1997 KANELAND GOLF

Review 1996 Kaneland Golf Season

Outlook: After qualifying for the team's first ever Class A state meet in 1995, the team lost all of its varsity golfers. After having a tough year last year, this year's team now has some more experienced golfers and should be a stronger team.

Key returners: Seniors Matt Gladd and Nate Lanthrum.

Top newcomers: Sophomores Bill Lamb, Tyrel Williams, Dustin Darnold, and Brandon Cunningham.

Coach Rich Ross (12th year) says: "I'm about as hopeful as I've been in a long time. We've got the highest number of kids we've ever had trying out. 28 golfers are competing for 18 openings."

Kaneland Wins first contest of the season

Kaneland 173 Lisle 193

Hitting the greens for the first time this season Kaneland beat Lisle 173-193. Leading the Knights where sophomores Dustin Darnold with 40 and Bill Lamb with 42, along with seniors Nate Lanthrum and Marty Keifer hitting 45 and 46 respectively. In a JV match Kaneland won by 29 stokes with 43 by Brandon Cunningham, a pair of 44's by Kris Cotton & Eric Barr, and a 45 by Jeremy Johansen.

Kaneland 180 Sandwich 173

In Kanland's second match of the year, Sandwich squeaked out a 7 stroke win 173-180. Playing on a breezy cool (70) day, Nate Lanthrum shot a 40, followed by Dustin Darnold with a 44. Marty Keifer, Bill Lamb, Brandon Cunningham and Kyle Schmidt each had a 48. Record 1-1.

Kaneland 174 Wheaton 172

Kaneland lost to Wheaton Academy at Plesant Run by only two stokes. Dustin Darnold lead all scorers with with a 41, Matt Gladd followed with a 43, Brandon Cunningham shot a 44 and Nate Lanthrum had a 46. Varsity Record is now 1-2. In the JV match Eric Barr had a 46 and Tom Lang, Jeremy Johansen, and Tyrel Williams shot 47's for a Kaneland win and a 3-0 JV record.

Kaneland 170 Minooka 163

Nate Lanthrum Tees off

Kaneland keeps getting better but the competition also seems to get better. Losing to Minooka by just 7 stokes Kaneland dropped to 1-3 for the season. Bill Lamb lead the Knights with a 40. Dustin Darnold had a 42 and seniors Nate Lanthrum and Matt Gladd shot 43 and 45 respectively. 46. In the JV match Kaneland moved to 4-0 with 42's by Tom Lang and Tyrel Williams. Eric Barr hit a 45 and Jeremy Johansen came in with a 47.

Batavia Invitational

On a Pleasant Saturday afternoon on September 6 1997, five Kaneland golfers broke a 100 in the Batavia Invitational. The Knights were lead by Matt Gladd with a 90, followed by Dustin Darnold -94, Bill Lamb -97, Nat Lanthrum -98 and Tyrel WIlliams -99.

Kaneland 186 Geneva 148

For the first time this year Kaneland's young golf team was not able to stay close to it's opponent as Geneva who is 4-0 walked away with the day. Playing at Mill Creek Brian Torrence of Geneva shot a 3-under par 33. Bill Lamb lead the Knights with a 44. Paul Schuppner and Matt Gladd each shot 47s, while Nate Lanthrum added a 48. Kaneland dropped to 1-4 for the season. The JV team lost for the first time 175 to 170 despite a 40 by Eric Barr and 45s by Tom Lang, Kyle Donka and Brandon Cunningham.

Kaneland 171 Sycamore 162

Kaneland shot it's second best score of the season, but it just fell short of Sycamore's 162. Matt Gladd and Kyle Schmidt lead the Knights with 42's. Nate Lanthrum followed with a 43 and Kris Cotton had a 44. The JV team won however, 176 to 183, thanks to 41 by Brandon Cunningham and a trio of 45's by Dustin Darold, Kyle Donka, and Jeremy Johansen.

Kaneland 166 Morris 178

Kaneland took on Morris at Hughes Creek and came out with a 166-178 victory. The Knights where lead by a pair of seniors Nate Lanthrum and Matt Gladd both who shot 39 and where the Medalist. Kyle Schmidt added a 43 and Paul Schuppner at 45. The JV team won again raising their record to 6-1, 174 to 194, thanks to a 41 by Dustin Darold a 43 from Bill Lamb and a pair of 45's by Kyle Donka and Brandon Cunningham.

Kaneland 166 Marengo 164

Kaneland shot their second straight 166 (season's best) against Marengo at Hughes Creek on a windy day, but came up just 2 strokes short 166-164 and dropped to 2-6 for the season. The Knights where lead by Bill Lamb with a 39, followed by Matt Gladd who shot 41, Dustin Darnold with a 42 and Tom Lang with a 44. The JV team won again raising their record to 7-1, 186 to 198, with a 42 by Brandon Cunningham, a 47 by Jeremy Johansen a 48 by Tyrel Williams and a 49 by Paul Schuppner.

Kaneland 180 Somanauk 196

Kaneland scores shot up at Edgebrook C.C., but a 180 managed to beat Somanauk who had a 196. Dustin Darnold and Kyle Schmidt lead the Knights with 44's. Bill Lamb followed with 45 and Matt Gladd had a 47. The JV team won again killing Somanauk 182 to 229. Tyrel Williams shot a meet low of 42, Kris Cotton had a 45, Kyle Donka came in with a 46 and J.C. David had a 49.

Kaneland 181 Batavia 164

Kaneland had it's second straight 180's score and lost to Bataiva 164-181. Matt Gladd shot a 42. Kyle Schmidt and J.C. David had 46's and Paul Schuppner came in with a 47. The JV team kept winning raising their record to 9-1, 181 to 191. Bill Lamb had a 44 while Dustin Darnold came in at 45. Brandon Cunningham and Kyle Donka both shot 46.

Kaneland 180 Oswego 167

Kaneland had it's third straight 180's score and lost to Oswego 167-180. Matt Gladd shot a 42. Kyle Schmidt had a 43, Tom Lang a 47 and Nate Lanthrum brought home a 48. The JV team kept winning raising their record to 10-1, 170 to 182. Tyrel Williams shot an amazing 38! He had help from Dustin Darnold with a 43, Kris Cotton with a 44, and Brandon Cunningham shot a 45.

Geneva Invitational

It was a beautiful day for golf as Nate Lanthrum lead the Knights with in the Geneva 18 hole Invitational with a 86. Bill Lamb had a 90 and Brandon Cunningham came in with a 91. Kyle Schmidt added a 99 for a 365 team total.

Burlington 190 Burlington Central 162

The Knights closed out the regular season losing to Burlington Central by 28 strokes. The Knights ended up 3-9 overall and 1-5 in conference. Kyle Schmidt lead the Kaneland with a 45 followed by a pair of 48's by seniors Matt Gladd and Paul Schuppner. J.C. David came in with a 49.

The JV however, finished much better, beating Burlington Central by 26 strokes 167-193, closing out the season 11-1 overall and 5-1 in the conference. The JV's only lose was to Geneva by a only 5 strokes. Brandon Cunningham lead the Knights against BC with a brilliant 39! Dustin Darnold had a 41 and Tyrel Williams a 42. Bill Lamb shot a 45 for the win.

"Our strength is with our youth. We have a bright future." Stated Coach Rich Ross.

SPC Conference Meet

It was the first ever SPC Conference Meet held at Kaneland's home course - Hughs Creek. Kaneland who scored 356 for seventh place, was hampered by both depth problems and fatigue from an intensive pass few weeks.

The Knights were led by Matt Gladd's 81 and Nate Lathrum's 88. Paul Schuppner came in with a 93 and Marty Kiefer had a 94.

The Kaneland junior-varsity fared a little better, finishing second behind Geneva . Bill Lamb shot an amazing 78, while Brandon Cunningham had a 84, and Tyrel Williams and Kyle Donka both finished with 85's.

"It's hard to describe, but my hope was kind of to come in there and have the round that we were capable of having and play the role of spoiler", said Kaneland coach Richard Ross.

Genoa (Fran Noyes Cogs) Invitational

Matt Gladd shot a 85, Kyle Schmidt and Brandon Cunningham each had 90, and Tyrel Williams came in with a 91, as the Knights shot a 356 in the Genoa Invitational.

IHSA Regional

The Knights season came to an end on a perfect Tuesday afternoon at Marengo Ridge Country Club. It was the IHSA regionals and Kaneland finished 5th out of 22 schools. The Knights missed 4th place (and advancing to the sectionals) by a mere 7 strokes.

Montini shot a 320, St Edwards 336, Wheaton St. Francis 242, Elgin Academy 353, and Kaneland with 360. The Knights where lead by Captain Matt Gladd with a 88. Sophomores Dustin Darnold and Bill Lamb shot 89's and sophomores Tyrel Williams and Brandon Cunningham each had a 94.

1997 Kaneland Golf Roster

Photos by Robin Harley and courtesy of The Elburn Herald

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