Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation Submit Milestone
| Subscribe Now Customer Service Place an Ad Become a Carrier Contact Us About Us Mobile Edition E-Mail Updates Report Cancellation Submit Milestone
|
 |
 |
|
Weather  Calendar Obituaries Classifieds Jobs Autos Homes Rentals Coupons Ad Center Gift Finder |
Bloomington-Normal, Illinois
|
Home News Sports
Free Time Life Money Nation/World Opinion Blogs/Columns Archives Site Map |
| SportsMonday, October 8, 2007 10:42 PM CDT |
 Comments (0) |  E-mail this page |  Print this page |  Enlarge type |  Reduce type |  Search archives |  RSS feeds |  Add to My Yahoo! |
West boys golf qualifies for first state tourney
PEKIN — Jeff Bragg just rolled in a 10-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole Monday. Sitting on the ground behind the green, one of his Normal West High School teammates couldn’t believe what happened next. “Hey, he smiled!” a Wildcat golfer remarked. “He did that once last year, too,” said Michael Bragg, the proud father. Actually, everyone wearing a Wildcat shirt was beaming. After 11 years and a couple near misses, West will play in the state tournament for the first time in school history. Thanks to 1-under-par 71s from Bragg and Dave Shelton, the Wildcats shot a 298 total to finish four strokes behind Quincy in the Class 3A Pekin Sectional at Lick Creek Golf Course. The top two teams advanced to the state tournament, which will be held Friday and Saturday at The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington. “It’s awesome we finally get to take a team to state,” said Bragg, one of five Wildcat seniors. “Last week we were talking about it (after winning the school’s first regional), and now we’re there.” Dave Gaddy and Drew Meiner shot 78s to count toward West’s team total, while junior Ross Leary (80) and Justin Batty (90) rounded out the Wildcats’ lineup. “It’s crazy,” said Shelton, who played the last 14 holes in 3-under. “We knew we would have to play well to make it.” No one, though, anticipated the scores being quite this low at the difficult 6,505-yard Lick Creek layout. Moline and Pekin tied for third at 303, which many coaches said they would have taken before the first tee shot was struck, with Edwardsville another stroke behind. The individual cutoff from those not on qualifying teams came at 75. “I was thinking 305 to 310,” said West coach Tim Franz. “If we would have shot that, I would have felt real good about it. I’ve said to my kids or anyone who would listen, if Dave or Jeff shoots even par we’re a really good team.” Quincy’s Luke Guthrie, the medalist at last year’s Class AA State Tournament, got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie on No. 18. That gave Guthrie a 2-under-par 70 and medalist honors by a stroke over Bragg, Shelton and Edwardsville’s Chris Bant. Bloomington freshman Alex Burge shot 77 to miss qualifying as an individual by two strokes. Normal Community’s Ryan Smoot had an 84. Bragg didn’t remember ever shooting below 80 at Lick Creek. However, he was confident beforehand. “The key to shooting good here is hitting it down the fairway. That’s something I do with consistency,” he said. “I hit my irons well and I hit a lot of greens, which is the key for me.” A 35-foot chip-in gave Bragg his first birdie on No. 7. He sank an uphill 15-footer on No. 13 for another birdie before pitching below the cup on the par-5 18th and sinking the putt in front of his teammates. Shelton said his last two competitive rounds at Lick Creek were 77s, which he termed “solid.” After shooting 82 last week in the regional at Prairie Vista Golf Course, Shelton was ready. “It seems like the last few years I haven’t played good at regional, but played good in sectional. I kept that up today,” he said. “I hit a lot of fairways and greens. On No. 5, I made a long putt birdie that got me going.” Shelton was almost too pumped up coming to the final hole. His drive with a hybrid wood went through the fairway and on a down slope in front of a large pond. But he knocked a 6-iron on the green and two-putted for birdie. Franz, who returned as West’s coach this season after a five-year absence, sensed his veteran team was pretty relaxed despite knowing this was the last chance for all but Leary to play in a state tourney. “I told them beforehand let everyone else be nervous. You guys are seniors. Just play,” he said. “In the end I put the kids out there, but I can’t shoot or coach 71. That’s just two people playing pretty darn well.” Burge, who was medalist in regional, fired 40 on the front nine. He missed a 6-foot birdie putt on the last hole, which summed up his round. “I’ve been hitting it fine, but I can’t get any putts to drop at all lately,” he said. “That’s golf and how it goes.” Playing in the final group with Guthrie, who has committed to the University of Illinois, could pay off for Burge in the future. “His routine is really good. I need to work on my routine,” said Burge. “His speed is really good on putting … it’s a good goal to get to his level.” Get area high school sports scores and statistics at Varsity Sports. E-mail this story | Print this story | Search archives | RSS Show comments |  Hide comments | Hide comments on all stories |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||
 |
|
Top of Page | Home | News | Sports | Free Time | Life | Money | Nation/World | Opinion | Blogs/Columns | Archives | Site Map | RSS
Customer Service | 301 W. Washington St., PO Box 2907, Bloomington, IL 61701-2907 | Ph. 309-829-9000 | 800-747-7323
Copyright © 2009, Pantagraph Publishing Co. and Lee Enterprises. All rights reserved. | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy
|
Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.
Please read the rules before posting comments.
You must be logged in to leave comments.
If you don't have a member ID, please register.