WOOD RIVER - Senior golfer Aiden Kesher was the best player on the course for Alton's boys golf team, as he shot a 91 as a young but promising Redbird team came in sixth in the large school division of the Madison County Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The Redbirds as a team shot a 391 in finishing sixth as Highland shot a 299 to win the championship, with Granite City coming in second at 331. Edwardsville was third with a 340, Triad came in fourth with a score of 341, and Collinsville was fifth with a 370.
It was one of the lowest scores for an Alton team in some time, and head coach Zach Deeder was very happy with the Redbirds' results.
"We did great," Deeder said. "We shot one of our lowest scores in a long time, and our leader was Aiden Keshner, our senior. But we took a score from a freshman, and the other two scores from sophomores. So our team is young right now, but we're already competing. This is the first tournament for three of the guys on the team, and I'm super happy with Alex Ciatto tonight, he shot a 97, he's a freshman. So this is his first golf tournament ever that was competitive that I know of, and to shoot under 100 is amazing. So, very happy."
And it being the first tournament for some of the newer players, Deeder was very happy with how things turned out for them.
"This is our second one, but we've got 14 guys on the team right now," Deeder said. "We have a little higher number, since other sports are closed, and I've got a lot to pick from right now. A lot of these guys have got some good swings, so I'm happy to see this. This is a lot to build on, and hopefully, we'll get a full season in."
As many other players and teams have expressed, Deeder is very grateful that the season is indeed underway.
"Yeah, there's a lot of extra hassle that goes on with it," Deeder said, "but at least we get to go. That's how I feel about it. We're outside in the field wearing masks, but it is nice to be out here. And it's great to see a team come together so early in the season."
Deeder didn't feel that wearing masks, as is being required under Illinois High School Association rules due to the COVID-19 pandemic, hinders the golfers at all.
"I don't think it really bothers them," Deeder said. "They don't seem to notice that much. They might get a little hot, but I haven't had too many complain about it at all."
The bottom line is that Deeder and his young Redbird team are very happy to be playing, and there's plenty of golf ahead of them as well.
"Yes we are, and we've got busy weeks coming up," Deeder said. "So we're going to try to keep this momentum going. Because so far, we're doing great. I'm very happy with where we're at this early in the season."
As far as team goals go, Deeder is looking to have positive team results to go along with individual honors that the Redbirds might win along the way.
"We'd like to place in something as a team," Deeder said. "We've taken a few individual trophies home over the last couple of seasons, but we'd like to get a team score in. We haven't been able to get four scores in once in a while, so that's our goal, to get a top three somewhere."
For the team to keep on going and striving to reach their goals and compete in every meet and tournament during 2020 is Coach Deeder's main goal for the Redbirds boys golf squad.
"That's right," Deeder said. "That's how it's going to have to work."Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
