Waggoner’s strong finish
 earns title

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McHENRY – Luke Waggoner, coming off a ninth-place finish Thursday in the Illinois Junior Golf Association’s Prairie Isle Regional, began play in Monday’s McHenry County Junior Golf Association McHenry Open looking to improve on that finish.

Waggoner did a lot better than finish higher than ninth. He won the senior boys division by four strokes over Michael DiGrazia and Anthony Basile at McHenry Country Club.

Waggoner, from Lakewood, started slowly. He was 3-over-par on the back nine before shooting even par on the front, including birdies on the final two holes for a 3-over 74.

“I managed to get some putts to fall at the end,” Waggoner said. “I hadn’t really been able to make anything the first 12 or 13 holes. The greens were in great shape, so I was able to gauge the speed by the end.”

Another advantage Waggoner had was the fact that, unlike many players, he had played the course before.

“This is my favorite course in the area, and we played here a couple of times for school [with Marian Central’s golf team],” Waggoner said. “On some of the holes, the guys in my group were asking where the hole went, and some of these holes that bend to the right or bend to the left, you had to hit a shot that fit the hole. It was nice knowing where the hole went or knowing what part of the green you wanted to be on.”

Waggoner will be among the local golfers competing in the 41st Illinois State Junior Amateur Championship today through Thursday at Makray Memorial in Barrington.

In the junior boys division, McHenry’s Andrew Reisinger shot a 14-over 85 to win by one shot over Daniel DePrey and two shots over Arthur Hecht. Reisinger said that his round didn’t start too soundly.

“My driver wasn’t very good. I found myself in trouble on the first two holes,” Reisinger said. “I was able to make a few punch-outs, and my putting was real good. I had a lot of one-putts, so that is what got me back into the game.”

Bad weather delayed the tournament early in the day. Reisinger said the delay didn’t affect him like he feared it might.

“I was about to tee off on No. 3 and thought I would be a little stiff, but I ended up parring that hole, which was nice,” Reisinger said.

In the nine-hole girls tournaments, the domination of Katlyn Anderberg and Samantha Leicht continued. Anderberg and Leicht won their third titles in as many tries.

In the senior division, Anderberg shot an 8-over 43 to win by two shots over Madison Zyer. In the junior division, Leicht shot a 47 for a two-shot win over Danielle Roulo. Claire Castetter was another stroke back.

“I really struggled with my putting,” Anderberg said. “I really need to get back this week and work on that.”

Leicht said that, like Anderberg, her putting wasn’t sharp, although that part of her game has been a key to her success this month.

“My putting has been the biggest thing for me winning these three tournaments,” Leicht said. “It helped me the first two weeks – didn’t help me as much this week, but my fairways helped a lot this week.”

The MCJGA schedule continues Friday in Harvard with the Plum Tree Open.