Boys golf: Kaneland wins regional for 5th straight year; Sycamore sends 5 to sectional

SANDWICH – The Kaneland Knights had no trouble executing their shots Wednesday at Edgebrook Golf Course, winning the Class 2A Sandwich Regional with a team score of 313.

Cody Ganzon led the way for Kaneland, firing a 3-over-par 75 to earn the individual regional title.

“It feels really good,” Ganzon said. “We’re looking forward to the sectional meet. The course was pretty tough today, but I thought we played very well. The course was difficult around the greens, and there were a lot of hard areas around the greens, which were pretty slow at times. We had a practice round here before the regional and we were all pretty confident coming in.”

Wednesday’s victory marked the fifth consecutive regional championship for the Knights, who saw Hagan Rank take third overall with a 78 and Josh Pehl finish fourth with a 79. Gavin Woods wasn’t far behind, ending his round tied for sixth place with a 81. All four boys finished as All-Interstate 8 Conference first-teamers.

“Our coach pushes us, and he expects big things from us,” Ganzon said. “He’s on top of us, and that’s a good thing, but at the end of the day, it’s all about having fun. He’s not an overly strict coach, but he’s honest, and he’s very fair. I think that’s allowed us to have a lot of success.”

Sycamore fell just short of qualifying for the sectional meet, finishing fourth in the regional with a 354. The Spartans will send five individuals to the sectional, including Nic Zurko, Ryan Polly and Matthew Loos, who each carded an 88 at the regional meet. David Beaty and Luther Swedberg shot 90 and 93, respectively, to earn their spots in the sectional tournament, which will take place Monday at Kishwaukee Country Club.

“We had a tournament at Kishwaukee earlier this year, and we placed first,” Ganzon said. “I shot 69, and Josh [Pehl] shot 71. If we can play like that, I think we’ll make it to state.”

G-K had its season come to an end at the regional. Landen Ritchie was seven strokes of qualifying with a 98.