WW South Captures City Boys Golf Title on Final Card

Team golf has a dynamic as peculiar as it can be unpredictable.

With the top five players in the clubhouse at Pheasant Run Golf Course in St. Charles on Saturday, host Wheaton Academy appeared to have the Wheaton Cup team title within its grasp.

Wheaton Academy boys golf coach Bob Broman, a Wheaton resident, was well aware the Warriors’ two-shot lead over Wheaton Warrenville South was far from secure.

“I have learned over the years not to get too excited until all the scores are in,” Broman said.

Sure enough, Wheaton Warrenville South senior Theo Corry had the round of his prep career, firing a career-low 2-over par 74.

The improbable Corry performance enabled WW South to throw out an 81 from Colin McCaffrey, and the resulting 7-shot swing was all the difference in the Tigers’  299-304 victory over Wheaton Academy.

Wheaton North was a distant third at 333, and St. Francis rounded out the four-school tournament with a collective 348.

“The key for me came on No. 15 (the tournament started on the back nine),” Corry said. “I chipped up to the par-3 and made the putt for par. I then finished (the outward nine) birdie-birdie-par. Every time I stepped up to a putt it looked like it was going in.”

But the Tigers’ defense of the Wheaton City Championship also bore the unmistakable imprints of senior star Tee-K Kelly. The two-time Class 3A state qualifier had yet another signature round to anchor the Tigers’ team score.

Kelly offset his lone bogey on the front nine with a pair of birdies, and his play reached new heights on the back.

The nationally-ranked Kelly, who finished seventh at the Illinois Open last month, needed only eight putts on his first six holes of his inward nine to record three birdies.

On the short par-4 fifth hole, Kelly drove the greenside bunker and seamlessly made an up and down to get to 4-under on his round.
“I thought I could get it on the green with my 3-wood,” Kelly said. “I knew the bunker wasn’t a bad place.”

Kelly would have one final misstep at the eighth hole, but the senior narrowly missed yet another birdie on the ninth hole (his closing hole) to settle for a 3-under 69.

“If I would have had some putts fall, I would have been a lot lower today,” Kelly said.

Kelly received a special waiver from the IHSA to compete in a national tournament next weekend at the famed TPC at Sawgrass, site of the PGA Players Championship.

Kelly also said he would make his final collegiate choice - between Illinois, Iowa and Ohio State - after he returns.

“I have a number of offers from the ACC (Atlantic Coast Conference) and the Big 12, but I don’t want to leave the Big Ten,” Kelly said.

“I didn’t coach (former WW South state champion and current PGA Tour player) Kevin Streelman,” WW South coach Jimmy Selleck said. “(Kelly is) arguably the best player to ever walk the hallways of Wheaton Warrenville South.”

Kelly’s freshman brother Will posted a 76 to aid the Tigers’ cause.
Wheaton Academy was led by matching 1-over 73s from Jack Anderson and Danny Gryfinski.

Anderson fired a 2-under 33 on his final nine to flavor his round.
“I was making the putts I needed to make down the stretch,” the Wheaton resident said.

Freshman Michael Suazo led Wheaton North with an 80, and St. Francis’ Tony Wodsinski shot a team-low 84 for his squad.