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WOOD RIVER – It will end in June 2016 with the IHSA Class 3A and 4A baseball and softball finals.
But the 2015-16 area high school athletic year got under way Monday at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River as East Alton-Wood River hosted the Hickory Stick Classic boys golf tournament Monday.
Marquette Catholic emerged as the school year's first winner, firing a 311 to bring home the trophy over Civic Memorial, who carded a team 337. Waterloo Gibault took third with a 348, followed by Jersey (371), Litchfield (379), Metro East Lutheran (396), Piasa Southwestern (398), Hillsboro (403), Roxana (407), Vandalia (408) and Carrollton (412).
The individual medalist was Oiler junior Drew Sobol, who fired a bogey-free 5-under 67 on the par-72 layout. Michael Holtz of Marquette and Palmyra Northwestern's Tyler Woods tied for second with 1-over 73s, with Alec Hilliard of Civic Memorial and Tyler Sneed of Litchfield shooting 2-over 74s and Nick Messenger of Marquette carding a 3-over 75.
“Drew's got a maturity about him; he plays a lot around college kids and it shows,” said Oiler coach Dave Sobol – who just happens to be Drew's father. “He's been playing since he was a kid and has learned a lot being around kids like that.
“I'm proud of him; he's humble and knows how to play.”
“My putting was really good today,” Drew Sobol said. “It seemed like everything from 10 feet in was going into the hole; when things like that happen, it really boosts your confidence.
“The course wasn't playing easy today, but it wasn't playing hard either. I had a really good day today.”
Of his team's performance on the day, the Oilers lost several players to graduation from last year's team that went to the IHSA Class 1A state tournament for the first time; EA-WR only sent three players to Monday's meet, not enough to be counted in the team standings; the other two Oilers were Hunter O'Brien who shot a 87, and Brennan Quinn, who shot a 90. “We've got some young players this year and we decided to ease them in,” Sobol said. “We'll get better as the season goes on.”
“A 371 was a bit high for us,” said Panther coach Bryan Brown, “but for a season-opening tournament, we'll certainly take it. We had seven seniors graduate from last year's team and we have a young team this year, so we have some experience we need to get, but we'll be fine.
“It's a good place to start the season, and we'll keep working hard and keep improving. We're in the (Alton) Redbird Teeoff Classic tomorrow, so we'll concentrate on keeping our bad holes to a minimum and work on taking some strokes off our game.”
Junior Brian Rogers led the way for the Panthers with a 85, followed by senior Matt Brady with a 86.
“We've got a really young team,” said Carrollton coach John Kesinger. “We're not very experienced, but overall I thought we played well. We'll keep working and practicing and we'll be in good shape.”
The Robinson brothers, senior Nick and sophomore Noah, each had 81s to pace the Hawks.
Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.
