Emig Takes Regional Title; Dogs Finish Second
By Mark Jurgena
Dominick Emig sank a seven-foot putt on the first playoff hole to save par and beat Cameron Appenzeller of Chatham (Glenwood) for the individual title at the IHSA Class 2A Taylorville Regional on September 29th.
Both golfers had fired a 79 to tie for the lead after 18 holes at the Lakeshore Golf Course.
The playoff began on the par-four 1st hole. Both golfers missed the fairway off the tee; however, Emig’s line was better for his second shot and he left it just short of the green.
From there the Bulldog lefty put his third shot seven feet to the right of the pin to set himself up for the par putt to win.
“After the round, we had over an hour wait for the rest of the field to finish before we realized Dominick was going to play it off,” said coach Brent James. “Playoffs are not something we experience a lot, but this is the second in a week. Completely different experience having a crowd follow you down the fairway. I was really proud of the way Dominick controlled his excitement and nerves to make a great up and down to win it.”
Last week teammate Bryce Knackstedt won the MVC Tourney in a playoff.
As a team, the Dogs finished in 2nd place, ten off the pace set by Glenwood. The Titans fired a 324.
“With the difficulty of the course, I knew scores could be a little higher than average but didn’t want the guys to get too worked up in their overall totals during the round,” said James. “We talked about sticking to the game plan, managing misses and just playing each shot as it presented itself. The boys did a very nice job of this.”
Individually, Knackstedt, Mason Emig, and Tanner Gilliam also finished in the top twelve for the tourney.
Knackstedt fired an 83 to finish in a four-way tie with Triad’s Owen Twyman along with Glenwood’s Bradyn Sayarath and Brock Bredehoft for 6th place.
M. Emig fired an 85 for 10th place while Gilliam finished 12th with an 87.
Easton Belford fired a 90 while Braden Schrof shot a 94 for the tourney.
That 2nd place team finish allowed the entire squad to advance to the Class 2A Effingham Sectional which took place on Monday. Results were unavailable at press time.
If any golfers from HHS qualified, the state tourney will be tomorrow and Saturday at Weibring Golf Club in Normal.
