On the clear, brisk morning of Oct. 8, Ryan Stoffregen ‘23 teed off at the IHSA Boys’ Class 1A State golf tournament held at the Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington, IL. This was the last golf meet he would play in this season. Stoffregen’s success throughout the season gave him momentum going into the boys’ Regional, Sectional, and State golf meets.
The IHSA Boys’ Regional Golf Meet was held at the Freeport Country Club. Stoffregen and the GHS Boys’ Golf Team competed against teams from Eastland, River Ridge, Winnebago, and East Dubuque. These teams made up the first five places on the leader board, with seven other teams behind them. Stoffregen was at the top of the leader board the majority of the regional meet on Sept. 30. He came in as the top scorer for the day, shooting a 77.
“I felt like I got some momentum coming off of this meet,” explained Stoffregen, “It was a great feeling to see my name at the top of the leader board and it gave me more confidence going into sectionals.”
Along with Stoffregen’s solo success, the team placed first in the meet. The Galena Boys’ Golf team collectively shot a 351, beating Eastland by twelve strokes. Jacob Furlong ‘23 and Connor Glasgow ‘24 both came in having shot 89’s, which helped their team reach their Regional Victory.
“It was great to see my teammate Ryan play well” Glasgow noted, “I was happy that our team got to move on together to sectionals.”
The team conquered the third regional title in team history. This accomplishment was meaningful to the younger players on the varsity team along with the upperclassmen.
“It was a great feeling to win the regional title because our hard work this season had paid off,” explained Jack Ries ‘24.
Since the team ended victorious at the meet, all six varsity players would move on to play the Sectional Meet.
The IHSA Boys’ Sectional Golf Meet took place on Monday, Oct. 4 at Byron, IL. Though the team did not score low enough to move on to state, Stoffregen came through, shooting a 79.
“I was right up there with the leaders until hole 16. Even though I had a few bad holes, I still was able to end the day tied for 9th” recalls Stoffregen.
Eight teams would be competing at the meet, whereas Stoffregen would be competing as an individual.
“I felt excited to go on to state because I’ve worked hard this year to improve my overall game,” noted Stoffregen. He only had a week to practice before the state meet. “I really worked on my short game before state,” Stoffregen said.
At 10:00 on Friday, Oct. 8, Stoffregen started his 18 hole round at the Class 1A State Golf Meet. He was followed by his teammate, Jacob Furlong, his dad, and Coach Greg Fleege and Coach Dave Hahn.
“It was fun watching him play in that atmosphere,” said Furlong as he thought back to the meet, “That also made it more stressful because I knew how much this meant to him.”
The state meet takes place over the course of two days. The 40 lowest scoring players would move on to play the second day. Stoffregen had high hopes for his 18 hole round the first day.
“This felt like any other meet,” recalled Stoffregen, “ It had been a big goal of mine to make it to state this year so I was determined to do my best.”.
After starting his round with three bogeys, he found his groove. Stoffregen finished the day shooting a five over par. This put him in the top 40 scores, which meant he would get to move on to the second round of the state meet the following day.
On Saturday, Stoffregen warmed up for his final 18 hole round.
“The second day was a lot different from the first day because I knew I was playing with the best kids in the state after we made the cut,” Stoffregen explained.
Having a great tee shot off the first hole set the tone for his game the rest of the day. Stoffregen shot par on 15 out of 18 holes.
“The best experience was the fact that I got to play with kids from bigger schools and people I had never played with before,” Stoffregen said. “My goal for next year is to make it back to state and place in the top ten.”