Cherala and Carroll top-10 as North Stars Take Title
Led by top-10 finishes from Ragheev Cherala (75) and John Carroll (76), St. Charles North's boys golf team took home the team title at Monday's Elgin invite at Bartlett Hills Golf Club.
South Elgin’s Owens wins Elgin Invitational
By Paul Johnson For Sun-Times Media September 19, 2011 9:46PM
BARTLETT — It’s starting to become routine to see South Elgin senior golfer Xavier Owens post terrific scores on the links this fall. Owens was at it yet again Monday at the 12-team Elgin Invitational at Bartlett Hills. He was three under par after his first six holes and never looked back, earning medalist honors with a sparkling 69, five strokes ahead of the field. That helped the Storm finish third as a team with 312, behind team champion St. Charles North (309) and fellow Upstate Eight Valley team Neuqua Valley (311).
“This is kind of how I’ve been playing, but this is a good day for me,” Owens said. “I was playing very well, playing very consistent, not many mistakes. It’s nice to come out here where there’s a group of guys that can go low and I can go a little bit lower.”
Owens started with a birdie on his first hole in the shotgun format, the par-five fourth. He followed that with birdies on Nos. 7 and 8 and added another birdie on No. 12 to offset his one bogey of the day. Ryan Ford added a 78 for the Storm.
St. Charles North received a consistent effort from top to bottom to post a 309 and win the title. The North Stars hope to see this course again in a few weeks when the sectional meet is held there.
Raghav Cherala (75), John Carroll (76) and Dan Shepherd delivered yet again from the top three spots in the lineup to lead the North Stars.
“The top three guys have been pretty consistent for us week in and week out,” North coach Rob Prentiss said. “You start to take them for granted.”
Prentiss said that while the top three have been consistent all season, he’s still looking for a consistent fourth score. He got it Monday when seniors Quint Barr and Pete Roschmann each posted 81s after having a rough go of it Saturday.
“I’m really proud of Quint and Pete today,” Prentiss said. “They had a really bad day Saturday. I was hoping they’d bounce back, and they did. If the top three play well and we get some help from the bottom of the lineup, we can be tough.”
Bartlett placed fourth with a 322, led by ace Ryan Wolfe, who posted a solid 76. Chris Dungey added an 80 from the No. 5 spot in the lineup.
Dundee-Crown showed some consistency in its 330, with all four counting scores falling between 80 and 84, led by Scott Mallers’ 80 from the No. 4 slot. Larkin was consistent as well with its 343. Jack McCracken shot an 85 followed by three teammates who shot 86s.
Streamwood (402) and host Elgin (416) rounded out the 12-team field.
Elgin Invite at Bartlett Hills
TEAM SCORES
St. Charles North 309, Neuqua Valley 311, South Elgin 312, Bartlett 322, West Aurora 325, Geneva 330, Dundee-Crown 330, Lake Park 341, Larkin 343, Hoffman Estates 349, Streamwood 402, Elgin 419.
Top 10 individuals
Owens (SE) 69, Rouches (NV) 74, Cherala (SCN) 75, Carroll (SCN) 76, Wolfe (B) 76, Butler (LP) 77, Dattolo (WA) 78, Ford (SE) 78, Vanalsburg (NV) 79.
