Boys Golf: Wheaton Warrenville South Takes 3rd in Regional

There's a well-known golf saying, "A bad day on the golf course is better than a good day at work."

It proved to be a great day for , as well as for a few freshmen from during Thursday's Class 3A Wheaton Warrenville South regional at in Wheaton.

The Tigers took third place and the team now advances to Monday's Bartlett sectional. Joining them at Bartlett Hills will be Wheaton North freshmen Matt Winkelman, Justin Harrington and Michael Suazo.

Lyons edged Hinsdale Central, 298 to 300, for the regional title, while the Tigers were a distant third with a 312, but comfortably ahead of fourth place Glenbard West's 325.

"It was a great day today. Not too hot, not much wind at all and the course was in excellent condition," Tigers coach James Selleck said. "Our goal was to come in and play well and especially to finish on the backside and you know, we did that."

Tee-K Kelly led the Tigers with a 2-over-par 74. He was three strokes off the 71 fired by Harry Boling of Hinsdale Central and Charlie Netzel of Lyons. Boling would go on to beat Netzel in a three-hole playoff for sole medalist honors.

"I just didn't get it going with my irons and wedge game," he said. "I didn't put myself in position for any birdies, so it was a pretty steady, pretty average round."

Kelly, an Ohio State recruit, had a double bogey on No. 15 but was able to recover from it to post a 38 on the back nine. Still, it left him a bit displeased in his overall finish.

"We're in a good position because we advanced even though we didn't have our best day today," he said. "We were kind of off so hopefully we can be on at Bartlett and make it down state."

Colin McCaffrey followed Kelly's round with a 77. McCaffrey was a model of consistency, scoring a 39 on the front followed by a 38 on the back.

"I had a little rough start on the back with a double (bogey) early but I recovered with back-to-back birdies on No. 12 and 13," McCaffrey said. "We had a rough time the last time out playing in the rain, so it was nice to get out there on a nice day and move on."

The Tigers also counted an 80 from Will Kelly and an 81 from Theo Corry.

"It took us a little bit to get warmed up but we maintained and we finished well," Selleck said. "The kids stepped up today and it was one of our better team outings."

Bailey Dahlquist (87) and Nick Popejoy (91) also played for the Tigers.

It was a bittersweet afternoon for Wheaton North.

The Falcons No. 1 player, Sam Otto, struggled all day, finishing with a 90.

But for Winkelman (80), Harrington (83) and Suazo (86), the day was a success, at least on an individual basis, as the three players advanced.

"I thought I played pretty well and I was even after six holes," Winkelman said. "I didn't have any double (bogeys) today which is always a good thing."

Harrington also got off to a nice start with a 39 on the front nine before beginning the second half of his round with back-to-back bogeys.

"My putting wasn't too good," he said. "We really had no excuses. This is our home course, the weather was amazing and unfortunately no one shot too spectacular for us."

Eric Altimari contributed an 89 and John Shadid had a 90 to round out the scoring for the Falcons, who finished in fifth place overall with a 338.

"The scores with high which was surprising," Shadid said. "We came in with a few bad scores to begin with from our fifth and sixth and everyone knew that if you came in and shot bad then the season was over so there was definitely a lot of pressure."