By RYAN ARENA

L’Observateur

This week, St. Charles improved its performance from its last venture to Carter Plantation a year ago. But the Comets also got a glimpse of how challenging its upcoming golf regional will be during Monday’s 18-hole match between seven teams.

SCC finished fifth, shooting 363, trailing match winner St. Thomas Aquinas (316), Newman (319), Northlake Christian (325) and Pine (359). The Comets bested Hannan and Loranger.

“It was more or less a preview of the regional,” said St. Charles coach Gary Zeringue. “We improved our performance, but the competition improved dramatically. We finished ahead couple of teams, but they aren’t 2A so I wasn’t as concerned with that.”

STA, Newman, Northlake Christian and St. Charles all advanced from the regional to move onto state a year ago, and all look like strong contenders to do so again.

But nothing will come easy.

“I think this will be one of the toughest regionals in the state, regardless of classification,” he said.

Zeringue said that he ideally wants to get in as many 18-hole matches as he can before the stretch run to mentally prepare his team.

“It’s a big adjustment,” said Zeringue. “It requires a whole different type of mental toughness. We’ll play another at LaTour on April 12 against E.D. White, a little bit before our regional.

“Just going on the road is an adjustment in itself. Those teams we played have played Carter more than we have. It forces our players to come out of their comfort zone and play, as opposed to playing at Riverlands or Belle Terre.”

Matt Autin led the Comets with a score of 86. Lance Perrilloux shot 87. Jesse Coleman scored 92 and Ryan St. Pierre chipped in a 98.

St. Charles traveled to Carter after a pair of matches the previous week. The Comets were first edged by E.D. White at Riverlands, 167-169.

“When we play E.,D. White, they usually come out on top, but it’s always close,” said Zeringue. “You can usually count on it ending within 10 strokes and it played out that way again.”

But for St. Charles, the highlight was the performance of Lance Perrilloux, who shot 37, only a week after his teammate, Autin, had done the same.

“He’s improved tremendously from his freshman year,” said Zeringue of his junior. “He’s extremely dedicated. Lance plays as many tournaments as he can play in and stays on top of it year-round. The more courses and conditions you play in, the more you learn about what clubs to use and how to play situations, and he understands that.

“I’m hoping he continues on and has a breakthrough season, to consistently break 40 in nine holes and 80 in 18. He’s improved so much each year and he’s just a junior. If he keeps improving, I hope to see him go on and play at the next level. He has that potential.”

Autin shot 43 and Coleman shot 44 in the match.

The Comets went on the road for the first time this season to Ellendale to face Vandebilt Catholic. The Terriers bested the Comets 167-189.

Autin shot 41 and Perrilloux shot 42.

NOTE: In the March 19 edition of L’Observateur, the story “Autin’s 37 leads SCC to victory” was cut short by mistake. We apologize for the error. The missing paragraphs noted that Lance Perrilloux shot 42, Matt Autin and Ryan St. Pierre shot 44, and Zach Vitrano shot 56 in SCC’s 186-223 win over John Curtis at Riverlands on March 15.