Bulldogs Win Bishop McNamra Irish Invite

Another solid performance by Effingham St. Anthony's boys golf squad garnered the team a championship in the Bishop McNamara Irish Invite at The Elks in Kankakee Saturday.

St. Anthony won with 317 strokes followed by St. Ignatius 338, Providence-St. Mel Green 339, Fenwick 340, Bishop McNamara 346, Brother Rice 352, Chicago Mount Carmel 356, St. Lawrence 367, Providence-St. Mel White 369, Reed Custer 385 and De La Salle 424. This was the second time the Bulldogs have captured this championship.

"We travel a little to play in this event, but it gives us a great opportunity to compete against a number of the Chicago Catholic League schools and see where we stand," said Coach Phil Zaccari."The course was in great shape and we definitely took full advantage of the weather. We played great as a team from tee to green but the greens here are usually difficult to read with all the sublte breaks and it is there where we left some strokes.

"Our depth showed very well today as we were able to bring home four of the top six medals. Joe Powell took individual honors even though he will say he did not play well. We had some trouble finishing the round, we started in the back nine, as we did not play our final three holes well. That is something we will be working on this week."

The Bulldogs took the top three spots as Joe Powell medalled with a 41-37 -- 78. Jack Niebrugge took second with a 41-38 -- 79 and Garrett Hixenbaugh was third with a 40-39 -- 79. Also scoring was Cole Buehnerkemper with a 43-38 -- 81. Non-scorers were Connor Greene 44-38 -- 82 and Dalton Anderson 42-43 -- 85.

St. Anthony returns to action today at Salem.