Milano Aces 8th Hole As Vikings Win First Upstate Eight Match

When he started his Geneva golf coaching career 27 years ago, Bill Koehn never expected to see one of his players hit a hole-in-one in match.

But it happened Tuesday, when junior Adam Milano aced the eighth hold at Mill Creek Golf Club, sparking the Viking varsity golf team to victory its first-ever Upstate Eight dual meet.

"It was the first one I can remember in my team from competition," Koehn said. "They don't happen a lot."

Geneva scored a sizzling 149 team score at par-35 home course for a 23-stroke win over Elgin Larkin. 

Milano's ace helped him to a 36 and co-medalist honors with teammate Andrew Cisco. Bill Gregory shot 38 and Ben Kale and Colin Lillibridge each carded 39. Larkin was paced by Cody Wahl's 39, and the team score was 172.

The golf season is off and running and Geneva looks to be on par with the rest of the Upstate Eight River Division.

"I'm really excited about the opportunity to be in this conference," said Koehn. "We've played at a lot of the same courses as the other teams. It's looking like St. Charles East and Geneva will be going for the conference title."

On Aug. 19, the Vikings hosted and won the 20-team Geneva Invitational. Geneva took 1st with a 291 team score.

So far this season, Geneva has placed first at their Invitational, third at the Dekalb Invitational, third at the Elgin Larkin Invitational, and fourth at the Limestone Invitational.

With 12 boys on the team, Koehn is looking forward to having some depth. "Twelve kids is a lot actually, but we have so much depth that I ended up carrying a few more guys this year."

The Geneva Invitational was proof of that strategy.

"I put in two teams and our No. 1 squad shot a 291 to take first place. Our No. 2 team shot a 300 to win fourth place, so that in itself talks a lot about our depth."

Right now, the golf team is focusing on upcoming matches with St. Charles East and St. Charles North, teams they faced earlier this season at the fourth-annual McChesey Cup at the Geneva Golf Club.

This match consisted of four teams – Geneva, Batavia, St. Charles North, and St. Charles East. The teams played 27 holes with the first nine played as Best Ball, the second nine played as Alternate Shot, and the third nine played as Match Play. Each hole was worth one point and the teams had to try and win as many as possible.

"It's cool because Geneva and Batavia are rivals but they are put on the same team, and St. Charles East and St. Charles North are rivals and they are put on the same team. St. Charles really put it to us this year – 123 to 93. They beat us pretty bad," Koehn said.

The team will not face St. Charles East again until later in the season at their home course, which may prove to be difficult. The conference tournament, however, is at a neutral sight.

Koehn thinks both St. Charles schools will give Geneva a run for their money. "St. Charles East will be the biggest competition. They beat North by one stroke. I think the competition is going to be a lot tougher. Batavia is always tough to play, too, and we have to play them at their place."

The top players for the Boys Golf team this season will be senior captains Andrew Cisco and Jeff Lapetina and juniors Adam Milano, Bill Gregory, and Matt Landry. Also playing well this season is sophomore Colin Lillibridge.

The Vikings Golf team plays next in Barrington at 4:30 p.m. Monday, Aug. 30, at the Biltmore Country Club.