Edwardsville’s Drew Capron competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Brayden Kerns competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Lucas Abbott competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Michael Shaw competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Bennett Briggs competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Luke Maxim competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Aiden Flavio competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Drew Capron competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Luke Maxim competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Luke Maxim competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Luke Maxim competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Luke Maxim competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Luke Maxim competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Brian Cooper competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Bennett Briggs competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Bennett Briggs competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Bennett Briggs competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Michael Shaw competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville’s Bennett Briggs competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Sam Sink competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Sam Sink competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Jack Stirnaman competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Sam Sink competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Brayden Kerns competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Sam Sink competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Jack Stirnaman competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Jack Stirnaman competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Austin Sanks competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Brayden Kerns competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Austin Sanks competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Austin Sanks competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Father McGivney’s Brayden Kerns competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Preston Menossi competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Sydney Hill competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Sydney Hill competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Sydney Hill competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Wyatt Nganga competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Lucas Abbott competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Lucas Abbott competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Lucas Abbott competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Wyatt Nganga competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Metro-East Lutheran’s Wyatt Nganga competes at the Madison County Tournament on Aug. 20, 2026, at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer
Edwardsville junior Brian Cooper entered as the clubhouse leader Aug. 20 after shooting a 1-under-par 71 at the Madison County Tournament.
Over the next hour, Cooper found himself dropping to fourth on the team after sophomore Drew Capron and juniors Bennett Briggs and Michael Shaw each shot 2-under 70s, leading the Tigers to a county championship and record-setting day at Belk Park Golf Course in Wood River.
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Edwardsville fired a 7-under 281 to break both the school and Madison County Tournament records while winning its 13th championship in the last 15 county tournaments.
“Any one of our kids can shoot 2-under on this course. In fact, they’ve done it a number of times. But you still have to do it on the same day, and today was fun,” EHS coach Adam Tyler said.
The Tigers shot a 2-under 286 at Meadowview Golf Course at the Mattoon Invitational in 2017, two seasons after posting an even-par 288 at the central Illinois course. They had a 3-over 287 at Oak Brook Golf Club at the Dick Gerber Invitational in 2015.
Since the county tournament moved to Belk Park Golf Course in 2016, the team record had been 291, which Edwardsville set in 2023 to break the previous mark of 293 set by Marquette and EHS in the first year of the tournament in Wood River.
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On the 30th anniversary of the first county tournament — Edwardsville finished third behind Collinsville and Triad at Oak Brook Golf Club in 1996 — the Tigers shattered the record with four players finishing under par.
“Today, to have that total team effort was pretty special,” Tyler said. “Every single kid played well.”
Highland finished second at 312, a season after winning the large-school crown. The Bulldogs also won in 2020, accounting for the only two non-Edwardsville victories over the last 15 county tournaments.
Alton was third at 316, followed by Collinsville (317), Triad (321) and Granite City (339).
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Father McGivney won its second straight small-school county championship, carding a 314.
Marquette was second with a 323, followed by Metro-East Lutheran (334), Civic Memorial (351) and Maryville Christian (359).
Edwardsville accounted for four of the five golfers who finished under par in the field of 72. Alton’s Landon Mayer also shot 2-under 70.
Capron earned the overall championship in a scorecard playoff. The sophomore had three birdies on the front nine to help offset two bogeys and played 1-under golf on the back nine.
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“It felt really good,” Capron said. “That was my first time really being in contention.”
It was a career-best round for Capron.
Capron said he didn’t look at his score until near the end of his round. He saw plenty of teammates near the top of the leaderboard.
“I looked at my score maybe the last three holes to see where I was. It made me nervous,” Capron said.
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Briggs, Mayer and Shaw followed Capron in the standings.
Shaw had six birdies, including four on the front nine for a 4-under 32 stretch.
Cooper, who finished fifth, tied Shaw with six birdies. He birdied three straight holes after taking a bogey on No. 10.
Aiden Flavio finished 12th with a 4-over 76, and Luke Maxim shot an 8-over 80 to place 24th. Neither score counted toward Edwardsville’s team total.
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Also playing as individuals for the Tigers were Brett Kirgan (3-over 75) and Carson Warta (4-over 76).
All of Edwardsville’s golfers took advantage of playing on a shorter course after opening the season at Spencer T. Olin Golf Course and Atkins Golf Club. Belk Park is roughly 500 to 700 yards shorter than the other two courses.
“The first two tournaments we played in, we played courses over 6,900 yards. This one was a little bit shorter. We played about 6,400 today,” Tyler said.
Father McGivney’s county championship run was led by Kerns, who shot a 4-over 76 to finish third in the small-school division. Roxana’s Will Stevens IV was the small-school medalist at even-par 72, and his teammate Myles Bertoletti followed with a 3-over 75.
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Along with Kerns, the Griffins counted scores from Jack Stirnaman (77), Sam Sink (80) and Austin Sanks (81).
Stirnaman was fourth in the small-school division, while Sink was ninth and Sanks was 10th.
Kerns was the only returning Griffin whose score counted toward last year’s team total of 319, which won the county championship. He shot a 10-over 82 in that tournament.
“Obviously, we lost two of our better players with Bradley (Goodwin) graduating and Henry (Willenborg) transferring, so I think it’s pretty important to show that we can still compete and win even after losing those guys,” Kerns said.
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“I’m really proud of our freshmen and some of the younger guys for shooting well, so I think it’s pretty good.”
Kerns was one of two seniors in Thursday’s lineup, along with Joey Seefeldt. Sink is a junior, while Stirnaman and Carson Oller are sophomores and Sanks is a freshman.
For Kerns, it was an up-and-down day. He finished with one birdie.
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“For having two topped drives, it was pretty good. I’m pretty happy with how I played, considering the state my swing was in,” Kerns said.
Metro-East Lutheran was led by Lucas Abbott, who shot a 9-over 81. The Knights also counted scores from Preston Menossi (83), Wyatt Nganga (85) and Sydney Hill (85).
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