Monticello golf teams having historic run: 'There's no ceiling'

MONTICELLO — When the Monticello boys’ golf team shows up, everybody knows it. And it’s not because the Sages have become a household name as one of the best teams in the state. That may still be true, but people can’t help but stare when they walk up to the first tee.

It’s their shirts.

This season, the Sages decided to, as they call it, “fly the flamingo,” sporting Hawaiian-style polos with pink flamingos surrounded by bright purples and blues as their competition apparel.

“Coach was like, ‘Let’s try something different this year,’” senior Maddux Quick said. “We were expecting something a little different but still pretty formal. He sent the picture, and it took a lot of persuading, but I like them. Everybody knows who we are.”

Some mixed opinions are out there, even coming from Monticello’s girls’ golf team. Senior Megan Allen didn’t hesitate to say she loves the unique style, but all senior Macy Printy could do was wince as she jokingly said, “They’re definitely a choice.”

No matter what anybody thinks about the shirts, the Sages have flown the flamingo well, and that mojo has made its way throughout the entire Monticello golf program to where everyone is playing their best golf at the end of the season. Perfect timing with the postseason starting this week.

Last Wednesday, the Sages made history. A lot of it. The boys won their second Illini Prairie Conference title in three years with a team-record 18-hole score of 296, beating the previous record set earlier this season by seven strokes.

“This is the best team we’ve ever had, without a doubt,” said Quick, the IPC individual champion with a 3-under-par round of 69, two shots ahead of runner-up teammate Andrew Neef. “I truly feel like there’s no ceiling. To shoot 296 at conference last week is something I didn’t think we could do. I truly feel like we can beat anybody we play.”

While all that excitement was going on, the girls were doing something even more impressive. The IPC held its inaugural girls’ team championship, and the Sages came out on top with a collective score of 357, also breaking the program’s 18-hole record by two strokes. On top of that, all six golfers — Printy, Allen, Claire Foster, Rachel Ross, Isabella Beery and Cate Sanders — finished in the top 10 to earn all-IPC honors.

“It was surreal,” Allen said. “I know I PR’d that day, and I think several others did, too. You’re playing well, so you feel good about yourself, but then you get back in, and you’re like, ‘Oh my God, we all just did this.’ It was crazy.”

It was certainly a day Monticello coach Andrew Turner won’t forget.

“The best,” Turner said of where he’d rank this year’s group. “This is the best boys’ and girls’ team, and they just happen to be in the same year. I can’t even explain how special it is to have both of them have this kind of success. Now, they’re having a little fun competition with it.”

Turner is embracing every moment with both of his teams, two groups of talented golfers with vastly different origin stories. The next level of success the boys have seen this season has been in the making for the last four years. They certainly didn’t start out looking like the record-breaking, state championship-aspiring team they are today.

Quick got into golf before most of his teammates, his dedication pointing him toward eventually becoming a solid golfer. He convinced Neef to give it a try in eighth grade, and Neef proceeded to shoot in the low 100s. Today, while Quick still wins most of the time, Neef is never more than a couple strokes behind, even winning on occasion.

“It’s been a good step forward in my golf career,” Neef said. “It’s been kind of nice to hang with (Quick). The first couple years, I was pretty far behind, so finally being up there with him is special. … Our top-four guys are a close-knit group of seniors who have been here since freshman year. We knew this would be our big year, and it’s just good to see it all come together.

Senior teammates Kross Reynolds, Cordell Chupp, Connor Kuntz have all taken that same step. They also started out shooting in the triple digits but are now consistently contributing solid rounds to the team score.

“Since we were eighth-graders, we’ve been playing out here all the time,” Quick said, sitting on the back patio at Monticello Golf Club. “You have that vision like, ‘What’s this going to be like when we’re all seniors?’ To see all those thoughts and dreams pan out and the ease and the flow and appreciation for it has been great.”

Printy and Allen have led the girls’ team all season, but Turner admitted he wasn’t sure what exactly it would look like past those two. He knew seniors Brenna Bartlow, Danielle Dasher and Addison Finet had some talent, along with sophomore Claire Foster, but he didn’t think the depth was there.

Juniors Isabella Beery, a standout on the softball team, and Rachel Ross, the younger sister of 2022 Monticello graduate and three-time News-Gazette All-Area First-Teamer Will Ross, came to Turner last year and told him they wanted to join the team. Turner was happy to have them, not expecting much, and he was pleasantly surprised when they both made the Sages’ regular lineup. Plus, Sanders turned out to be a strong member right away as a freshman.

All of a sudden, while the girls didn’t have anyone who was going to shoot low enough to win every tournament, they could compete with anybody as a team with consistent scores across the board.

“When I joined as a freshman, I never thought I’d be on a team like this,” Allen said. “We were struggling with numbers to even pull a team together. Now, we have 17 girls, and we’re going strong. We have a real program now, and we’re having a lot of success.”

Now, all that’s left is to see just how successful Monticello’s season will be.

The girls’ team hosted a Class 1A regional on Tuesday at the University of Illinois with the Sages winning a Class 1A team title with a score of 363. The boys’ team is set to compete in the Class 2A Danville Regional on Wednesday at Turtle Run Golf Club.

“I’ve been doing this a long time,” Turner said, in his 16th year with the program. “I’m probably in my last four to five years, and I’m embracing every moment of it. There are seasons sometimes where I want it to get over, and I don’t want this one to end.”