Boys golf: Lim's steady efforts help Barrington stay sharp

Barrington golfer Timothy Lim says that much of his stellar career on the links is a tribute to his late grandfather, Paul Lim, who encouraged him to take up the game at a young age and mentored him thereafter.

Surely if he could see him now, the elder Mr. Lim would certainly be proud of the strides that his grandson has made both on and off the course, and what an impressive young man he has become.

Lim, a senior, has been one of the state's top competitors for the past three years, as evidenced by his seventh-place individual finish at last season's state meet in Bloomington.

He has also led his Broncos team to the state finals each of the last two seasons, as Barrington grabbed hardware in 2014 with a third-place finish, just 25 shots out of the top spot and only 4 strokes from second place. Barrington also excelled in 2015 by finishing fifth.

"I wouldn't be where I am today without him, along with my parents," said Lim. "My grandfather worked long hours in a cleaning shop near Wrigley Field in Chicago, and after he got off work he would take the time to come over an pick me up (to go golfing and spend quality time). He passed away when I was 8 so unfortunately he wasn't able to see me in competition, but a lot of who I am today is due to his influence."

Lim says he got his first set of golf clubs (the plastic variety) at the tender age of 2 and spent lots of time "hitting plastic golf balls around my room."

He graduated to real clubs just a couple of years later, then played his first competitive match when he was 9. It was onward and upward from that point on as the Hoffman Estates resident joined the perennially successful Barrington golf team and quickly made his presence felt.

"Tim is a person of great character," says Broncos coach Mike Kallenbach. "He's a great golfer as well. He has been a major contributor for our program, and is extremely passionate about becoming the best he can be. He realizes that hard work leads to success."

When Lim was a sophomore Barrington finished third in state, then as a junior Lim led his team to a fifth-place finish as he fired a 78-76-154 in extremely cold, windy conditions to take the seventh place overall medal.

"The first day was a struggle," said the senior of last year's quality performance, one that included four birdies on the final day. "My shots were drawing a little, they were not on line. After the first day I went out and took some extra practice, then hung out with my teammates in the evening and just chilled.

"The next day, I just found something. It was only 2 strokes better than my first round, but in those adverse conditions, with the greens so difficult, I thought it was a good score. Basically I just hung in there."

Now Lim hopes the 2016 season will bring another trip to the notorious "Den" course in Bloomington for a third straight state tournament appearance.

"I would say making state is the biggest accomplishment of my high school career," said Lim, "and being part of a great Barrington team made it so much better. There's so much competition on our team year after year and there are so many good golfers that it makes us all better.

"We have the potential to do it again (advance to state) this year," added Lim. "We have a lot of seniors on the team and we've already played solid in our first tourney of the year (the Barrington Invitational) against top competition. It was a good test and it was something to build on."

Lim has already committed to attend and golf for Drake University next year.

"I liked the size of the school," said the senior, "everything there is close together and the atmosphere seems to be something I'm used to. I like the team (at Drake) and had a great connection with the coach. It's a good fit."

Lim will be on a business track at the University, calling himself a "math and numbers guy," and although looking forward to the college commitment, he realizes it will be a different scenario from what has gone on in his life so far.

"It's kind of bittersweet," said Lim. "It's kind of hitting me that this will be my last year to be a kid, so to speak. Next year I'll be out on my own and in the real world."

It will be a challenge for sure, as it is for all students heading for their first year of college, but coach Kallenbach is sure that there is much more success to come for the talented team leader.

"Tim is willing to do whatever is needed to be the best," said Kallenbach. "All of the attributes that he possesses are contagious to his teammates as well."

"Although he is soft-spoken, he is well respected by his team as well as his competitors. It's no surprise that Tim has made Mid-Suburban League all-conference each of this first three years and all-state last year. We are lucky to have him on our side."