Rhett Barker edges Barber for Jemsek Trophy in IG Challenge

    Writing from Glenwood, Illinois
    Tuesday, June 24, 2014

    Usually, the difference in a golf competition can be found on the back nine. Tuesday at Glenwoodie Golf Course, where it dawned rainy and stayed cool until the sun came out, the difference in the Boys 16-to-18 Division came on the front nine. Rhett Barker of Crown Point, Ind., and Michael Barber of Beecher were equal on the back, each scoring 1-over-par 37.
    But Barker took the measure of Barber on the front, carding 2-over 38 to Barber’s 4-over 40. The math was simple: Barker’s 3-over 75 beat Barber’s 5-over 77.
    The different came on the first and ninth holes. Barker parred both par 4s. Barber bogeyed both par 4s. The other seven holes, each scored 30 on. And Barker knew exactly how he accomplished it.
    “I scrambled a lot,” he said. “I had eight one-putts.”
    Barker punched out eight pars on the back nine, making bogey only on the 17th, at 331 yards from the blue tees the shortest par-4 on the course. Barber, who finished 11th in the IHSA’s Class 1A championship last fall, bogeyed the 10th, birdied the 13th and needed one more birdie down the stretch to tie Barker, but bogeyed the last instead.
    Michael Goodman of Dyer, the only Mount Carmel student in the field, was third, at 6-over 78. Like Barker, he was also out in 38, but a double-bogey on the par-4 10th and two other bogeys sent him backwards. It may have been that his start was too good to be true.
    “The key for me was only 11 putts on the front,” Goodman said. “And putting’s been the worst part of my game.
    Ryan Wells of Dyer was fourth at 9-over 81, with David Karwoski of Oak Forest fifth at 11-over 83.
    As far as conditions go, the older boys bracket, the first to play, had the worst of it. It was raining at 5 a.m. and still draining off and on when tee times began at 6:30 a.m. But thanks to superintendent Eric Swanson and his crew, the course was playable, and going to “lift, clean and place” wasn’t necessary. That made the scores that much more impressive.
    “On a dry day, I’m probably a couple under par, maybe 68 or 69,” Barker said.
    He settled for soggy socks and a trophy instead.
    – Tim Cronin

Katalnic's 75 makes a splash, earns Dann Trophy

    Writing from Glenwood, Illinois
    Tuesday, June 24, 2014

    Maybe it was the double-bogey on the par-3 third hole, caused by his tee shot kicking back into the water, that kicked Orland Park’s Brett Katalnic in the behind.
    From that point on, the 15-year-old, who’ll be a junior at Sandburg in the fall and presumably advancing from the junior varsity to the varsity, played a soggy Glenwoodie Golf Course in 1-over-par., including back-to-back birdies on the seventh and eighth holes. His total of 3-over 75 was a sparkling score and enabled him to collect a 12-shot victory over Alex Schiene of Mokena, whose 15-over 87 from the white tees would have won several other editions of the Boys 13-to-15 Division of the Illinois Golfer Challenge Junior Golf Championship.
    “I was very focused, and trying to bring it home,” Schiene said. “I could have done better, but I’m happy.”
    As well he should have been. But Katalnic was otherworldly.
    “I missed making birdies on the first two holes, and that was a tough double-bogey on No. 3,” Katalnic said. “But after the birdies on 7 and 8, and I knew I had a good score going.”
    The brace was accomplished when he sank a 20-footer on the seventh hole and a 15-footer after a saucy lob wedge approach on the eighth. It was his last birdie, but only one more bogey, a 6 on the 486-yard 16th followed. Otherwise, it was par after par, and in the Challenge, par is a meaningful score.
    And it’s not as if Katalnic was really prepping for the Challenge. It was his first tournament of the summer. And presto, he wins the Marshall Dann Trophy, named after the Challenge’s first rules official.
    Michael Stanton of Chicago, a Brother Rice student, took third, scoring 91, the highlight an up-and-down from a greenside bunker on the 17th hole.
    – Tim Cronin

Kelly Barker edges Collina to collect McCue Trophy

    Writing from Glenwood, Illinois
    Tuesday, June 24, 2014

    When Kelly Barker saw the tee sheet for the Girls 16-to-18 Division of the 26th Illinois Golfer Challenge Junior Golf Championship, she knew who her main competition would be.
    “I knew Natalie (Collina) was going to be contending,” Barker said of her Palos Heights neighbor.
    Barker also knew she had to keep cool and control her emotions.
    “I’m my own worst enemy,” Barker said.
    Not Tuesday. Not even after her second shot on the par-4 16th, the most difficult hole at Glenwoodie Golf Course, hit a tree and crashed into the creek.
    “Before I would have gone down the drain,” Barker said.
    Tuesday? She had this thought: “Playing as well as I am, I can’t let it affect me.”
    So Barker hit a recovery shot on the green, two-putter for a double-bogey 6, and went quietly to the 17th tee.
    A par 4 followed, and while Barker bogeyed the par-5 18th, her 14-over-par 86 carried the day, winning the bracket, and the Carol McCue Trophy that goes with it, by three strokes over Collina, a Stagg graduate who’ll be a Lewis Flyer in the fall.
    “My teaching pro, Jerry Vidovic, has a saying: ‘You have to get back on the wagon.’ ” Barker said of her recovering from the miscue at the 16th.
    Barker had gone out in 6-over 42, making birdie on the par-4 ninth to finish that side with a flourish, compared to Collina’s 46. Not that she knew it, but that gave her shots to play with, and Collina finished with four straight 5s, good play considering the wet conditions that prevailed all day. Barker played the final four in 22, two strokes higher.
    Mary Yonkaitis of New Lenox was third, firing a 91.
    – Tim Cronin

Howard perseveres to win Van Wie Trophy

    Writing from Glenwood, Illinois
    Tuesday, June 24, 2014

    On a day that started with light rain – not what Glenwoodie Golf Course needed after six inches of rain in the previous five days – the key to scoring down was hitting the ball solidly and not letting the elements get to you.
    Nicole Howard of Crown Point, Ind., did just that on Tuesday, capturing the Girls 13-to-15 Division of the 26th Illinois Golfer Challenge Junior Golf Championship with a 15-over-par 87.
    Howard scored a 15-stroke victory over Elizabeth Stalla of Evergreen Park, whose 102 was eight strokes better than third-place finisher Hannah McMahon of Chicago.
    “I had a lot of three-putts,” Howard admitted, but she was too modest to mention immediately how well she played from tee to green. Hitting 13 of 14 fairways, Howard could avoid a miscue along the way. But parring the final two holes following a triple-bogey 7 on the devilish par-4 16th was key, along with something else.
    “My short game,” Howard confided.
    The big key was the two-putt from 15 feet on the 17th. Another par followed, and the Virginia Van Wie Trophy, named for the three-time U.S. Women’s Amateur champion from Beverly Country Club, was hers.
    Stalla was in the clubhouse first, and looked like a winner until Howard, who attends and plays for Munster High School, came in in the final group, along with McMahon, who grabbed third.
    – Tim Cronin

Illinois Golfer Challenge Scoring

    26th Illinois Golfer Challenge Scoring

    Glenwoodie Golf Club, Glenwood

    Girls 13-to-15 Division
    for the Virginia Van Wie Trophy

    5,378 yards, par 72

    Nicole Howard, Crown Point 44-43–87
    Elizabeth Stalla, Evergreen Park 53-49–102
    Hannah McMahon, Chicago 57-57–114
    Danielle Collina, Palos Heights 59-59–118
    MaryKate McMahon, Chicago 60-63–123
    Aine McKillop, Chicago 73-61–134
    Caroline Wallace, Oak Lawn 71-69–140
    Anna Horn, New Lenox 69-72–141
    Suzy Devane, Chicago 69-74–143
    Fiona Reynolds, Palos Heights 66-71–157

    Girls 16-to-18 Division
    for the Carol McCue Trophy

    5,378 yards, par 72

    Kelly Barker, Palos Heights 42-44–86
    Natalie Collina, Palos Heights 46-43–89
    Mary Yonkaitis, New Lenox 49-42–91
    Sabrina Bruozas, Mokena 50-53–103
    Amy Geraghty, Chicago 64-56–120
    Anna Suppes, New Lenox 59-62–121
    Nina Thauer, Evergreen Park 61-68–129
    Sydney Graham, New Lenox 64-68–132
    Anne McGivney, Chicago 67-72–139
    Bailey O’Connell, Chicago 69-74–143
    Shannon Wright, Chicago 85-80–165

    Boys 13-to-15 Division
    for the Marshall Dann Trophy

    6,029 yards, par 72

    Brett Katalnic, Orland Park 37-38–75
    Alex Schiene, Mokena 43-44–87
    Michael Stanton, Chicago 45-46–91
    John Dillon, Tonley Park 42-51–93
    Thomas Rodriguez, Monee 48-46–94
    Jake McFarland, Palos Park 47-53–100
    Danny Misheck, Oak Forest 54-47–101
    Kolbe Kruczyk, Homer Glen 54-49–103
    Eric Niewinski, Oak Forest 56-47–103
    Sean Cramer, Oak Forest 56-49–105
    Hayden Henry, Homewood 54-53–107
    David Kavalauskas, Oak Forest 60-50–110
    Kyle Berry, Tinley Park 60-53–113
    William Manns, Tinley Park 58-61–119
    Cale Hickey, Tinley Park WD

    Boys 16-to-18 Division
    for the Joe Jemsek Trophy

    6,536 yards, par 72

    Rhett Barker, Crown Point 38-37–75
    Michael Barber, Beecher 40-37–77
    Michael Goodman, Dyer 38-40–78
    Ryan Wells, Dyer 45-36–81
    David Karwoski, Oak Forest 42-41–83
    Conner Lille, Oak Forest 47-40–87
    Scott Borden, Midlothian 41-47–88
    Quentin Jones, Olympia Fields 44-45–89
    Kevin Steiner, Flossmoor 41-49–90
    Luke Cahill, Naperville 48-42–90
    James Lund, Flossmoor 48-43–91
    Chris Dykstra, Crestwood 45-47–92
    Josh Crosby, Lansing 48-47–95
    Shane Wright, Alsip 53-43–96
    Anton Ervick, Bourbonnais 44-52–96
    Peter Kolyvas, New Lenox 47-52–99
    Logan Dolehide, Crestwood 43-56–99
    Justin Butler, Frankfort 48-51–99
    Nicholas Thompson, Flossmoor 56-44–100
    Bernie Coderre, Flossmoor 51-49–100
    Andrew Hall, Tinley Park 54-47–101
    Nick Lewandowski, Highland 51-51–102
    Jacob Frencl, Burbank 52-52–104
    Joe DeSpain, Monee 50-55–105
    Brendan Crawford, Flossmoor 55-50–105
    Jacob Kauczek, Homer Glen 54-51–105
    Nick Cueller, Flossmoor 62-63–125
    Jon Dever, Oak Forest 61-64–125