Golden moments for Stevenson, St. Viator and Wheeling’s Ferguson
Stevenson golfer Tyler Golden lived up to his name Tuesday at the Class 3A St. Viator boys golf regional.
The senior fired a 79, and teammate Reed Aren carded a 75 at Old Orchard Country Club in Mount Prospect to help the Patriots (320) win the regional and advance to Monday’s sectional meet at Makray Memorial in Barrington.
The host Lions (323) and Highland Park (325) were the other sectional team qualifiers.
Meanwhile, Jack Ferguson’s magical season continued.
The Wheeling senior fired a 73 to win medalist honors and move on as an individual.
Golden, who hasn’t played in many matches this season, just found out Monday that he’d be in the lineup at Old Orchard due to an illness to one of his teammates.
The senior, playing in the No. 6 position, came up big.
“This was a difficult course,” said Golden. “The pins were tight.”
“I don’t hit the ball that long,” said the senior, explaining why he was inserted into the lineup at the 5,731-yard, par-70 course. “I hit it short and straight, so this course was tailored perfectly for me.”
It was a very good day for sixth men, as St. Viator senior Charles Derrick shot 83 from his end-of-the-lineup position to give a big boost to the hosts.
Robert Renner (77), Liam Warner (81) and Luke DeTrempe (82) also counted scores for the Lions on a layout where the pin positions were, to put it charitably, difficult.
Most of the golfers singled out No. 16 as the most difficult hole on the course Tuesday.
“I basically attacked that hole by hitting it out of bounds,” joked Derrick, who along with his Lions teammates celebrated sectional qualification.
“This is unbelievable,” added the senior. “I didn’t realize how high the (qualifying) scores were until I finished up.”
Hersey golfer David Milligan also moved on to Makray as an individual by firing an 83, and the senior didn’t hold back when talking about the pin placements.
“It was brutal,” said Milligan, echoing the sentiments of many of the coaches and competitors. “They put most of the pins on slopes, and they short-sided us as much as possible.”
It turned out to be a good day for the Huskies, who despite falling short as a team saw two more players, Grant Manno (84) and Nick Starkman (84), qualify for the Barrington-hosted sectional.
“I was having a bad round up until the 12th hole,” said Starkman. “At that point I told myself I just had to go out there and make it happen, and I was able to par the final seven holes (to move on).”
“Cap (Hersey coach Dan Caporusso) always tells us not to go out there and try to make the ‘hero’ shots, because if you try to do that, you’ll fail,” added Milligan. “He wants us to stay within ourselves and I think we did that today.”
Mid-Suburban League champion Prospect (328) had a disappointing fourth-place team finish, but the Knights still saw Ryan Maloney (76) Jeff Blethen (82) and Josh Johnson (84) advance as individuals.
Jerry Pan (83) and Jack Spellman (83) assisted in the Stevenson win, while Aren’s 5-over 75 was the second-best score of the day.
“I basically played flawless the on the front nine,” said Aren, a senior. “I struggled on the back nine but I was still able to hold it together.”