Fine outing for Wheeling’s Ferguson
Jack Ferguson put together the finest round of his prep career Monday at the prestigious Ivanhoe Classic.
The Wheeling junior, who excelled as a freshman by finishing 26th at state but struggled a bit last year, showed just how good he can be by firing an even-par 72 to take medalist honors at Ivanhoe Country Club.
The score was even more impressive considering the breezy conditions Monday, with winds gusting up to 20 mph.
Barrington took the team crown, its fourth tournament victory of the season, with a score of 303 — led by another stellar round by Greg Conrad, who carded a 73.
“Jack was phoenomenal today,” said Wheeling coach Mark Menich of his talented junior, whose round included 4 birdies and a 3-under 33 on the front nine. “He’s become very consistent and as you can see he’s coming into his own.”
Ferguson himself was suprised at his “sophomore slump” in 2010, but vowed to himself that he’d return to form.
“I decided over the summer that I was going to take it one shot, one chip, one putt at a time this year,” said Ferguson. “I wanted to slow myself down and focus on each shot.”
“He had his moments last year when he did shoot very low,” added Menich, “but he just wasn’t playing as consistenly as he is now. He’s much more confident, and the fact that he played against a lot these kids (at Ivanhoe) in junior tournaments over the summer added to his confidence.”
Barrington won the team title going away, besting second-place Mundelein by 13 strokes.
“We’re just a solid team from one through six,” said Broncos senior JP Talbot, who contributed to the win with a 76. “If one guy has a bad day, the other guys are there to pick him up.”
“Personally, my goal was to come in and hit every green (in regulation) and 2 putt, and do whatever I could to help the team win.”
Carmel’s Tommy Schofield shot a 73 to tie Conrad for 2nd, while Eric Swanson of Vernon Hills (75), Reed Aren from Stevenson (76) and the Patriots’ Jake Speilman (76) all took home medals.
Alex Quenan of Libertvyille fired a 79, while Carmel’s Mike Wilkinson (79), Josh Rosenzweig of Fremd (79), Chris Edwards of Vernon Hills (79) all excelled on the Ivanhoe links.
The other medalists were Grant Heeland of Mundelein (78), Nick Geissler of Stevenson (78) and Barrington teammates Taylor Ganzer (77) and Nick Schippel (77).
For Schippel, a junior, it was his personal best prep round.
“We’ve got a great lineup this year,” said Schippel. “We’ve got a lot of depth — our top four are extremely solid players and our 5 and 6 are solid as well.”