Gohde gets it going in Lake County Invitational
Dealing with the hot and humid conditions could’ve been a problem on Monday afternoon for the boys golfers competing in the Lake County Invitational.
But Jason Gohde of Stevenson took care of it in his own cool way, capturing medalist honors. He fired a 1-over 72 on the 6,769-yard course at Sheperd’s Crook in Zion.
Highland Park won the team competition (307) ahead of Stevenson (309) and Mundelein (314) in a field of 15 teams.
Gohde started the day by heating up on the 245-yard, par 3 fourth hole in a shotgun start. He stuck his first shot within 5 feet of the cup with a 3-wood, then followed it up for a birdie.
“It was a long par three,” said Gohde, a junior. “I’ve lipped out before but never had a hole-in-one. It was a right-to-left wind. I was thinking for it to stay, and it rolled past the pin about 5 feet.”
He added later a 45-foot birdie putt on the 350-yard first hole and had three other bogeys.
“This was our second event and I was really controlling the ball in the wind,” Gohde said. “I was able to hit my irons very well. I was able to find a couple of birdies. This was a long course for me, and I really don’t hit the ball that far. Just stuck with it and played pretty well.”
Patrick Flavin of Highland Park and Drew Barrett of Lake Forest both shot 73s and finished a shot back.
Two shots behind were the lead were Ryan McGee of Mundelein and Ian Kelsey of Deerfield.
“I thought I did pretty good,” said McGee, a freshman and three-sport athlete also competing in swimming and baseball this year. “I’ve been playing pretty good lately and I’ve improved a lot over the summer. I just had a pretty good day, and it was a good start to the season.
Leading Stevenson’s effort were Gohde (72), Kamaren Sandhu (78), Lake Feder (79) and Chris Krebs (80).
“It was tough playing out there,” Stevenson coach John Rueth said. “Jason (Gohde) played outstanding under these conditions. A lot of the teams struggled. It wasn”t easy out there.
“One thing I like about this team they fight for everything. This was a great golf course and great competition. These teams make our sectional one of the toughest sectionals in the state by far. It’s great for the golfers, because they learn about themselves — and we as the coaches learn a lot, too.”
Mundelein finished ahead of Lake Forest (316) by 2 shots and Deerfield (319) by 5.
Mustangs golfers included Magee (74), John Lentz (77), Derek Parola (81) and Brett Parola (82).
“Our young guys are playing pretty good,” Mundelein coach Todd Parola said. “It’s all encouraging to see with three freshmen.”