Tiebreaker Forces Golfers To Settle For 2nd At IHSA Finals

Since the Illinois High School Association started awarding team trophies for the boys state golf tournament back in 1937, the competition has featured a lot of close calls.

But no one’s seen anything like this before.

In the closest team race in state history, Evanston lost a tiebreaker playoff and settled for a still historic second place finish at the Class 3A state finals held Friday and Saturday at The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington.

New champion Hinsdale Central (team score 588), ETHS (588) and 2-time defending state champion New Trier (589) will spend the rest of the school year contemplating just how much difference one shot could have made.

Instead of declaring co-champions, IHSA officials determined the final outcome by comparing the scores turned in by Hinsdale’s and Evanston’s No. 5 scorers on each day of the 36-hole test. That system allowed Hinsdale to win the first place trophy by a margin of 2 shots.

“It’s a gut punch, a stinger in the gut,” said ETHS head coach Jed Curtis, who guided the Wildkits to their previous best state tournament finish, a tie for 7th place in 2013. “We were about a quarter of an inch away from winning it.”

Curtis’ reference was to a putt attempt by junior Kieran Low on the final regulation hole of the tourney. “He had a 5 or 6-footer and it just slid underneath the cup. He didn’t pull it, he didn’t push it, it just didn’t go in,” said the coach. “And his approach shot (from 120 yards out) actually hit the pin right before that!”

Low earned the program’s best individual finish ever with his runnerup performance. He lost a 1-hole playoff to New Trier rival Liam Kelly to decide the individual state crown, as Kelly parred the hole and Low two-putted for a bogey.

Low’s two-day total of 140 (4-under-par) included 70s in both rounds, including a pair of eagles over the first 9 holes on Saturday. That effort on the last day was part of a sizzling finish for the Wildkits, whose 4-man team score of 285 matched the best single round ever at the course --- by Hinsdale Central in 2014 --- and rallied ETHS from what was once a 15-stroke deficit.

Evanston counted a 70-70-140 from Kieran Low, a 79-68-147 from freshman Lester Low (tie for 10th place), a 79-73-152 from senior Harrison Stracks, and an 85-74-159 from freshman Luciano Giangrossi. Fifth man Nick Bonaguro, a junior. totaled a 75-85-160. Miles Gomberg contributed a 90 on Friday, then was replaced in the starting lineup by freshman Henry Way, who fired a 74, on Saturday.

The two-day finals proved to be an emotional roller coaster for the entire squad, including Curtis. Disappointed with their team score of 303 on the first day of the competition, they regrouped immediately and wrote another chapter in the state history books with a 285 total on Saturday.

In contrast, Hinsdale shot a 293 and New Trier totaled 290 on Saturday.

“I’m always preaching to them about finding the positives and not dwelling on the negatives,” Curtis said. “I could see they were a little dejected Friday after we dropped about 8 shots at the end of that round. I said we’ve got to be honest with ourselves and talk about what we’re going to do on Saturday. I told them you still haven’t played your best golf as a team, but tomorrow, you will. Sure enough, they did.”

“On Saturday we hit some of the most ridiculously skilled shots I’ve ever seen. It was like watching a PGA pro highlight reel. We had 3 eagles (2 by the elder Low, 1 by Stracks) and got back in it (chase for the title).”

In fact, when Low walked off the 18th green to wait for his playoff with Kelly, Curtis thought the Wildkits were going to share the title with the Red Devils.

“One person told me there would be co-champs,” said the Evanston coach. “It’s not sour grapes, but I know how hard these guys have worked. You’d like to be able to hold up that No. 1 trophy, but it doesn’t change who you are. Even though we ended up not winning first place, I think this was one of Evanston’s finest moments.”

Low had some of his finest moments in Bloomington. But the junior standout has high expectations about his own play and will never be accused of just playing for 2nd place.

“My issue all season has been putting, and I got a lesson last week and really worked on it,” Low said. “I guess everything just clicked for me. I got some putts to drop and it really worked out well for me. Both of my rounds were good. It was a little tougher on Friday, but Saturday I was able to navigate the course better and play smarter. I had a lot more firepower going for me on Saturday and I really went after it.

“Right after the (regulation) round I was a little bit disappointed because I just needed that one more shot (to win it). That can be a little tough to take. After the other kid (Kelly) finished out the playoff with his par, I had about a 20 foot putt. But I had so much adrenaline I had a pretty poor putt, left the comebacker short, and that was it.”

“In 24 years, I haven’t seen a kid from any team hit the ball the way Kieran hit last week,” praised Curtis. “He had total control and hit with a pro-type trajectory and compression of the ball. I’ve always felt Kieran was as good as any player in the state and he showed it this week. The growth he’s shown has been tremendous.

“He was a man out there. I couldn’t be prouder of what he did and how he led this team.”

Another team leader was Stracks, who contributed his best postseason round on Saturday and led Evanston’s uphill fight.

“It was a great way for us to finish out the season, even though we didn’t win it all,” said the only senior in the starting lineup. “I’m really proud of the way we battled after Friday. I executed better and did a better job of sticking to the game plan. I was a little less aggressive on a couple of shots and that helped my score. And when I did make mistakes, I just got back to grinding as soon as I could.

“With three holes to go we had a three-way tie (for first) and that was really exciting. It was emblematic of the whole season because we were the three best teams all year. We’ve come a really long way in three years. We beat one of the great programs in state history (Hinsdale) and we beat one of the great programs in state history (New Trier).

“It stings a little at the moment, but tying for first place is an amazing thing for us to accomplish. And I know these guys will stay hungry and get it done next year.”