Boys golf: Streator’s Jaydon Nambo, Ottawa earn titles at Streator Invitational

STREATOR – On a day that produced temperatures in the low 90s and a real feel above 100, Streator senior Jaydon Nambo was the hottest golfer on the course at The Eastwood during Monday’s seven-team Streator Invitational.

Nambo collected five birdies in his round and finished with a 1-under-par 71 to claim the individual championship.

“I had a lot of really good second shots today where I was putting the ball inside 5 feet,” Nambo said. “I felt like I putted well too, but a lot of that was giving myself short putts to make and then making them. The greens were super fast today, so getting your approach shots in close was a big key. My back nine was a little bit of a struggle, to be honest, because I wasn’t driving the ball as well as I can. I guess the plus, though, was I was able to bounce back and make good second shots to get me out of trouble.

“It feels good to win our own tournament. It just stinks that we couldn’t quite win it as a team.”

[ Photos: Streator Bulldog Invitational golf meet ]

Ottawa and Streator tied with a team score of 307, but the Pirates won the event for the fourth straight year after a fifth-score tiebreaker. Prairie Central finished third with a 321, followed by Illinois Valley Central (343), St. Bede (345), La Salle-Peru (357) and Olympia (370).

Streator also had counting scores from Cole Park (76, 3rd), Logan Aukland (77, 5th), Nolan Ketcham (83, 16th), while Drew Donahue posted an 89 and Zander McCloskey had a 91.

Ottawa sophomore Jacob Armstrong shrugged off a slow start to finish second individually with a 1-over 73.

“I don’t feel like I played very well over the summer, so to have the kind of day I did today is a big confidence boost for me for sure.”

—  Jacob Armstrong, Ottawa sophomore

“I started my round kind of rough – 3 over after three holes,” Armstrong said. “But then I put together a nice string of pars, then a couple birdies, then had a 10-yard chip in on No. 11 from just off the green that was the highlight of my round. My putting really saved me today in a few different situations, my lag putts weren’t the best, but I was able to come back and sink the follow-ups. I feel like my driving and irons were pretty good all day long.

“I don’t feel like I played very well over the summer, so to have the kind of day I did today is a big confidence boost for me for sure.”

The Pirates also counted scores from Bryer Harris (77, 4th), Seth Cooper (78, 6th) and Drake Kaufman (79, 7th), with Alex Billings shooting an 84 and Chandler Creedon an 87.

St. Bede’s Luke Tunnell placed 14th with an 81 and Logan Potthoff 18th with an 84, while Zach Husser and Ryan Slingsby each finished with 90s. The Bruins also had Abraham Wiesbrock post a 94 and Chris Gedraitis a 111.

“I started the round with a birdie, but then followed that up with a triple bogey on the second hole, which was a little disappointing,” Potthoff said. “I was able to birdie a couple more holes on the front, but then had a few bad mistakes on the back nine that hurt me. I felt like I putted really well all day, especially on the front where I only had 14 putts, but I struggled keeping the ball in the fairways. It didn’t seem to matter, driver or irons, I just struggled off the tee.”

La Salle-Peru was paced by junior Michael Milota’s 82, good for 15th place, followed by Riley Cetwinski (85), Anthony Ambler (95), Nick Olivero (95), Ben Nicholson (107) and Will McLaughlin (108).

“The shots were there for me all day long, but I just couldn’t get my putter going,” Milota said. “I just switched putters because the one I had been using is just too short for me and I just haven’t had the chance to really get the feel or practice time with my new one. That said, I did have a couple good putts go in, but I just wasn’t as consistent enough, too many three putts to put up a really good score today.”

Streator is scheduled to play Woodland in a dual at Wolf Creek on Tuesday. Ottawa will travel to Hughes Creek to battle Kaneland in an Interstate 8 Conference dual on Thursday. L-P is scheduled to take part in a scramble in Oswego on Tuesday. St. Bede is scheduled to be part of a quadrangular with host Sandwich on Tuesday at Spring Creek.