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Bureau Valley
Coach: Jack Gustafson
Top returners: Landon Birdsley, jr.; Wyatt Novotny, so.; Colin Stabler, jr.
Key newcomers: Drake Michlig, jr.; Atticus Middleton, so.; Logan Philhower, so.
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Worthy of note: The Storm have one of the top young shining stars in Novotny, who carried a team-best average of 40 as a freshman. He shot an 87 to help the Storm to a third-place finish in the St. Bede Regional and led the Storm with an 85 at the sectional at TPC John Deere Run. Birdsley (45) and Stabler (47) join Novotny to give the Storm a good nucleus to build around. “All three have been putting the time in playing golf over the summer and showing the benefits of their efforts,” Gustafson said. Bureau Valley has 18 golfers this year, including experienced JV members of seniors Payne Lind and Tyler Birkey, junior Landen Smith and sophomore Sean Kendall who could be vying for varsity playing time. Freshmen squad members are Noah Donaway, Tyler Donnelly, Cody Galassi, Colton Maubach-Williams, William Miller, Jack Nickelsen, Trevor Roberts and Drake Taylor.
Hall
Coach: Mason Kimberley
Top returners: Landen Plym, jr.; Jacob Diax, jr.; Cody Orlandi, so.
Key newcomers: Noah Plym, fr.; Joseph Perez, fr.; Johnni Escatel, so.; Logan Corsolini, sr.
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Worth noting: The Red Devils are young, but have a very strong leader in Landen Plym, the BCR Golfer of the Year, who had a 37.9 average last season and qualified for the state tournament and “has some very lofty individual goals” this season. Freshman Noah Plym, Landen’s cousin, and Perez have shown strong potential. “Both players have a very high ceiling, but will likely have some learning moments during the season,” Kimberley said. Diaz and Orlandi played varsity last season, while Escatel is a newcomer to the varsity lineup. Corsolini is new to the team as a senior, but worked on his game over the summer and could see some varsity time. “This season’s varsity lineup will be very young but still talented enough to have around a .500 or better record,” Kimberley said. “We are very much looking forward to the 2023 season with potentially the entire varsity lineup returning, so 2023 is being looked at as more of a developmental year.”
Princeton
Coach: Brandon Crawford
Top returners: Kaiden Coomer, jr.; Tyson Phillips, sr.
Top newcomers: Jackson Mason, so.
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Worthy of note: Philips looks to carry over a strong postseason, which saw him shoot an 85 (16th place) to qualify for 2A sectionals at the Geneseo Regional and a team-best 87 in the Bartonville Sectional. He averaged a 45.8. “I’m looking forward to watching Tyson lead this year’s team. He has put in a lot of work on his game during the offseason, which I think will lead him to some success,” Crawford said. Coomer comes back from an injury that kept him out of the postseason last year. Other returning players are seniors Michael Ellis and Cail Piper, juniors Jayden Fulkerson, Nolan Kloepping and Luke Smith and sophomore Andrew Boughton. Newcomers to the team are juniors Zeke Klingenberg and Liam Swearingen and sophomores Mason, who joins the golf team coming over from soccer, and Cayden Benavidez and Jack Orwig along with freshmen Eli Coomer, Luke LaPorte, Brody Ross, Brody Spencer and Hayden Tibbitts. “This is going to be a very inexperienced varsity team losing four of our top six from last year. I know we are going to have our ups and downs as the majority of the roster will be first-time varsity players,” Crawford said. “We have some tremendous talent in our conference and our kids are going to have to learn to stay within themselves and their individual game and compete. I think if we can draw up a solid game plan each and every match and play smart golf we have a very good chance to compete.”
St. Bede
Coach: Rich Cummings
Top returners: Logan Potthhoff, sr.; Ryan Slingsby, sr.; Luke Tunnell, sr.; Abraham Wiesbrock. sr.
Top newcomers: Christopher Gedraitis. so.; Zachary Husser, so.; Kaden Nauman, jr.
Worthy of note: While the Bruins lost their No. 1 and 2 golfers, Potthhoff, Slingsby, Tunnell and Wiesbrock all contributed to last year’s regional championship and have hopes to continue that. Potthoff, the last of three brothers to play for the Bruins, is the team’s top returner after averaging a 45.13 last season. Slingsby contributed an 89 to the Bruins winning scorecard for the regional crown at Spring Creek. He averaged a 48.18 for the Bruins last season. Husser, Nauman and Gedraitis are eyeing a spot in the lineup as well as a “much improved” senior Henry Mertel. Senior newcomer Zach Popurella and junior Dominic Fonderoli round out the upperclassmen with Caden Carls and Noah Buck filling in the sophomore class. Judging by what he seen the first few days of practice, Cummings said some of the 10 freshmen out could contribute. The Bruins welcome home alum Sydney Eustice as a member of the coaching staff. “Bringing her playing and coaching experience back to the Academy is a great addition to the program,” Cummings said.
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Amboy
Coach: Zach Ross
Top returners: Logan O’Brien, jr.; Carson Barlow, jr.
Key newcomers: Hayden Wilstead, jr.; Jason Dickinson, fr.; Michael Ackert, fr.; Gage Mumm, fr.
Worth noting: The Clippers suffered heavy losses to graduation, including state qualifier Wes Wilson. O’Brien and Barlow are the team’s lone experienced players. “We’re just going to be working on improving all year long,” Ross said.