Two weekends ago, the Boys Golf team participated in the IHSA State Tournament at The Den at Fox Creek in Bloomington IL. The Scouts entered the weekend as Sectional Champions, alongside other sectional champions Washington, Evanston, and Hinsdale Central.
With their sectional win, the Scouts entered State with lots of momentum. The team arrived Wednesday evening before playing a practice round on Thursday. The tournament began on Friday and continued on Saturday morning.
The State Tournament is identical to Sectionals in that each team has six golfers play with the top four scores counting. However, the State Tournament is played across two days compared to just one round played in Sectionals. This forces the golfers to stay consistent throughout the whole tournament, not necessarily only one round.
To start the tournament, the Scouts were represented by sophomores Raunak Wadhera and Michael Hahn, junior Jack Douglass, and seniors Brady Baker, Jack Lamberti, and Huston O’Neil. The Scouts were led by Lamberti who shot a 75, Wadhera and Hahn each shooting a 77, and Douglass shooting a 78. After the first day, the Scouts stood in fifth place out of the twelve teams, hanging in there with the top teams.
On Saturday, the Scouts struggled all shooting 80 strokes or above. The Scouts were led by Jack Douglass shooting an 80, Raunak Wadhera shooting an 81, Jack Lamberti shot an 81, and Michael Hahn shot an 81. These scores led to a seventh place finish. The team was disappointed, especially after their sectional win two weeks earlier.
“It felt like we were heating up in the playoffs because we won our sectional. But when we went to State, it was disappointing to not finish as we wished,” O’Neil said.
Although the Scouts struggled, it’s important to acknowledge that the State Tournament is the highest level of high school golf.
“Like I told the players, being seventh in state at the end of the year is not bad at all, and it’s something they should be really proud of. Competition was really tough down there this year with so many teams. We knew that we would have to play perfect golf in order to win,” Coach Jim Matheson said.
Looking to next year, the Scouts have three returning state competitors in Douglass, Hahn, and Wadhera.
“With all three of them now, having experience downstate and understanding that it’s a whole different level of golf down there, I think it will help us in the long run,” Matheson said.
Although the Scouts fell short of a State Championship, the Scouts are happy to have returned back to the State Tournament, and hope to continue their winning tradition in the years to come.
