Oct. 11—ANNA, Ill. — Jeff Schafer noted that he had more than a couple of thoughts racing around his brain when senior Max Seachrist was approaching the 18th green at Union County Country Club in Anna on Monday.
“In the three or four minutes from the time he chipped to the time he putted, 100 different thoughts were racing through my head: some bad, some good,” he said. “I made sure the last four or five were all positive. I just kept telling myself, ‘You got to make it.'”
Seachrist needed to birdie the last hole to send the Flaming Hearts to the Class 2A State Final Tournament, as a team, for the first time since Schafer has been the head coach of the program.
And he did just that, sinking his birdie putt to shoot a final round 79 and send EHS to Weibring Golf Club in Normal.
“The kid had just putted on his same line, but he didn’t watch him, so I just watched his reaction,” Schafer said. “I could see the ball was getting close to the hole and I saw him raise his hand up, so that was a good sign.”
EHS shot a team total of 320, edging Highland, which shot 321. Charleston was second with a 319 and Benton won the sectional with a 312.
Seachrist wasn’t on his usual role heading to the 18th tee box.
Sitting at three-over-par through his last three holes, Seachrist carded a bogey on the par-3 15th and a double-bogey on the par-4 17th.
Schafer talked to Seachrist before his tee shot on the final hole.
“I told Max on the tee, ‘You got to make a birdie.’ I said, ‘Make sure you hit your drive to the left and then play it from there,’ and he hit a nice drive to the left,” Schafer said. “He had a chance to get home in two, but he missed his next shot right and had about a 50-yard chip and chipped it to about 12 feet.”
Jude Traub shot an 80, while Leo Wyckoff shot an 86, Cannon Bockhorn an 87 and Rayden Schneider a 93.
The day belonged to junior Brody Boehm, who finished fourth individually with a 75. He shot five-over-par on the front nine and one-under on the back with an eagle on the par-4 12th.
“When he was done, I just put my arm around him and reminded him about how tough his last year was,” Schafer said. “I’m like, ‘At this point last year, you were having to sit home and watch; you were kind of the odd man out and to your credit, you put your head down and worked. You’re one of the main reasons we’re going to state.'”
Since taking over the program, Schafer has sent individuals to the state tournament, but he understands it’s different when the whole team gets to experience it.
This group, in particular, has been more than enjoyable for Schafer to coach.
“It’s fun to coach them,” Schafer said. “Probably one of my favorite moments was watching Cannon shoot the 70 and seeing them jump and chest bump and see the excitement for each other, so I think it’s really cool that this team is going to get a chance to play there and I think we can have a really good performance if we play well.”
The Class 2A State Final Tournament begins next Friday. Tee times were not available at press time.
Teutopolis earns state berth for the first time
Typically, when Teutopolis and state tournaments are in the same sentence, it’s centered around boys and girls basketball or baseball.
The boys golf team added their name to the mix after finishing third at the Class 1A Zeigler-Royalton Sectional at Franklin County Country Club. The Wooden Shoes fired a team score of 317.
“My kids stepped up,” head coach Mike Wilson said. “I told the kids the night before, ‘If we get three kids to break 80, we’re fine.'”
Isaac Weber was the low individual for T-Town, firing a 77. He shot two-over-par on the front nine with a birdie on the par-5 seventh and four-over on the back nine.
“Isaac shot a 77 and last year, he did the same thing,” Wilson said. “As the season went on, he started getting more repetition and improving. He probably, mentally, looks at every shot as much as any kid I’ve ever seen, but he’s played well. He had a great regional and the thing about the regional is that you look at the other people around him: St. Anthony had three kids shoot 72, Coen (Pennington) shot 73. They all had multiple birdies. Isaac had two birdies, one bogey. He’s very methodical in how he plays. He has a plan and got off-kilter a couple of times; a couple of balls got away from him and I don’t think he felt he was really sharp hitting into some of the par-3s, but he’s been there and he’s a such a huge asset.
“I like the way he fights.”
Colin Habing and Pennington each shot 78.
Habing was two-over-par on the front nine with a birdie on the par-3 sixth and par-5 seventh and was five-over on the back nine.
“Colin put in a lot of work this summer,” Wilson said. “Colin Habing is like the baseball player that just sees it and hits it; he walks up, hits it down the middle, hits it up around the green or on the green and is like, ‘Alright, I’ll get my par and move on.’ It’s so fun to watch him because he just hits the ball straight down the middle.”
Pennington shot two-over-par on the front nine with a birdie on the par-5 seventh and par-4 ninth and was five-over on the back nine with a birdie on the par-4 13th.
“I tell Coen, I keep waiting on that 68,” Wilson said. “He has so much ability to score — and he was sick. We went down and played a practice round Sunday and he was feeling horrible. We were pumping him full of water, ibuprofen and TWIZZLERS. We were just trying to get him through because he felt terrible, but when the day was over, he felt better and we accomplished our goal we set as a team.”
Brody Thoele was the fourth score counted toward the team total. He shot an 84.
“He’s been there,” Wilson said. “Brody is going to complain about how bad he played. We were on the way home and I said, ‘Brody, what was the deal with this or that,’ and he goes, ‘Coach, that round was embarrassing and the worst part was, my parents had to watch it.'”
Hayden Tebbe and Drew Hoene were the two scores that didn’t count. Tebbe shot an 86 and Hoene shot a 93.
St. Anthony girls make return trip back to state after two-year absence
Back again.
The St. Anthony girls golf team is set to return to the Class 1A State Final Tournament for the first time since the 2021 season after a second-place showing at the Class 1A Effingham Sectional at Effingham Country Club. The Bulldogs fired a team score of 348.
“It’s a special event as a team,” head coach Tim Krouse said. “I heard a saying that I adopted this year and that’s, ‘You learn what other people’s hopes and aspirations are and you make them your own.’ That’s certainly been the aspiration, hope, dream, expectation to make it back to state as a team (for Addie Krouse) and we were able to get that done. It was really good for all the kids, but, certainly Addie as our senior leader.”
Addie Krouse shot a 76. She shot three-over-par on the front nine and one-over on the back.
“She’s certainly been under a lot of pressure,” Tim Krouse said. “When you’re the lower score and knowing that you got to shoot in the 70s for your team to make it, there’s a lot of pressure there. So, what we talked about leading up was finding your rhythm — breathe. She does a really good job of pre-shot routine and she sticks with that.”
Brooklyn Phillips shot an 87 and Tesa Ludwig fired an 89.
“Brooklyn has been very steady all year,” said Tim Krouse of Phillips. “She really closed well when we needed her to close well.”
Adria Moberly was the fourth score to count. She shot a 96.
Mia Schwing shot a 97 and Gianna Frisbie fired a 98. They were the two scores that didn’t count toward the total.
“Mia didn’t think she was going to come out and play golf until a week before her freshman year,” said Tim Krouse of Schwing. “She’s steadily improved and shot in the 30s a couple of times. There have been a lot of really good moments for Mia. I don’t think she regrets coming out and learning how to play golf.”
Mt. Carmel won the tournament with a 287 and Metropolis (Massac County) was third with a 365.
Tim Krouse knew his team had the edge over everyone outside of the Lady Aces.
“I told them the reason we were going to go (to state) and these other teams weren’t is because we were going to play the ball down every chance we got,” Tim Krouse said. “We were going to play real golf. That just made us a little bit tougher.”
Alex Wallner can be reached at 618-510-9231 or [email protected].
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