Tenacity Personified by Naperville Central Golfer

The contrasts could not have been more striking — almost literally.

At Naperbrook Golf Club on Tuesday during the critical Naperville North-Naperville Central dual golf match for supremacy in the DuPage Valley Conference, John Doyle and Pete Mandich were the top guns — at least in the lineup for the Redhawks.

Doyle, a senior, and Mandich, a sophomore, were battling the Huskies' Nick Buege and Spencer Tanaka in the lead group.

Mandich was at a disadvantage from the start, but he displayed a craftiness beyond his years to remain competitive with his three senior playing companions.

Buege, in genera,l and Doyl,e in particular, were pummeling their tee shots at the Plainfield layout on the par-4s and lone par-5 that constitute the middle portion of its front nine.

Surrendering 60 to 80 yards off the tee, Mandich failed to wilt.

Time and time again, as Buege was en route to a co-match medalist round of 2-under 34, Mandich relied on an unconventional road to be the Redhawks' low man with a 38 in the Huskies' 142-154 victory.

"I really wanted to get my confidence back," Mandich said after employing a number of hybrids, long irons and short-game wizardry to combat his lack of distance off the tee. "Thirty-eight is a good round for me. I was in a little bit of a slump."

From the second through seventh holes Tuesday, Mandich reached all but one of the six greens in regulation.

Nowhere was the disparity between the players' ball-striking capabilities off the tee more dramatically revealed then on the seventh hole.

Buege and Doyle would reach the par-5 in two; the former made eagle, and the latter two-putted for birdie.

Mandich, meanwhile, had to hit a hybrid simply to lay up to an ideal position of 100 yards short for a wedge approach in three.

Undeterred, Mandich hit a lovely shot, only to have his birdie attempt from 15 feet come tantalizingly short of its destination for a third red number in the pairing.

"I know if I had a good short game, I could still compete with (the long hitters)," Mandich said. "I am waiting until I can grow. My older brother (Matt) was the same size as me when he was my age, and now he is 6-1."

The combination of tenacity and course management Mandich displays comes as no surprise to Naperville Central coach Barry Baldwin.

"His short game is one of the best short games I have seen," Baldwin said. "He has a great touch. When he has got (hit short game) going, he can really go low."