Wildkits Punch Ticket For Golf Sectional

Golf has always been an individual sport, where it’s you against the golf course and you against the competition.

But Evanston turned it into a team sport Wednesday --- and punched a ticket for the entire Wildkit squad to the sectional tournament.

Motivated by a teammate’s good start, the Kits earned runnerup honors at the Class 3A Loyola Academy regional tournament held at Wilmette Golf Club and advanced all of their golfers to the next step in the Illinois High School Association state tournament series.

Evanston’s team score of 306 trailed only a 291 effort by champion New Trier and was easily good enough to nail down one of the automatic team qualifying spots. Loyola also advanced with a score of 310, ahead of the rest of the tournament field that included Oak Park-River Forest (317), Niles West (332), Lane Tech (335), Lincoln Park (350), Niles North (361) and Amundsen (365).

Once word of mouth --- and maybe a text or two --- concerning McHenry Mason’s score of 38 over his first 9 holes spread among his teammates, the Kits’ confidence grew and grew. Their attitude? If Mason --- whose scores haven’t always counted this season --- can do it, so can I.

That’s what you call leading by example. Mason finished with a 79 --- breaking 80 for the second time this week, including a practice round at the sectional site --- and Evanston placed 3 players in the top 10 to keep the season alive.

Kieran Low, 3rd in the individual standings with a 4-over-par 74, and Will Wagener (75) continued to provide a solid 1-2 scoring punch for ETHS, which also counted a 78 by junior Harrison Stracks. Both Mason and sophomore Miles Gomberg carded 79s, and senior David Castellini finished with an 82.

“I thought all the kids played really well, right from the start,” praised ETHS head coach Jed Curtis. “That was such a solid effort from Mason and I know that the other kids saw him playing well and it inspired them. That was his best round of the season.

“Harrison kept it together down the stretch, and that was important because he’s had trouble finishing off his rounds. Will only hit two bad shots all day --- a couple of wedges that he pulled --- and Kieran put an exclamation point on his round, when he threw a dart (of an approach shot on the 18th hole) to within 2 feet of the pin and made a birdie putt. That was a nice way to end it and make sure we beat Loyola.

“We put up a nice score in some tough conditions today. To get it done like we did, against quality teams like New Trier and Loyola, helps them all believe that they’re right there with the best.”

“I started off with a couple of birdies, but I knew I didn’t have to be a hero today. I just wanted to help the team advance,” said Mason. “I birdied No. 3 and No. 6, and I had pars on No. 2, No. 4 and No. 9. When I broke 80 Monday (76 at Pine Bluff Golf Course in Crest Hill, where the Lyons Sectional tournament will be held next Monday) that was a big confidence booster for me.

“I chipped well all around the greens today. Kieran (teammate Low) has been helping me with the basics. He’s so good around the greens and I didn’t know some of the techniques he showed me before. I’ve placed the ball more in the middle of my stance and that helped me get most of my pars, because even when I missed the green, I was still able to get up and down.”

Stracks was another unsung hero who took his cue from Mason early on.

“I had a bit of a rough start, but I did see McHenry at one point and it looked like he was playing pretty well,” Stracks said. “So I knew that a good score was out there and that I could do it, too. I was able to turn it around nicely --- I had birdies on No. 10 and No. 15 and both of them came on 20-foot putts --- and I was mentally tough today, able to shake off the bad holes.

“This is the first regional I’ve played in and I was a bit nervous at first. I just focused on hitting my shots.”

Low’s reaction to his buddy Mason’s effort? “It was cool to see him play so well, because we needed him today,” said the sophomore standout. “I think today was a confidence booster for all of us. Now I really think we have a shot at getting to State as a team. We just need to put together four good scores next week. It’d be sick to go Downstate as a team.

“Today was a grind for me. I had two doubles (bogeys) on the front, but I knew it was early (in the round) and I just tried to move on from it. I figured I’d be fine.”

His second shot on the final hole helped secure Evanston’s 2nd place finish.

“I knew we were going to qualify, and so was Loyola, and I didn’t know how close it was,” he said. “That was a solid shot, one of the few good wedge shots I hit today. It felt pretty good.”

“It feels really great that the team made it,” added Wagener, one of only two seniors in the starting lineup for the Kits. “I was definitely nervous to start off, because this could have been my last round (of high school golf. I hit a couple of bad tee shots and the first three holes were a struggle for me. But then I started playing better and making pars.”

Logan Keeter of New Trier, a sophomore, claimed medalist honors with a 69.