MONTICELLO — Maddux Quick didn’t play well at the Tiger Kick-Off Classic in mid-August.

At least, that’s what he said.

It was the first big tournament of the season, featuring 15 teams at the University of Illinois Orange Course, and Monticello’s senior leader admitted he had a few early-season jitters. Still, Quick shot a 78 to pace the Sages and finish in the top 10 individually.

By his standards, however, that was an off day. After a successful summer, Quick set out to shoot par or better every round for Monticello this fall.

“I’ve always been taught to set super high goals because you want to really appreciate it when you meet them,” Quick said. “You don’t want to set goals you think you can get every time. Aim high, miss high has always been my mindset.”

He brushed it off with an “It wasn’t my day” and proceeded to card round after round within a couple strokes of even par.

The same situation came up two weeks ago. The Sages placed third as a team in the Class 2A Danville Regional at Turtle Run Golf Course to clinch a spot in the sectional, but Quick had his worst round of the year with an 81. It still would have been good enough to advance as an individual if the team also didn’t perform, but it wasn’t what he was looking for.

So, Quick followed it up with a 1-under-par 71 to earn 2A Centennial Sectional runner-up honors on Oct. 7 and enter this weekend’s state tournament with more momentum than anyone in the area.

“There aren’t too many kids who have his kind of demeanor,” Monticello coach Andrew Turner said. “He has that ability more than any other player I’ve had to brush off a bad round or a bad hole. He’s able to move forward. He just has that complete belief in himself, and he brushes off the setbacks really quickly, which is really important in golf.”

Quick leads a group of 10 area golfers who will be competing for a state title this weekend. Alongside him in 2A at Weibring Golf Club in Normal will be teammate Andrew Neef, Mahomet-Seymour’s Reis Claybrooke and Prairie Central’s Easton Friedman. Area boys in the 1A tournament that takes place at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington include LeRoy’s Brycen Umstattd and Fisher’s Ethan McFarling. For the girls, all playing in the 1A state tournament at Red Tail Run Golf Course in Decatur, St. Thomas More’s Ashley Wells, Monticello’s Macy Printy, Sullivan’s Shae Ellis and Hoopeston Area’s Taylor Page will represent the area.

Four of those names have state experience, having played on that stage last year. Claybrooke finished 16th in 2A after being one stroke behind the leader after day one. Quick wasn’t far behind in 37th. Ellis took 36th in the 1A girls’ competition, followed by Wells in 61st.

For Quick, the bounceback storyline is there. He started the regular season with an off tournament and finished it with a pair of Illini Prairie Conference championships, one individual title with a round of 69 and one team title with the Sages carding a program-record 18-hole score of 296. He started the postseason with an off round and has already proven he can come back with something far better.

“For me to shoot under par, I’m going to have to have a great round,” Quick said, “but the more and more I do it, the easier it feels.”

Quick compiled back-to-back rounds of 80 at state last fall. Weibring is a tough course, but if he shoots anything like what he has all season, he’ll be in contention for his biggest championship yet when he tees off at 11:03 a.m. Friday.

“He has a chance to be an All-Stater,” Monticello coach Andrew Turner said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Maddux has the ability to go over there and shoot 69 or 70. He’ll work hard, and my expectation is he’ll go out and finish the best of his career.”