Coach Kevin Kellermann expected considerable improvement from the O'Fallon boys golf team this season, and that's exactly what he's gotten.
"I was optimistic going into the year because I felt we had a pretty solid core of seniors," Kellermann said. "We've played relatively strong. The good thing is, with the exception of one tournament, we've played better every time. I'm hoping we can continue building off that.
"I'm relying on our depth, which should be a strength for us in match play. Your top four aren't always going to play well, so we need some other guys to step up and I think we have a lot of people who can do that."
O'Fallon started the season with a seventh-place finish among 24 teams at the Alton Invitational on Aug. 16 and placed among 24 among at the Quincy Invitational on Aug. 20. The Panthers finished third in the inaugural Goalby/Haas Classic, a six-team boys/girls event held Aug. 18 at St. Clair Country Club in Belleville. They were third in the St. Clair County Tournament Aug. 22 at Tamarack.
"St. Clair Country Club is not a very long course, but we didn't have a single kid who had played there before," Kellermann said. "I felt they might be five strokes worse than what they normally shoot and we shot about what I had expected.
"The county tournament was probably our worst showing as a team. You hope to play your best on your home course, but that day we didn't play as well as we're capable of playing.
"As nice as it would be to win all these tournaments, the ultimate goal is to play well at the (Southwestern) conference tournament and do well enough at the regional and then the sectional to make it to the state tournament. We feel like we're in the hunt to do just as well as anybody in the conference."
Graduation losses for O'Fallon included Sam Summerlin, who was the team's No. 1 player for three years, and Stuart Mauch.
"Sam is a really good player and ever since he was a freshman, he played in the sectional," Kellermann said. "But team-wise, we were something like 16th at Quincy and we were in the middle of the pack at Alton. So this year we've already made huge strides."
The Panthers have 11 players on the varsity roster, with seniors Kenny Conrad, Luke Gray and Jon Hackmann and junior Brett Maggio as the top four.
"After that, it's been a mix of other guys trying to gain some experience," Kellermann said. "Among the juniors, Spencer Summerlin (Sam's brother) played maybe one varsity match last year, but he played in three of the first four tournaments.
Nolan Frisch, who is a junior, played a lot of varsity matches last year. Evan Meder is another junior who should play a lot. Adam Trelow kind of struggled as a junior, but I think he can help us this year."
For the seniors, extra practice is paying off.
"I was on the course every day over the summer," Conrad said. "I put a lot of time into my short game, especially my putting."
"If you're not on the course, you need to go to the (driving) range," Gray said. "My big thing this year is learning to control my irons. I'm way more consistent."
Hackmann, like Gray, tried to go out to the range as much as possible.
"I also worked a lot on my mental game," Hackmann said. "In golf, it really messes with you if you have a bad hole. Part of being a better golfer is being able to forget those holes and come back strong."
Like their coach, the seniors feel that depth will be a plus for the Panthers.
"I'd love to make it to the sectional and beyond," Conrad said. "If we all play our best, there's no doubt that we can do it."
"Along with the seniors, we've got a lot of juniors that are capable of shooting in the mid-70s. We know those guys can put in a good round and help us finish out the top four."
Rounding out the varsity roster are seniors Paxton Bione and Kyle Wilson, junior Kevin Wolf and sophomore William Goodman.
On Wednesday, O'Fallon's dual match record dropped to 1-1 with a 160-161 loss to Belleville West at Triple Lakes. The top four for the Panthers featured Maggio (37), Conrad (42), Hackmann (40) and Meder (42).
Thursday's match against Triad was cancelled due to excessive heat. The Panthers return to action Tuesday at Tamarack against Belleville East.
