Feder's fine finish helps Stevenson win at Rolling Green
Luke Feder of Stevenson was one of the last golfers to finish at Monday's Rolling Green Invitational in Arlington Heights.
The junior arrived at the scorer's table just as darkness was about to fall, but once his teammates saw his score, they didn't mind the tardiness a bit.
Feder tied his best ever prep mark with a 1-under 71, matching teammate Jerry Pan and helping propel the Patriots to the tournament victory.
Stevenson's final tally of 292 was 10 strokes better than its nearest competitor.
“No jitters this year,” said Feder after a vast improvement over a nervous invite in 2012, when he shot 85 as a sophomore. “They were gone.
“I'm a year older, and I'm hitting the ball farther. It's all kicking in.”
Low scores ruled the day on a spectacular afternoon at Rolling Green and Hersey senior Kenny Mleko, who shot 71 (good for the 4th place medal) was among a number of participants who said the course was in “fantastic shape.”
Mleko recorded only 28 putts on the day as he excelled in the beginning to a season where he said his main goal is to “qualify for the state tournament for the first time.”
“If I keep putting like I did today,” said the senior, “I've got a great shot at making it (downstate). It's impossible to post a high score when you're putting this well.”
Jamie Drost of Fremd was another local player to enjoy a teriffic day at the traditional high school season opener. The senior carded a 70 to grab the third-place medal as he tied Robert Renner of Saint Viator (runner up medal on a tiebreaker) for the meet's second-best score.
“I love this course — it's in great condition”, said Drost, who also excelled on the greens Monday.
Drost posted the 2-under par despite bogeying 2 of his final 4 holes.
“The greens were soft,” said the senior, “but they were fast.”
Glenbrook North's Nick Hardy (33-34-67) was the individual medalist, while the Spartans and Loyola (302) tied for team runner-up status.
Feder won the sixth-place medal. Pan took home seventh, while teammate Kamaran Sandhu (74) finished eighth.
“It was a great day today,” said Pan, “and I was just out there enjoying myself. Playing as well as I did was just a bonus.”
The Pats' Jason Godhe rounded out the invite's winning tea, score with a 76.
Josh Johnson of Prospect (75, ninth) and Viator's Liam Warner (75, 10th) closed out the medal-winning list, while Connor O'Grady of the Lions shot 82 to help lead his team to a fourth-place finish at 311.
Reid Dahlstrom (76) and Grant Gavin (78) boosted Prospect post a 312 score; Dylan Norys carded 79 as Fremd fired 313; while an 81 from Will Fine contributed to host Hersey's 323.
Josh Rosenzweig, Matt Doherty and Connor Ostoich of Fremd finished at 82, as did Sean Behrens of Rolling Meadows.
Senior teammates Matt Froemming and Brandon Matchen of Buffalo Grove led the up and coming Bison with 82, and Matchen says this was a sign of good things to come for BG.
“We've got a lot of potential on this team,” said Matchen. “When all is said and done I think we'll be right up there in the Mid-Suburban League standings.”
“We've got a lot of experience with myself, Brandon and (fellow senior) Matt Eilrich,” added Froemming. “We're just looking for that fourth score, and we've got some guys coming up who can make it happen.”