The Oak Park and River Forest High School boys’ golf team took fifth place in the West Suburban Conference meet held at Prairie Bluff Golf Club in Crest Hill Sept. 19.
The Huskies shot 310 as a team and had two individuals earn all-conference medals. Senior Jake Goldberg carded a round of 73 to tie for sixth, while sophomore Luke Roberts shot a 77, good for a tie for 14th.
Sophomore Kenneth McCaffrey (79); seniors Peter Armstrong (81), Will Neumann (82), Matthew Hyman (84), and Ronen Wittenberg (89); and junior Reese Brotman (90) rounded out OPRF’s lineup.
“We played pretty well,” said OPRF coach Bill Young. “It was cold and rainy, but I thought we shot a very respectable score.”
On Sept. 23, the Huskies participated in the Lake Park Invitational at Village Greens in Glen Ellyn. Armstrong shot a 77 to finish seventh among individuals.
“That was a really tough golf course with a lot of good individuals,” Young said. “A 77 for Peter on that course was good.”
Heading into postseason play this week, Young likes how the Huskies are playing. But with a highly competitive regional ahead, he also knows OPRF will need to be at its best.
“Given the competition we’re playing against, in order for us to advance (to the sectional) as a team, we’re going to need four good scores. There’s no way around that,” Young said. “But I think we’re capable of doing that. We’ve shown over the course of the season that we have six guys who can go out and shoot a low score.”
OPRF competes in the IHSA Class 3A Loyola Academy regional Sept. 27, with the sectional scheduled for Oct. 2 at Lyons Township.
OPRF girls golf
The OPRF girls finished fourth at the West Suburban Conference meet held on Sept. 20 at the Village Greens in Woodridge.
The Huskies’ score of 349 was just two strokes away from second place. OPRF had three individuals merit All-Conference honors: junior Jane Sounders (tie for 12th, 84); senior Renner Prouty (tie for 12th, 85); and senior Grace Gallagher (tie for 20th, 89).
“That was a good day for Jane,” said OPRF coach Matt McMurray. “She had struggled the previous weekend, and it was nice to see her turn it around and make our final six for the state series.”
Senior Faith Lee (90), senior Trinity Mosher (92), freshman Nadia Vattana (92), senior Ella Homrok (93), and senior Emmy Amstutz (96) completed the Huskies’ lineup.
“I think we did pretty well,” McMurray said. “Our conference is super competitive; there were four schools within three shots of each other.”
On Sept. 23 at the Huskie Invitational held at Indian Boundary Golf Course in Chicago, Vattana carded a round of 79 to finish 10th among individuals, while Prouty was 11th with an 83.
“That’s a great sign for Nadia going into regionals,” McMurray said.
McMurray believes OPRF’s success this season is due to the leadership of the seniors.
“They’re all very capable players, and I never know where I’m going to get those top performances from,” he said. “Two players who usually aren’t at the top of our lineup did really well, especially Grace. If we can get consistent play out of that group at regionals, we’ll be in really good shape.”
OPRF competes in the IHSA Class 2A St. Ignatius regional Sept. 27 at Indian Boundary, with the sectional scheduled for Oct. 2 at Hinsdale South.
