Boys golf: Crystal Lake South’s Nate Stewart wins individual Class 2A Marengo Regional, Prairie Ridge, Marian Central advance

Crystal Lake South’s Nate Stewart watches his fairway shot on the ninth hole during the IHSA 2A Marengo Regional Golf Tournament Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Marengo Ridge Golf Club.

MARENGO – Nate Stewart knew what was at stake when he approached his putt for par at the 18th hole of the Class 2A Marengo Regional on Wednesday.

The Crystal Lake South senior had checked the scoring after he bogeyed at 15 and saw that he had a one-stroke lead over Boylan’s Cooper Watt and Prairie Ridge’s Charlie Pettrone. All he needed to do was par the rest of the way to win the individual regional title.

“I didn’t want to play it too safe because if you play it too safe you could mess up, so I was trying to play aggressive and keep my mind on the ball and just hit it,” Stewart said.

Stewart made par at 16 and 17 and secured the individual regional title when he made a two-foot putt for par at 18 to finish the day even at the Marengo Ridge Golf Club.

“Going down the stretch I just wanted to have fun, but then once it got real, I was like, ‘OK, maybe I could win this thing,’ ” Stewart said. “I was excited once I made that putt.”

Boylan won the regional team title shooting 321, while Prairie Ridge finished second (323) and Marian Central finished third (337). Belvidere North (342) placed fourth, Harvard (357) finished fifth, Crystal Lake Central (358) earned sixth and Belvidere (368), Crystal Lake South (372) and Marengo (394) rounded out the standings, respectively.

Boylan, Prairie Ridge and Marian Central advanced to the Class 2A Sterling Sectional, which will take place Monday, along with the top-10 finishers who’s teams didn’t advance.

Stewart, along with Crystal Lake Central’s Jack Bice (84) and Charlie Polash (86) and Harvard’s Logan Garafol (85), Myles Brincks (89) and Connor Pedersen (90), all advanced to the sectional round.

Pettrone finished third overall after shooting 1-over-par 72 and losing a tiebreaker to Boylan’s Watt. The Wolves golfer beat out Stewart last week for the individual Fox Valley Conference title.

“We’ve always been a good rivalry,” Pettrone said. “Ever since high school started, we’ve been a good competition, and we’re really good friends, too. It’s always a good friendly battle between us.”

Tommy Trax and JJ Lee each shot 83s for Prairie Ridge while Vincent Ricciardi finished with a 84 and Jacob Kim earned an 85. Austin Klauser rounded out the scoring for the Wolves with a 88.

Prairie Ridge coach John Powell was proud of the way his team came together Wednesday and knows how important getting a chance to compete in a sectional is for a team made up of juniors and sophomores.

“There’s nothing that we can do to simulate how they feel at regionals and sectionals,” Powell said. “They’re not going to get that feeling until they’re out there in do or die to go to state.”

Prairie Ridge’s Charles Pettrone chips onto the ninth green  during the IHSA 2A Marengo Regional Golf Tournament Wednesday, Sept. 28, 2023, at Marengo Ridge Golf Club.

Marian Central’s Joseph Weinberger finished fifth overall after he shot a 78. Peter Louise finished second for the Hurricanes with an 85, Ethan tom shot a 86, Alex Domek earned an 88 and Declan Pivnicka (92) and Finn Pivnicka (96) rounded things out.

Weinberger’s medal meant a lot to him since his best score before Wednesday was much higher than what he shot. Now the senior is excited for another chance to compete as a team and try to advance to state.

“It’s huge,” Weinberger said. “I’m so excited. I’m over the moon.”