Match-play mentality on back nine carries QND boys golf team to sectional championship

AUBURN, Ill. — As the Quincy Notre Dame boys golfers made the turn Monday, the situation seemed pretty cut and dry.

Beat Bloomington Central Catholic head-to-head and win a sectional championship.

Raiders coach Brian Hendrian didn’t shy away from telling his golfers that.

“We went out there and played it like a Ryder Cup format against the Bloomington Central Catholic kid in each of our groups,” QND senior Konnor Craven said. “That’s what Coach told us to do. So that’s what I did. It’s what we all did.”

The Raiders won enough of those head-to-head matchups to win the big prize. QND posted a 319 team score in the Class 1A Auburn Sectional at Edgewood Golf Course, beating BCC by two strokes to win the team title and advance to this weekend’s state tournament.

BCC posted a 321 and Rushville-Industry advanced with a 329. Pittsfield finished fourth with a 340 and Illini West was seventh with a 350.

“We knew we were close with Central Catholic and we knew we had to play better because we were kind of leaking,” QND sophomore Beau Eftink said. “We had to finish it.”

The finish wasn’t perfect, but it worked. Eftink shot a 1-over 36 on the back nine — the only QND golfer to break 40 on the back — and beat BCC’s Luke Brady by one stroke head-to-head. The Raiders’ top four golfers were two strokes better than the Saints on the back nine.

“They could have easily given up, could have easily packed it in because we were well clear of Rushville in the third spot,” Hendrian said. “We came here to win and they wanted to do that.”

The strong play the Raiders showed at the end of the regular season — they won the Galesburg Invitational and the regional title — carried over on the front nine, especially for Eftink.

He birdied three consecutive holes in the middle of the opening nine and was under par for the majority of the back nine after making a birdie on the par-4 10th. A double-bogey on No. 18 left him with a 1-over 72 total, four shots clear of the rest of the field and atop the leaderboard.

Coupled with his individual medalist honors at regionals, Eftink becomes the third QND golfer in the last quarter-century to win both regional and sectional titles.

Alex McCulla won both as a senior in 2020 and Drew Eaton did the same as a senior in 2015. Eftink’s combined score of 140 from the two events is five strokes better than McCulla’s two-victory total and 10 better than Eaton.

“Last year, I didn’t play good in either regionals or sectionals,” Eftink said. “It’s nice to come back and play good in both of those.”

His iron play made the difference.

“I really stuck a lot of shots close,” Eftink said.

It pushed the Raiders to their eighth sectional title in program history and their 25th state tournament appearance. They also are the fifth team in program history to win both regional and sectional titles in the same year.

Craven shot a 77 to finish third individually, while senior Matthew Boudreau shot an 84 and freshman Olliver Hendrian posted an 86.

“I was thinking back on last year where we got third at sectionals, but only by two shots,” Craven said. “It felt amazing to get out, but we were more relieved than anything at that point. This time, I could actually enjoy it and have fun with it. Even though I didn’t play the greatest, I still enjoyed and I still am right now. It feels awesome.”

Six area golfers will be joining the Raiders in the state tournament field beginning Friday at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington.

Illini West junior Nick Bruns finished tied for fifth with a 79, while Brown County’s Rioth Wort was ninth with an 80 and Illini West’s Colby Robertson, Payson Seymour’s Aden Frese and Pittsfield’s Isaac Mcglauchlen tied for 10th with 81s. West Hancock’s Braysen Smeltser advanced with an 82.