(Bristol, IL) – It was a challenging day for all the participants in the second Illinois Skyway Collegiate Conference golf match of the 2023 season. Only three of the 36 golfers from the six colleges competing finished with a score under 80 on the 6,404-yard par 72 Blackberry Oaks Golf Course. Oakton Community College, led by the day's medalist Daniel Allegretti who fired a 4-over par 76, won the match with a team score of 322. The host school Waubonsee Community College finished a distant second with a score of 343. Moraine Valley Community College and the College of Lake County both tallied a total of 344, with the tie breaker going to the Cyclones based on their fifth golfer finishing six strokes ahead of the Lancers' number five scorer.
The changing weather was a big factor in the elevated scores. All the threesomes teed off under warm and sunny skies with a brisk, swirling 15 mile-per-hour wind forcing adjustments for every player from one shot to the next. By the time all the groups made the turn past the clubhouse and on to the back nine, the skies had turned overcast, and the temperature had plummeted 15 degrees to the mid-60's. To make matters worse, by that point a heavy mist was falling on the course, which had already been soaked by heavy rains overnight. It all added up to higher scores for just about everyone.
Coach Dusty Darnold's Chiefs were paced by sophomore Cody Ganzon who turned in an 8-over par 80 to tie for fourth on the leaderboard, carding a 38 on the back nine after posting a 42 at the midway point. Waubonsee's Gavin Woods finished with an 87, while Kyle Ryan and Isaiah McCumber each fired an 88. McCumber rebounded on the back nine with a 40 which was eight shots better than his opening nine-hole score. His older brother and fellow Oswego East High School alum Isaac McCumber tallied a 94. Waubonsee's Emilee Schultz booked a score of 119 and Carson Redfern also competed for the Chiefs.
Waubonsee, which tallied a team score of 377 to finish 19th on Tuesday in the Aurora University Double Gun at the Aurora Country Club, will take to the links again next Wednesday, September 13. The Chiefs are set to travel to Lemont to compete in the third ISCC match of the season at Ruffled Feathers Golf Course. The match is scheduled to commence beginning at 12:30 p.m.
