguished early.

The Batavia and Geneva squads dominated all three nine-hole match-play events to win 174-114.

It was the most one-sided victory in the 14-year history of the Tri-Cities prep golf get-together.

"It's definitely different to play with a Batavia guy," said Geneva senior Joe Owens, the lone holdover from the 2019 state unit. "It's fun to play with them against another rivalry school like the two St. Charles."

Owens, along with the Bulldogs' Gavin Newkirk, Myles Prodoehl and Drew Freedlund, were all undefeated in the singles and two partner formats, four-ball (more commonly known as best ball) and foursomes (alternate shot).

"I think we're feeling really good about this year," said Newkirk, the Bulldogs' top-rated player who forged victorious partnerships with the Vikings' Zak Gilliam and Charlie Sexton. "We've got more depth than years past."

Newkirk prevailed 5.5-3.5 in his singles match. "It felt good to win (the team title) by a lot."

Prodoehl had few issues in his 7-2 singles win, and Freedlund teamed with the Vikings' Laksh Patel and Eli Sladkov to flavor his flawless day.

"My practice in the summer paid off," Freedlund said. "(The Vikings) have some good players, so it's fun to team up with them. They help us, we help them; it's fun."

"We are pretty similar," Hatczel said of Batavia and Geneva. "I know Batavia was really young last year. They brought a lot of guys back. We had a lot of young guys come up who are ready to take the reins."

The Vikings' Tyler Quisling, later duplicated by the Saints' Evan Ites, had the most lopsided individual victory with a landslide 8-1 win.

St. Charles North teammates Mason Siegfried and Danny Rosengarten salvaged some pride with a combined 11 points in their two singles wins.

"I am excited for what our lineup is going to be as we get going," St. Charles North coach Justin Moriarty said.

John Stock is undoubtedly one of the deans of any sport in the western suburbs.

"This year and next," the venerable St. Charles East coach said of his plans. "That will make 50 years of teaching and coaching."