Barrington’s Conrad shares medalist honors at Inverness

Barrington golfer Greg Conrad has picked up this season where he left off last year — and the year before.

That’s a very good thing for the Broncos.

The senior’s unprecented run of success continues unabated in 2012, as Conrad shot a sparkling 72 at Inverness Golf Club to share medalist honors at the Fremd Invitational despite some difficult conditions Monday.

“The greens were tough out here today,” said Conrad, who has been a standout for the Broncos for some time now. “They were aerated, and it was tough to make a putt. But I felt good about putting myself in a position to do well today. I was consistenly hitting the fairways and the greens.”

Conrad had a lot of help from his teammates in leading his squad to a third-place overall team finish, especially from classmate Nick Schippel.

Schippel fired a 73 to tie for third individually.

“I was able to get up and down all day today, and I was putting well too,” said the senior of his tourney success.

The stellar round included holing out a pitching wedge from 110 yards on number 6 for an eagle.

“It just took one hop and went in,” said Schippel.

The performances from some Mid-Suburban League teams and St. Viator at Monday’s invite proved what’s becoming very obvious — that it’s a very strong year for local prep golf.

Lions freshman Liam Warner carded a 74 to take home a medal, while sophomore teammate Nick Carlson also grabbed some hardware by firing a 76.

“When your top two finishers are a freshman and a sophomore,” said Viator coach Jack Halpin, “you know you’ve got some great hope for the future.”

The Lions’ Robert Renner (78) and Luke DeTrempe (79) also counted scores to lead Viator to second place with a 307, just behind team trophy winner Glenbrook North (300). Following Barrington (309) were Prospect (314), New Trier (317) and Fremd Gold (320).

Glenbrook North’s Nick Hardy also shot 72 to tie Conrad for medalist.

Will Baumgartner of Palatine and Hersey’s Grant Manno excelled with scores of 77, while other top local performers at the invitational were Jamie Drost and Gibsyn Martin of Fremd Gold with 78s; Jeff Blethen and Joey Corrado of Prospect, who carded 79s; and Dylan Norys of Fremd Green, who shot 80.

Tying for fifth place individually at the difficult Inverness course, which tested the golfer’s mettle, were Josh Johnson of Prospect and Wheeling’s Jack Ferguson, both of whom carded 74.

Ferguson, an exceptional four-year varsity player for the Wildcats, said he — in addition to some of the other seniors — is experiencing a case of “senioritis,” a rather melancholy affliction that comes over 12th-graders when it begins to sink in that they’re enjoying their final year of prep competition.

“It’s different,” said Ferguson. “You’ve got a lot of young kids out here, trying to beat you — but that’s a good thing. You do all you can do to help them and it kind of reminds you of what you once were.”

Barrington’s Schippel agreed.

“It’s kind of sad, knowing I’m playing this tournament for the last time,” he said. “But it’s been a lot of fun.”