JOLIET -- When Providence Catholic High School boys golf coach John Platt watched his Celtics play their first couple of holes in Tuesday's Class 3A Joliet Township Regional at Inwood, a thought occurred.
"The way it is, with a 30-mph wind, with the rain coming down sideways, give me four 80s," he said. "We'll take a 320 and run with it."
But the Celtics have had a season where they have won all but one 18-hole tournament. Senior John Thomas and junior Gabe Aprati, especially, were not about to let a little thing like the weather crimp their style.
Thomas won medalist honors with a 2-over-par 73 and Aprati shared the runnerup spot with Lincoln-Way East junior Brian Bullington, both at 76, as Providence finished with a 309 total to run away with the team championship.
Bullington's effort led East to second place at 326, and Lincoln-Way Central shot 335 to claim the third qualifying position for Monday's Pekin Sectional.
The closest misses were Lincoln-Way North at 340, Lockport at 341 and Plainfield North at 342. Joliet finished at 350, Bolingbrook 361, Romeoville 401 and Plainfield East 453.
The top eight individuals not on qualifying teams, plus ties, also advanced to the sectional. That list was headed by Joliet sophomore Blake Billups at 77, good for fourth place overall. Bolingbrook junior David Cooke was fifth overall at 78 and second among individual qualifiers.
The others moving on were Plainfield North junior Nick Corban with a 79, Lockport senior Roger Smith and Lincoln-Way North junior Jeremy Fraser at 83, Phoenix senior Kyle Shinn and sophomore Jack Misheck at 84, and Lockport seniors Anthony Lodovico and Casey Temper at 85.
The early forecast for Monday's sectional is dry, but cold. "We'll bring our snow boots," Platt promised. Tuesday was windy, wet and wild.
"Anytime I can shoot 73 in these conditions, it's a great score," said Thomas, who put together nines of 36-37.
"I was putting pretty well, made some par saves on the back. And on the front, I was pretty much in the middle off the tee."
Things got rolling in the right direction for Providence early on.
"I was watching the second hole, which is the island green, and I think we were 1 over par there while other teams probably were 6-8 over just on that hole," Platt said.
And once the Celtics got that jump, they simply turned things over to the 1-2 punch of Thomas and Aprati.
"It's our 1 and 2, and again a free ride," Platt said. "They have been on such a good run that I've been telling the others that they are going to have to step up sooner or later."
The other Providence scorers were senior Ryan Monahan at 79 and senior Mike Sweeney at 81. Right on their heels, if needed, were junior Evan Berna at 82 and senior Ken Feldmeier at 84.
"Our guys have all worked hard," Platt said. "I don't really know what to think of bad weather, whether it helps us or not. J.T. (Thomas), though, he hits knockdown shots in anything."
By the time the golfers hit the turn, it was pretty much accepted that Providence and Lincoln-Way East would grab two of the three qualifying spots. East may not have had its best score with 326, but as Griffins coach Ryan Pohlmann noted, it is all about surviving at this time of year.
"Our thought right away was to survive and advance," he said. "You never know what the conditions will be, or what the scores will be in the conditions. Regardless, you never want to throw away a stroke because you never know. Last year we lost to Providence on a sixth-score tiebreaker."
Bullington has been a leader for the Griffins since his freshman year, and he finished fifth in the state as a sophomore. So his 76 came as no surprise. "Brian has one of the greatest attitudes for a golfer that I can imagine," Pohlmann said.
But it was the 79 of Griffins senior Nick Stavropoulos that caught his coach's attention.
"Nick had a great round in these conditions," Pohlmann said. "He birdied No. 2, chipped in on 10 for birdie and his short game was solid all day."
The rest of the Griffins' counting scores were the 85 and 86 of seniors Shane McGowan and Dan Petrarca.
If Tuesday goes in the books as a long day, based on the conditions and the relatively slow pace of play, it was even tougher on veteran Lincoln-Way Central coach Don Hayes. The Knights' scores all were in for an extended period, while many of the other contenders had virtually no scores posted.
"One of my players saw how nervous I was, and he said, 'Relax, Coach. You're too nervous,'" Hayes said. "So I told him, 'That's my job to be nervous.'"
But all was well that ended well as the Knights advanced. Their counting scores were junior Ricky Palonis at 80, freshman Bryant Bolden and senior Nick Foglton at 84 and sophomore Tom Schuman at 87.
"I'm very proud of the fact we played well," Hayes said. "Schuman was sick -- he threw up on the course twice. Bryant did a decent job for a freshman. And Foglton tripled 15 and then finished par, par, par. He's our senior captain, and that's the kind of kid he is.
"On a day like this, it isn't always what you score, but it's your attitude that can get you in."
Lockport entered the regional with high hopes to claim a sectional berth, but things did not work out for the Porters.
"We played very well Saturday in conditions just like this," Porters coach George Brecheisen said. "We just did not execute today. It's one of those things. This is going to hurt a bit."
One competitor not hurting was JT's Billups, the No. 1 qualifier not on an advancing team.
"I left a couple shots out there, but most guys do," he said. "That (77) is a decent score under these conditions."
"I brought Blake up as a freshman, threw him to the wolves and maybe did him a disservice," Steelmen coach Ed Larson said. "But this year he is comfortable with the guys he is playing against.
"I'm as proud as all get out of this kid."
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