Chatham Glenwood’s Lucas Boualavong turned some heads at tryouts.
The freshman golfer had every club dialed in and carded a 4-under-par 68 at Piper Glen Golf Club in August.
“I heard that he was some superstar coming in,” senior teammate Andrew Young said. “I didn’t really know what the hype was about and then he comes out and shoots a 68.”
Boualavong has more than held his own. He’s even shared Glenwood’s No. 1 role during the course of the season with senior Brayden Mueller.
He nearly won Quincy Invitational to begin the season. He only lost to Moline’s Isaac Rumler via playoff after shooting 1-under 71 in regulation at Westview Golf Course. Rumler tied for third place at last year’s Class 3A state finals.
“I’d seen how he did in eighth grade and kind of knew we had a good freshman coming up,” Glenwood coach Ryan Martin said. “And when he comes out and shoots a 68 at Piper at tryouts, I think he kind of got a lot of the guys’ attention.
“They were like, ‘OK, this kid is the real deal.’ You can just tell by the way he plays and manages the course that he knows his stuff and he’s very, very fundamentally sound for the game.”
All on his own
Boualavong didn’t just come out of nowhere. He took second place in the Illinois Elementary School Association state finals 1-under 70 at Metamora Fields coming into high school.
Boualavong said he started playing even before he was 2 years old with his dad, Pi.
“My dad started me because he just wanted a reason to get out on the course,” Boualavong said.
Pi, born in Laos, is pretty talented himself and recently posted his lowest round 2-under at Piper Glen, according to son.
“My dad doesn’t teach too much,” Boualavong said. “He’s just able to take me to the course like every day.”
Deep team
Glenwood has a blend of devoted golfers who intend to play at the next level, not unlike Boualavong.
Last season, Mueller helped the Titans cement their second straight team state berth and first ever in Class 3A. Glenwood will appear in the Class 2A playoffs beginning at the Taylorville Regional on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
Mueller (1-over 73) and Boualavong (2-over) each earned all-Central State Eight Conference honors at Bunn Golf Course on Wednesday, Sept. 24. They also both shot even-par 72s to lead Glenwood to the Sangamon County title the ensuing Saturday at Lincoln Greens Golf Course.
Mueller said he undertook competitive golf as early as 12 years old.
“I’m just playing golf, it doesn’t really feel any different,” Mueller said of this season.
Young is the only other senior, but this is his first year on the varsity golf team. He previously just focused on baseball, specifically the mound.
“I recommend it,” Young said of playing golf. “You get to play on a bunch of cool courses. You meet a lot of new people and make a lot of friends. You just go out and have fun.”
Junior Aiden Carnduff just missed the top 10 at the CS8 meet with a 4-over 76. He is the only other returning player from last year’s state trip.
“This team is pretty fun, we get along pretty well,” Carnduff said. “We’ve got a pretty good young core with me and Lucas because he’s a freshman.”
Carnduff described Boualavong as one of the top freshmen in the state. Mueller said the program’s future is in good hands.
Martin hopes others take notice.
“As you can see, you can play as soon as your freshman year if you got that experience at the younger ages,” Martin said. “You can see that age isn’t a big factor on the course and size doesn’t really matter as much as long as you’re fundamentally sound and you’re hitting fairways and getting to the greens. The scores are going to show themselves, so it’s exciting for the younger kids to see that.”
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