Jacobs, Larkin’s Lenz take top honors

Larkin sophomore Jon Lenz put a new putter in his golf bag over the weekend.

After Tuesday’s round at the Elgin Country Club Invitational, the long putter might be staying a while.

Lenz shot a 1-under 71 to win the individual title and helped the Royals to a second-place team finish.

“The chest putter worked well,” Lenz said. “It’s anchored to the body so it’s a lot easier to hit putts on line and hit them with better speed.”

Lenz, who started on the third hole, birdied No. 8 and No. 1. He also eagled the 264-yard, par-4 11th. Lenz said his drive rolled to within 4 feet of the hole and hit the eagle putt. It was Lenz’s first tournament victory.

Larkin also recorded an 80 from Dan Lenz, an 83 from Jack McCracken and a 90 from Dylan Ganow for a team total of 324.

Jacobs was three shots better, shooting a 321, to win the 14-team invitational. Bartlett (326) finished third, Geneva (327) was fourth and South Elgin (336) took fifth.

“The course was tough,” Golden Eagles coach Jeremy Bauer said. “We’re happy with the way we finished, but we still haven’t played our best golf.”

Jacobs junior Chris Boyle shot a 1-over 73 to take second individually. Boyle had four birdies, including two in his final three holes, but also had three bogeys and a double bogey.

“I kept grinding the whole round,” Boyle said. “It was a great round for, I’d consider, a C or low B game today.”

Jack Ramsett shot a 79 for the Golden Eagles to take fifth. Sean Kozak (83) and Aaron Traub (86) also scored for Jacobs.

Bartlett senior Ryan Wolfe shot a 75, which was good for third place, to lead the Hawks. Cal Fanslow (82), Chris Dungey (83) and Mike Coyne (86) also had their scores count for Bartlett. Wolfe started on the 10th hole and birdied three consecutive holes (12 through 14). He said he struggled to hit greens in regulation the rest of the round.

“I gave them all back right away,” Wolfe said of the birdies. “I had a lot of putts that could have gone in, but didn’t.”

Aurora Central Catholic junior Sean Harreld holed a 125-yard shot with a pitching wedge for eagle on the par-4 15th to start his round. He also birdied the next hole to be 3 under through two holes. He was unable to continue that kind of good play, but still shot a 4-over 76 to finish fourth.

“My first eagle. It was a really good way to start,” Harreld said. “This was definitely one of my best (rounds). I was striking the ball really good.”