EDWARDSVILLE — All year long, the St. Anthony boys golf team has shown continued improvement from one tournament to the next.
Toward the tail-end of the year, that has come with win-after-win.
That started with the Belleville (Althoff Catholic) Crusader Classic on Sept. 29, where the Bulldogs won by six strokes with a 292. It continued at the Class 2A Effingham Regional at Effingham Country Club, where St. A won by nine shots over Effingham, Olney (Richland County) and Mt. Zion.
So, when Phil Zaccari’s group made the trek to Oak Brook Golf Club in Edwardsville on Monday for the Class 2A Highland Sectional, he knew his team was poised, and more importantly, was battle-tested.
“The sectional was stacked. Five teams could have easily won this thing,” Zaccari said. “We talked and I said, ‘We got to come out hot and come out right away. We can send a little statement.’ We started really well and then the third hole started biting us.
“It was a dogfight after that. Everyone was hanging around; nobody really wanted to take it until we got to the back.”
The Bulldogs won their second-straight sectional championship and 10th under Zaccari with a 298, edging host Highland with their fifth score.
“We played with them before at Centralia and we got them by one stroke,” said Zaccari of Highland. “We knew how talented they were and it’s their home course. They understood that course really well and you could tell by the way they were playing.”
Freshman sensation Logan Gowin came in with a four-under-par round of 71. He finished second overall.
“Logan had it going and then he made a little hiccup,” Zaccari said. “Then, he coasted for a while and then got on fire on the back.”
Gowin was one under through his first six holes. He bogeyed the par-3 seventh hole before a birdie at the par-5 eighth and a par on the par-5 ninth.
Gowin then bogeyed the par-4 10th hole before three-straight birdies. He ultimately shot three-under-par on the back.
Maddux Clark finished with a 76.
He was part of an insane end to the tournament and sealed the victory for his team.
Clark was three-over on the front with a birdie on the eighth hole. He then bogeyed the 10th before a birdie on the 15th.
Clinging to a one-stroke lead, that’s where the following drama ensued:
• St. Anthony’s Alec Hakman, the fourth-scorer, finishes with four straight pars, while Highland’s Kyler Koerkenmeier finishes with two bogeys to extend the lead to three strokes
• St. Anthony’s Jameson McAllaster finishes with two pars, one birdie and one bogey. Highland’s Nolan Houchins finishes with three pars and one birdie to cut the lead to two strokes
• Clark finished with two birdies, one par and one triple. Highland’s Eli Lucas finished with three pars and one birdie to even the score.
• Gowin finishes with one bogey, two birdies and one par. Highland’s Noah Cooper finishes with three pars and one birdie to tie the score again
Zaccari said there were “Augusta roars” following Clark’s putt on the 18th hole.
“Maddux hits his drive and is 70-some yards out. He stuffed his approach shot to around 12 feet for birdie,” Zaccari said. “Highland’s kid comes up behind him and sticks it to two feet for a kick-in birdie. Maddux doesn’t realize it and I didn’t tell him. I said, ‘Do your routine and play it solid.’
“He finished with a bang and drained his birdie putt.”
Though tied after the putt, Zaccari knew his team had it in the bag, as it came down to the fifth score, which was Brown.
Brown carded an 80, thanks to a birdie on the 18th. Highland’s fifth score, Tyler Driscoll, carded an 81, after an unfortunate quadruple bogey on the 18th.
Zaccari said his team was “worried” coming into the day. The course hadn’t seen much rain.
“They were worried, as dry as it is, so they tucked some pins and put some pins in some pretty interesting places, so putting was fun, but it worked out,” Zaccari said. “I thought the course played fair.”
McAllaster finished with a 77.
“Jameson played steady,” Zaccari said. “He was grinding away on the front. He was steady on the back and then he started making pars. He put himself in good position.”
Hakman finished with a 78 after starting the day two-under with back-to-back birdies.
“He was cruising and then he got to No. 3 and he got jailed,” Zaccari said. “We tried to go high and he hit it well, but it caught the top of a tree and dropped straight down.”
The third hole was an issue all day for St. Anthony.
The Bulldogs played the hole five-over-par.
“The third hole was the issue today,” Zaccari said. “We knew that was going to be one of those holes. We talked about it before and I said, ‘We got to take care of No. 3,’ and we didn’t take care of No. 3.”
St. Anthony now advances to the state tournament for the fifth consecutive year; this time at a new environment.
“Most of the guys have played it consistently. It’s a course that they like,” said Zaccari of Weibring Golf Club. “They do usually play pretty well there, but not under the state conditions. This is a true test of golf. How smart do you play?”
SWINGLER ADVANCES
Effingham finished eighth as a team with a 314.
Jude Traub shot a 78. Leo Wyckoff fired an 81 and Cannon Bockhorn shot an 84.
Jack Swingler advanced with a 71. He tied for third individually. Swingler shot even-par on the front nine with birdies on the first and ninth holes. He was even on the back with a birdie on the 18th.
TEE TIMES
St. Anthony tees off at 9:24 a.m. The next golfer will follow nine minutes later.
The Bulldogs are paired with Quincy (Notre Dame), West Chicago (Wheaton Academy) and Ottawa (Twp.).
Swingler tees off at 10:45 a.m. with Rockford Boylan Catholic’s Cole Beto, Belleville Althoff Catholic’s Carson Tribout and Mascoutah’s Darren Klein.