By Buddy "Friday Night" Cobb, Williamson County Bureau
BENTON, Ill. — The road to a River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division boys golf championship still runs through Franklin County, the Southern Illinoisan reported this week — and it does again this fall, with Benton favored to lead the pack.
But Carterville isn't far behind in the conversation. The Lions were named among the division's top teams heading into the season, giving Williamson County a program with a real shot at contending against a Benton squad that has set the standard in recent years.
Golf doesn't draw the crowds football and basketball do in this county, but the competition among River-to-River programs is no less real for it — tee times instead of tipoffs, but the same hometown stakes. For Carterville, the goal this fall is closing the gap on Benton and proving last year wasn't the ceiling.
The season is just getting underway, and how it shakes out will depend on who's sinking putts when it matters — same as it always does.
— Compiled from reporting by the Southern Illinoisan.
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