Bulldogs Do Well at Redbird/Raider Invitational

NORMAL -- The St. Anthony High School boys golf team competed in the Redbird/Raider Invitational at Illinois State University's Weibring Course in Normal Tuesday.

Competing against the larger 2A and 3A schools, the Bulldog golfers held their own and finished a respectable 12th. They improved over last season's score by almost 20 strokes.

"This is one of the more competitive tournaments in the state and we did pretty well for oursevles today," said Coach Phil Zaccari. "The Weibring course was in great shape and the greens were running very well, a little quicker than what we are used to. It took us a few holes to adjust to the speed, but once we did, we scored pretty well.

"Joe grinded all day. He started out six over after five and then proceeded to play the last 13 in one under to shoot 76. All our other scores were very consistent and that will be one of our strengths this year. The team did get a lesson in patience and perseverance today as the six hour round played out. Our team stayed steady grinding out pars. We would always like to do better, but this was a good performance."

Scoring for the Bulldogs were Joe Powell 37-39 -- 76, Jack Niebrugge 40-40 -- 80, Connor Greene 42-39 -- 81 and Dalton Anderson 39-42 -- 81. Non-scorers were Garrett Hixenbaugh 43-39 -- 82 and Cole Buehnerkemper 45-37 -- 82.

Robert Renner of St. Viator and Liam Wanner, also of St. Viator had medalist scores of 68. St. Viator won with a 282 followed by Peoria Notre Dame 295, Lincoln 303, Rockton Hononegah 306, Normal University High 308, Lockport 309, East Peoria 312, Macomb 312, Nazareth Academy 314, Wheaton Academy 314, Bartonville Limestone 314, St. Anthony 318, Mount Zion 321, Porta 327, Galesburg 327, Davenport-Assumption 328, Glenbard West 332, Mattoon 332, Bloomington 333, Mahomet-Seymour 338, Harlem-Machesney Park 342, Champaign St. Thomas More 355 and Schaumburg 358.

JV Invitational

In the Raider Junior Varsity Invitational, the Bulldogs competed at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington finishing a respectable 10th.

"This is our State Finals course, so anytime we can play it that helps our future," said Coach Zaccari. "Nick and Sam Wortman played pretty well considering they had never been here before. This experience will only help us to improve down the road."

Scoring for the Bulldogs were Sam Wortman 40-45 -- 85, Nick Wortman 41-44 -- 85, Jared Hutchison 45-50 -- 96 and Kyle Britton 47-52 -- 99. Non-scorers were Nick Behl 51-49 -- 100 and Cody Pike 53-588 -- 111.

Peoria Notre Dame won the team title with 319 strokes followed by Metamora 327, Springfield 329, Normal University High 332, Mahomet-Seymour 340, St. Viator No. 1 342, Normal Community 343, Mattoon 344, Marian Catholic 352, St. Anthony 365, Normal West 370, St. Viator No. 2 371, Monticello 391, Bloomington 404, Rantoul 405, Champaign Central 419.

Pat Wille of Peoria Notre Dame was the medalist with a 73.