Every shot counts

Cary-Grove's Scott Brady putts from the fringe of the third hole during the Fox Valley Conference Boys Golf Meet at Oak Grove in Harvard. (Lauren M. Anderson - landerson@nwherald.com )

E-mail this story

Print this story

Share

HARVARD – Cary-Grove’s boys’ golf team couldn’t have cut it any closer.

The Trojans, who came into Thursday’s Fox Valley Conference Golf Meet undefeated in dual play, had to wait for the last score to come in to eke out a one-shot victory over Jacobs to unseat the Golden Eagles as conference champions at Oak Grove Golf course.

Cary (319) had solid rounds from Ryan Laughlin, Matt Efflandt and Scott Brady, who shot 7-over-par 78, 8-over 79, and 9-over 80, respectively, to win the title. Scott Cahill won the individual event with an even-par 71 for Jacobs (320).

“The kids really wanted to finish the [conference] season undefeated,” Cary-Grove coach Kelly Muzzy said. “They knew they had a little bit of a cushion with the 11-0 conference record. I’m very happy for them, winning by that one stroke is really going to mean a lot to them.”

Crystal Lake South (322) finished third, while Crystal Lake Central (328) was fourth. Prairie Ridge (329) took fifth and Woodstock (335) finished sixth. Dundee-Crown (339), Johnsburg (345), McHenry (354) and Huntley (358) rounded out the field.

Muzzy added that going undefeated in the conference would help the Trojans’ confidence going into next week’s regionals.

“I think we are as confident as we have been all year long,” Muzzy said. “We’ve been trying to handle success and not getting above ourselves. We strive to stay focused and keep working hard and just taking it a day at a time.”

Cahill shot 1-over 36 on the front nine before catching fire early on the back nine.

“I struck the ball well and didn’t make a ton of mistakes,” Cahill said. “I birdied 11, 12 and 13 to get back under par, but then hit the tough stretch of holes at 14, 15 and 16 where I made two bogeys to go back to even-par.”

Cahill added that he felt great about being able to win the event.

“It feels really good to win this,” Cahill said. “It was good to come out and play well on a tough course like this. It was very satisfying.”

Prairie Ridge’s Brad Hyland shot a 74 to finish second and Johnsburg’s Jake Arden carded a 75 for third place. Hyland said that when he walked off the course, he thought he had the winning score.

“I knew there were a lot of great players in the tournament but I thought 74 would be enough,” Hyland said.