Boys Golf: Led by medalist Regan Konen, Marmion makes return to state

STERLING – After missing out on a trip to the state meet last season by just two strokes, Marmion had a singular determination to make sure that didn’t happen again in 2022.

Led by medalist Regan Konen, the Cadets shot a 321 to earn second place as a team at the Class 2A Sterling Sectional on Monday at Emerald Hill Golf Course, punching their ticket to this year’s state tournament.

“Of course, it feels a lot better to have the whole team down there,” said Konen, who fired an even-par 72. “Last year we missed it by two, so we had a lot of anger and a lot of want to get down to state this year. So we really just focused on playing well, and I’m super happy for the team that we all get to go down and play.”

Last year, Marmion shot the same score at the Sycamore Sectional, only to tie for fourth with Kaneland, two strokes behind Rockford Boylan for the final team spot.

This year, Marmion sat in second place for most of the day, and finished six shots behind team sectional champion Vernon Hills (315). Boylan took the third and final team spot to advance, shooting a 324 to edge Ottawa by two strokes.

Konen, a sophomore, birdied the par-5 eighth hole, the par-4 12th, and then closed with one final birdie on the par-5 18th. He made just three bogeys and recorded 12 pars; he was 1-under on the four par-5s and 1-over on the four par-3s.

“I was just trying to hit as many greens as I could, because I knew the greens were super small, so it was going to be tough if I was missing greens; that was really going to hurt you today,” Konen said. “I hit a lot of greens, and my putting was a little off today – I din’t have too many one-putts– but I kept it low and didn’t make any doubles, so that definitely helped. I just played consistent and hit a lot of greens with two-putts.”

Konen beat Rockford Boylan’s Cooper Watt (73) by one shot, and Prairie Ridge’s Charlie Pettrone (74) by two strokes. Konen said he didn’t have a specific score in mind, he just wanted to keep it simple and work his way around the course.

“I always think about playing the best I can, just hit the best shots I can,” Konen said. “I’m not trying to set any too-high standards for myself, so I can play relaxed, take it one shot at a time, one hole at a time. That worked well today.”

Lakes’ Josh Anderson finished fourth (76), and Grayslake Central’s Dominic Lucchesi and Vernon Hills’ Kartik Vasudeva tied for fifth with 77s.

Vasudeva was one of four Vernon Hills golfers to place in the top 12; he was joined by Henrik Lundberg and Ryan Irvin (79s, tied for 8th) and Dylan Moncayo (80, tied for 12th).

Joining Pettrone, Anderson and Lucchesi as individual state qualifiers were Jacob Lutzke and Kevin Crow form Carmel, and Antioch’s Donald Barnett. There was a seven-way tie at 80 for the final four individual spots, so the final qualifiers came down to a playoff.

It only last one hole, as Ottawa’s Drake Kaufman and Belvidere North’s Carson Rowe fired pars and Ottawa’ Seth Cooper and Woodstock Marian’s Peter Louise shot bogeys to earn the final four spots. LaSalle-Peru’s Coleman Rundle, Crystal Lake Central’s Jack Bice, and Kaneland’s Brian Davoust all had double bogeys to miss out on advancing.