BREESE - The young Edwardsville boys golf team had three players making their varsity debuts, and all played well as the Tigers finished second in a triangular meet, shooting an 184 to finish second behind host Breese Mater Dei Catholic, who fired a 153, and ahead of Collinsville's 191, Tuesday afternoon at Bent Oak Golf Course in Breese.
Edwardsville's younger players continue to gain valuable experience in each meet and tournament, and the younger lineup was by design in order to get the players some varsity experience if the season should get cut short.
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"We took a lot of new kids today," said Tiger head coach Adam Tyler. "in fact, we had three kids make their varsity debuts today, and we got some kids in today who haven't played much, and we wanted to get them a (meet) in case the season gets cut short, or something else happens. We want to give the kids an opportunity to play, so that's what we did, give some kids an opportunity."
And play they did, as the young Tigers faced some situations that they were very unfamiliar with, and came out of the tests with flying colors.
"We put the kids in a situation they're not familiar with, and they all responded well," Tyler said. "They also went up against the defending Class 1A champions (in Mater Dei), and you could feel uncomfortable playing against a team with talent like that, and that can be intimidating. And they responded well."
Zach Noll led the way for the Tigers with a 46 for nine holes, while Jack Perulfi and T.J. Theims both shot 47s, and Bennett Babington fired a 49. The three other scores for Edwardsville were Payne with a 57, Tongay with a 63 and Roberson, who had a 68.
On Monday, the Illinois High School Association announced that the statewide postseason series wouldn't be played, but instead, regional tournaments for each COVID-19 district would be played instead, with a target date of Oct. 24 for the tournaments. Even so, there's still much uncertainty about the season itself, and Tyler and his team have adopted a simple philosophy about how to approach everything that may or may not happen.
"My motto is this year, control and worry about what you can control," Tyler said, "so that's been the focus and the message from the coaches to the players. Control what you can control, and don't worry about what you can't control. We're just taking it one day at a time, and continue to get better."
The Tigers next see action in the opening round of the Southwestern Conference tournament on Tuesday afternoon at Stonewolf Golf Club in Fairview Heights, and Tyler knows that his team will be ready to go for the opening round.
"We're going to spend the rest of this week and early next week getting ready for the tournament," Tyler said.
Chris Rhodes also contributed to this story.
