Robles, South open strong

Nick Robles, a junior at Crystal Lake South, lines up his putt on the 11th hole Monday. Robles tied for third place at the Prairie Ridge Invitational in Crystal Lake. (Stephanie Janisch – sjanisch@nwherald.com)

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PRAIRIE GROVE – The 2010 boys golf season got underway Monday at Prairie Isle Golf Club with the Prairie Ridge Early Bird Invitational, and if one round means anything, one team has made an early statement.

Behind a 1-over-par 73 by Nick Robles, Crystal Lake South (307) finished third at the nine-team event. South finished highest among local teams.

Barrington (292) won the event for the fifth consecutive year; Maine South (305) was second. Crystal Lake Central (321) took fifth, Cary-Grove (336) was sixth and Woodstock (369) finished in eighth place. Gators coach Curt Wadlington said that although he was pleased, there were things to be done.

“I think we put up some good numbers but we still have some work to do,” Wadlington said. “I would definitely say first step taken. I don’t know if we took any steps back today but hopefully we are going in the right direction.”

Robles had a chance to win the individual title but double-bogeyed the par-5 18th hole. Robles said that it was a good round despite how it finished.

“It was a pretty solid round, I didn’t get much going,” Robles said. “I was able to get a lot of pars but just lost it at the end. It was kind of heart-wrenching but nothing too serious. I got a good score.”

Robles’ teammates added to the positive day for South as Brendon Knaiser and Garrett Gassensmith each shot 5-over 77s. Wadlington added that the result is a building block toward future tournaments and expectations.

“You always look down the road to see where you stand in the conference,” Wadlington said. “You look ahead now to regionals and sectionals and Barrington will be there again. You always like to see how you stack up against them.”

Caelan Murphy shot a 7-over 79 to lead Central, and Tigers coach Mike Hermann said that Murphy, now in his fourth year on varsity, needs to be a leader for the team.

“I’m hoping besides the scoring, that he will lead us in leadership on the course,” Hermann said. “He has grown and matured these last four years. So far this year, he has done a good job being a captain on the team. He is really striking the ball right now but his score might not indicate that. He shot a 79 with close to 42 putts so if he can figure out the putting, which is also a team thing, we really could have improved.”

Dan DePrey shot a 9-over 81 to lead the Trojans while Jerry Pan’s 12-over 84 led the Wolves and Tyler Cundiff’s 10-over 82 was the leading score for the Blue Streaks.