Tuesday, Sep. 22, 2009

Prep golf roundup: Maroons sneak past Lancers; Freeburg girls win Cahokia title

BELLEVILLE -- With not much experience returning and playing in the Southwestern Conference, Belleville West golf coach Clayton Fisher had two main goals heading into the 2009 season.

Fisher wanted to see progress as the year went on and maybe, just maybe, sneak up on one of the Southern Illinois golf powers.

On Monday, the Maroons did.

John Johnson shot a 4-over-par 40 and three West teammates fired rounds of 44 or better as West shocked Belleville East by a stroke on the front nine at Clinton Hill Golf Course.

Just 4-8 in duals, West finished the day with a four-man score of 167, while East, getting a 41 from Andy Rains, finished at 168.

"To come here (Clinton Hill) and beat a very good East team is totally unexpected. We shot about what we have all year. East had an off day and we were able to come away with a win,'' Fisher said. "I'm happy for the kids. It's a big win for them because they really have worked hard all year.

"Hopefully we can get on a little roll here heading into the postseason.''

Ryan Fietsam added a 41 for West while Jacob Roth (42) and David Petrie (44) rounded out the top four scores for the Maroons.

East, which has played area powers Edwardsville and Collinsville close this season before coming up short, fell short of knocking off the Maroons on a warm afternoon.

"I have no explanation for the way we played today. I don't know if the players had something going on at school I didn't know about or what,'' Lancers coach John Major said. "We've shot in the low to mid-150s out here a few times and have turned some heads by almost beating Edwardsville and Collinsville this season.

"Today just wasn't our day.''

Gage McCoy and Ian Remelius added rounds of 42 for the Lancers, while Kevin Ward had a 43.

Freeburg sweeps Cahokia titles

Abby Bergkoetter fired a 10-over-par 80 to take medalist honors while three other Freeburg players also broke 100 on Monday as the Midgets captured their seventh straight Cahokia Conference Tournament girls golf title.

A sophomore, Bergkoetter bettered her personal-best by seven strokes she used an excellent short game to defeat Red Bud's Andrea Hartman by four strokes on the Musketeers' home course at North County Country Club.

Bergkoetter fired a 37 at Roland Barkau Golf Course earlier in the year for her low 9-hole score, but by gaining more experience and confidence as the season has gone on, carded her best 18-hole score Monday.

"I played well and my short game was on today,'' Bergkoetter said. "I had a lot of nice putts today.''

Taylor Koeller added a 91 for Freeburg, while Jackie Kilian (94) and Jill Oberholtzer shot a 99 for the Midgets, who finished with a team score of 364, 20 strokes less than runner-up Red Bud.

"Of course Abby shooting an 80 had a lot to do with it, but we probably went about 15 strokes under our season average today. I'm very pleased,'' Midgets coach Doug Haas said. "We're a very young golf team and the girls don't have a lot of experience. But as the season goes on we're improving and becoming a smarter golf team in our course management.

"Our goal is to keep improving the rest of the season. If we can do that, who knows what can happen in the postseason.''

Bianca Durbin added a 92 for second-place Red Bud. Steeleville (394), Columbia (407) and Central (471) rounded out the team standings.