New Trier’s Justin Choi, seen here in earlier action this fall, finished in a tie for 11th at the state meet. PHOTOGRAPHY BY JOEL LERNER
It was a day in August, the start of varsity tryouts for New Trier’s boys golf team. Each of Trevians coach Pete Drevline’s previous three teams had finished runner-up at the Class 3A state tournament. He looked at the gathering of hopefuls, senior Justin Choi among them.
Choi had played for NT state teams in 2015 and ’14.
None of the others on that August day had made Drevline’s state series team in either year.
“Justin,” Drevline said last weekend, “was the only one who had ever played [The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington].”
The Den is the state tournament course.
Choi and his state rookie teammates headed to the state course last weekend, having qualified as a team from the Loyola Academy Sectional in Glencoe on Oct. 10. NT placed third at the sectional. NT, six days earlier, had placed third at a regional.
At state, on Oct. 15?
Drevline’s driven bunch took runner-up honors to Hinsdale Central. HC shot 593, 25 shots better than NT’s total, for its fifth consecutive state championship.
“A very exciting finish for us,” the coach said. “Our motto all year was, ‘Peak at the right time.’ We did that, in October, at state. We hit ‘reset’ after the sectional. We believed. We believed we could do as well as we did.
“Hinsdale Central, that’s a powerhouse program,” Drevline added. “We finished ahead of other great teams, teams like Glenbrook South (tied for third place) and Loyola (fifth place). No sad faces on the way home.”
New Trier’s boys put together a strong first round on Oct. 14, getting scores in the 70s from its top four. Choi paced the group with an even-par 72, followed by juniors Michael Tanaka (75) and Will Nummy (75) and freshman Daniel Tanaka (76). NT’s aggregate of 298 trailed Hinsdale Central’s 18-hole total by only seven strokes.
“That was nice to see, our start,” Drevline said, adding many of his previous state teams hadn’t found their groove until the second day.
Hinsdale Central’s Red Devils lost a little of their sizzle on the second day last weekend, but none of the other state-qualifying teams would have minded a top score of 73 (medalist Brendan O’Reilly’s round) and a No. 4 score of 77 (Gabe Larson’s round). Choi and Nummy each carded a 79 on Oct. 15. Michael Tanaka shot an 80, Daniel Tanaka an 82. Junior Andrew Kirkpatrick and senior Addison Downs also competed for the Trevians, two shots clear of Barrington’s Broncos (620) and Glenbrook South’s Titans (620) after the completion of two rounds.
Choi tied for 11th place (72-79), a year after tying for ninth place at state and two years after tying for 12th place at state. Top-10 finishers earn all-state honors.
“Great, great golfer,” Drevline said. “Justin will be considered one of our program’s all-time best players. His knowledge of the game, his work ethic — teammates appreciated Justin’s presence, appreciated what he did as a leader. He was an outstanding golfer and an even better captain for us this year.”
Nummy (75-79) finished in a tie for 21st place, just ahead of Michael Tanaka (75-80, tie for 23rd). Nummy, like Choi, eagled the par-five fifth hole in the second round.
“Will,” Drevline said, “started well this season, and he ended well.”
New Trier ended up in second place at each of the last four Class 3A state tournaments. The program also bagged runner-up honors at the 2005, ’09 and ’10 state tourneys.
Loyola Academy Boys
The Ramblers finished fifth (622 strokes) at the Class 3A state tournament behind senior Connor Prassas’ 11th-place-tying 151 (72-79). Senior Reb Banas (78-76) tied for 21st place, and senior Jack McGuire (74-83) finished in a tie for 32nd. Juniors John Kryscio (78-83) and Chip Savarie (80-82) and senior Kevin Meehan (80-85) also toured The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course Oct. 14-15.
LA, runner-up at its sectional on Oct. 10, was in third place (302) after the first round on Oct. 14, 11 shots behind leader and eventual state champion Hinsdale Central and four behind New Trier.
Highland Park Boys
Sophomore Max Golding’s 23rd-place-tying effort (76-79) highlighted the Giants’ eighth-place finish (630) at the Class 3A state tournament last weekend. Junior Joey Harrigan (79-80) and freshman Jared Grossmann (80-79) were next among Giants, who needed a fifth-score tiebreaker to advance to state from the Machesney Park Harlem Sectional (Atwood Homestead Golf Course, Rockford) on Oct. 10.
Lake Forest Boys
Quite a debut.
Quite a first round.
First-year state qualifier Nick San Miguel, a Lake Forest High School junior, shot a two-under-par 70 in the first round of the Class 3A state tournament last weekend. His six-birdie day put him in a tie for second place, one shot behind eventual state champion Brendan O’Reilly of Hinsdale Central. San Miguel then carded an 83 on Oct. 15, ending up in a tie for 17th place (153) with three others.
The Scouts’ other state qualifier, junior Michael Seaman (74-85), finished in a tie for 44th place.
