Bulldogs Claim Regional Championship

Members of the St. Anthony golf squad winning the regional title were, left to right, Dalton Anderson, Connor Greene, Cole Buehnerkemper, Garrett Hixenbaugh, Jack Niebrugge, Joe Powell and Coach Phil Zaccari.

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The St. Anthony High School boys golf team won its seventh consecutive Illinois High School Association Regional Tuesday. The Bulldogs outdistanced their competition by an impressive 20 strokes to claim the title. The event was held in a cold irritating misty rain at the always tough Quail Creek C.C. in Robinson.

“We handled the tough conditions pretty well today,” said Coach Phil Zaccari, “It never really quit raining but the team held their focus and came away with an impressive win.”

Senior, Joe Powell led the team with a solid 75 which was good enough to claim the tournament’s first place medal. Sophomore Garrett Hixenbaugh’s 78 placed second with senior Dalton Anderson shooting 80 to take the fifth place medal.

“Joe really played well today,” said Zaccari, “His clutch putting was the key for him to claim the
title. Garrett also played great especially on the front side. Dalton had a couple bad holes but he recovered very well to grind out an 80. His iron play was spot on today as he almost aced number 5.

“We get to take the next step. Sectionals will be much tougher as we will be playing a new course for us. We will celebrate the victory today and then get after it tomorrow to be ready for sectionals. And one more thing, congratulations to Coach Jeff Schafer and the Hearts golf team on their first regional title. It shows the state what kind of golf talent there is here in Effingham,” concluded Zaccari.

St. Anthony claimed the sectional with 314 followed by Carmi White County 334, Robinson 339, Woodlawn 356, Fairfield 378, Lawrenceville 378, Teutopolis 391, Newton 397, Altamont 417, Flora 418 and Red Hill (Bridgeport) 591. Qualifying as teams were St. Anthony,  Carmi White County and Robinson.

Powell took medalist honors for the Bulldogs with a 37-38 -- 75 followed by teammates Garrett Hixenbaugh second with 35-43 -- 78, Dalton Anderson fifth with 38-42 -- 80 and Jack Niebrugge with 38-43 -- 81. Non-scorers were Connor Greene with a 43-42 -- 85 and Cole Buehnerkemper with a 43-42 -- 85.

Individual qualifiers were Blake Davis (Fairfield) 81, Gabe Owens (Woodlawn) 83, Hoa Bobe (Lawrenceville) 85, Phil Blank (Newton) 87, Scott Beard (Lawrenceville) 89, Ronnie Blake (Woodlawn) 89, Zach Breault (Red Hill) 90, Taylor Fauss (Woodlawn) 90, Colton Simpson (Fairfield) 91 and Ross Sheehan (Teutopolis) 93.

Also competing but not advancting were Altamont's Logan Hill 90, Adam Mayhaus 90, Justin McGinnis 92, Ethan Fitzwilliam 98, Miles Kopplin 98 and Griffin Jackman 100; Newton's Evan Brooks 89, Elijah Knepper 92, Brandon Bigard 96 and Chris Brody 98; Teutopolis' Ryan Sandschafer 90, Evan Schlink 92, Justin Kowalski 92 and Chad Zerrusen 94 and North Clay's Logan Hilderbrand 78.

The qualifiers will be competing in the Class 1A Carterville Sectional Monday.