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10.17.11

     

         

Golf Team 3rd in State!

Below is an account of the Golf's Team experience at State Finals, written by Coach Tom Day.   Congratulations, team!!   We are proud of you!

The season has come to a close offically.  The last putt has dropped and the Timothy Trojans were privileged to be at the State Finals to compete for the first time in 12 years.  In the year 1999, the team finished with a fine record and finished as the 6th best team in the state.  This year the Trojans were able to finish as a medalist team with a 3rd place finish in class 1A to end a most exciting season.  3RD in STATE!!!!   What an exciting weekend! 

We began with a trip to Bloomington early Thursday morning and played a very soggy practice round on a golf course that had been saturated with over 2 inches of rain the night before.  But it was not soggy conditions that would be the issue for the weekend.  The sun was out for both Friday and Saturday for the competition but the wind was up on this links-style course, Prairie Vista, par 72.  Every small pond on the golf course actually had white caps as the winds gusted to 40 mph throughout the 2 days.  So as our team teed off on Friday morning, it seemed as though we were having a very bad start as our first 4 players were all 4 over par after only 3 holes.  But as teams joined us on the course it gradually became apparent that we were not the only ones having trouble keeping our shots on course. 

When the first day came to a close, there was Timothy Christian, in fourth place, just one stroke behind Freeport Acquin which had beaten our team handily at sectionals.  We were still in the hunt for a trophy!  Led by Mike Hennel's fantastic, steady round of 77 in these vicious winds, the team shot a score of 335.  Contributing scores were also Chris Ridolphi (90), Michael Karpman (84) and Caleb Funke (84). 

 Day 2 began with not a cloud in the skies but the crisp air was already moving with a stiff breeze as the guys teed off with the other 3 leading teams based on Friday's scores.  The team seemed ready for the day as all the players got off the 1st tee with great opening drives and most of the players were keeping their scores low as they made their way around the front 9.  Caleb Funke was leading the Trojans as he was even par after 4 holes.  But the winds were still severe and the pressure of the last round on Saturday began to become a factor.  Timothy was hanging tough as a team and had moved into 3rd place by the time the team made its turn.  The lead actually became as high as a seemingly comfortable 16 stroke lead at one point in the afternoon but Monmouth put on a strong charge as they finished early with a +104 team total.  As the Trojans played on, their margin of a lead began to slowly shrink.  Things began to look rather precarious as Justin VanderNaald found the water on the tough finishing hole.  Justin finished with a 90, 2 strokes better than his day one score.  Then Michael Karpman found the water on 18 and had to take a drop.  As he played his 3rd shot the wind took the ball over the green.  As it was bounding towards the out of bounds area behind the green a fan reached out his foot and kicked the ball, not knowing it was a shot in play!  The ball landed 1 foot from out of bounds!  After his free drop from the cart path, Michael hit an excellent shot to the edge of the green, but took 3 more strokes to finish the hole.  In spite of these 18th hole adventures, Michael carded an excellent 41 for his back nine to shoot a counting score of 86.  But that lead was still shrinking!

Caleb Funke was the hero of the day when he finished with a solid par on 18 to shoot a great score of 79 (10th best score of the day) and led the team to holding on the 3rd place by a margin of 4 strokes. 

So the Timothy Trojans were honored with a third place trophy for finishing as the 3rd best team in Class 1A.  As IHSA golf director Kirk Gibson handed out the medals and seniors Mike Hennel and Chris Ridolphi hoisted the trophy, there were smiles all around.  What a great ending to a great season!  After pictures and handshakes, the team huddled together to pray a prayer of thanksgiving and praise to the Lord whose Hand has guided them throughout this exciting season.