WOOD RIVER – One thing about Marquette Catholic's boys golf team. If one Explorer is having an off-day, another Explorer is there to pick up the slack.
That was the case Tuesday at the IHSA Class 2A Roxana Regional tournament at the par-72, 6,526-yard Belk Park course. Nick Messinger had an 8-over 80 and Michael Holtz fired an even-par 72. Leave it to Kolton Bauer to come through; the sophomore carded the day's best round, a 2-under 70, to help the Explorers to a team 293, good enough to win their fourth regional title since 2012 and well ahead of Highland's 351; Triad finished third with a 358 to take the final team qualifying spot for next week's Mattoon Sectional, a stroke better than East Alton-Wood River at 359.
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Civic Memorial (369), the host Shells (370), Jersey (374) and Piasa Southwestern (383) rounded out the field for the tournament.
The Oilers' Drew Sobol had a 2-over 73 to lead individuals on non-qualifying teams advancing to Mattoon; Roxana's Jacob Maguire (9-over 81) and Scott Anderson (13-over 85), Greenville's Sam Knebel (14-over 86), CM's Will Spencer (16-over 88), Southwestern's Collin Baumgartner (16-over 88), Jersey's Colton Winters (19-over 91), EAWR's Brenden Allen (20-over 92), CM's Chase Spanhook (21-over 93) and EAWR's Kalib Harrop (21-over 93) all advanced to the sectional, Spanhook and Harrop advancing through a playoff with the Eagles' Michael Dixon and Panthers' Austin Seymour.
“You're not always going to be the one who shoots the best scores; you can't always be that top two guy,” said Explorer coach Pat Moore on how things worked out for the Explorers. “Tha'ts going to happen. You're going to have bad days, even on days like this when it counts. That's why it's a team sport, and that's why we're so deep like that. You've got guys up front who come in with a 76 or 75 ahead of you, it's 'OK, great, perfect, relax.' It'll help.”
Having someone who can pick up the slack if someone else is having an off-day helps immensely, Moore said. “It's a huge weight off your shoulders,” Moore said. “I've experienced that in years past, too; it's just a huge difference knowing the guys in front of you and a couple of guys behind you are playing well, and even if you're not having a great day, you can say, 'I can press a little bit here and try to get my score down even more so we can get a better team score.'
“it's great to see that happen and to see them come together like that and put in some good scores.”
“I knew they'd (his teammates) would post a good score, so I tried to go out there play my own game,” Bauer said. “I made a few putts and came out with a 70; I was pretty happy with that.”
Winning a sectional title would be big for the Explorers, Bauer feels. “That'd be great,” Bauer said. “That'd be a big confidence booster at that golf course; it's not going to be easy, but we can do it.”
“it was a good effort,” said Oiler coach Dave Sobol about his team missing out on qualifying as a team by a single stroke. “One three-foot putt, but that's the way it goes; that's golf. I've been there before, and we've won that way before. It's a good job; kids played hard, played well and I couldn't be happier with their effort.
“Marquette played well and I'm happy for them. The cream rises to the top come playoff time, and it shows. It was fun. We're looking forward to the sectional.”
Drew Sobol has an aim to get back to the state tournament, which he took part of in 2014 as a sophomore when the Oilers qualified for the Class 1A state tournament that year. 'Very hungry,” Sobol said about wanting to get back to state. “I know we made it as a team (in 2014), but I didn't qualify myself. Team-wise, we did, but going up there is very nerve-racking; you can go up there, no matter how many times you've been there. You can be up there three times and still have the pressure that I do going up there for the first time.”
Besides Bauer's and Holtz's scores, Duncan McLain fired a 3-over 75 and Sam Cogan had a 4-over 76 for the Explorers to count for their team total. In addition to Messenger's 80, Jack Patterson had an 11-over 83.
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