Marquette Catholic High School was well represented at the IHSA State Golf Tournament with Kolten Bauer and Jack Patterson competing for the boy's golf team.
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“I thought it was a good season,” Patterson said. "I had a couple of tournaments where I played pretty consistently throughout the year and thought we accomplished a lot with me and Kolten going to state.”
Bauer shot a 37 on the front nine and a 39 on the back and ended up with a 76. Overall, he finished with a 146 and was tied for 6th place with three other players. Patterson was one of four golfers tied for 53rd in the tournament. He shot a 41 in the front nine but finished out strongly with a 37 on the back. Both were satisfied overall with their performances.
“As a team, I thought we did pretty good, but we definitely could’ve made sectionals,” Bauer said. “Individually I was pretty satisfied, especially at the start winning two out of the first three [tournaments].
“It was great,” Patterson said. “You feel good about yourself being part of that large tournament [with] elite, top-tier caliber of players.”
One of their key’s to success is staying calm during a long day on the golf course for a tournament, “You gotta get in a groove and settle down,” Patterson said. "You get into a rhythm of taking one shot at a time.”
“You got to think of one shot at a time and keep grinding out. You can’t ever look back at previous or future holes,” added Bauer. “You just have to stay focused on the shot you’re about to hit.”
For Patterson, he’s particularly talented when it comes to chipping.
“Right now chipping and my wedge game has been a confidence builder for me. I can get up and down and save those pars.”
Bauer’s strength has more to do with his mentality.
“My ability to grind it out no matter what day it is if I don’t have my best stuff.”
As for the player's room for improvement, Bauer stated that he, “definitely needs to work on [his] long game while Patterson’s short game could be better, “at state I could have saved a lot of strokes by putting, and I just didn’t have any puts fall. I need to work on that in the future.”
Bauer is coming off of yet another impressive individual season. He placed first in the Alton Redbird Tee-Off Classic, Alton All-Catholic Tournament, and the Prairie State Conference Meet. Incidentally, he tied for 1st place at the Wood River Tournament as well.
Patterson’s talents showed later in the season. His best round came at the Madison County Tournament when he shot a 69. In the IHSA Class 2A Salem Sectional, Patterson finished tied for 2nd place when he shot a 74. There were quite a few times where if it weren’t for Bauer then Patterson would’ve won a couple more tournaments, but it’s good to have competition from one of your teammates.
The two golfers first started the sport when they were 6 years old. Bauer started playing competitively at the age of 8, and Patterson did the same two years later in fourth grade, and now both are looking to further their golf careers in college. Bauer, a junior, will be on the golf course again next year for the Explorers.
“I can’t believe I only got one more year left, but it’s awesome.”
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