Hersey's Morrow, St. Viator trio thrive
St. Viator coach Jack Halpin has said all along that his boys golf team boasts three No. 1 players.
Monday at the Biltmore Invitational, Brad Klune, Danny Stringfellow and Matt Vitale lived up to that billing.
Sophomores Klune and Stringfellow and junior Vitale each carded 76 to lead St. Viator (310) to a tournament victory in North Barrington.
Hersey (321) took runner-up honors as junior Jimmy Morrow shot his way to the top of the leaderboard, earning tourney medalist honors by shooting a sparkling 75.
Morrow, whose brother Bobby was a Hersey grad and varsity golf competitor for coach Dan Caporusso, won despite never having played Biltmore.
"I basically came in blind," said Morrow, "but it all worked out."
Morrow split his time last year as a sophomore between varsity and the MSL champion frosh-soph team.
"I was confident in my putting today," said Morrow, "and I hit a lot of fairways."
Crystal Lake Central, led by Griffin Bauman's 80, finished third with a score of 327. Prairie Ridge totaled 330, while Ross Frankenberg (79) was best for host Barrington (331).
St. Viator, second in the state last season, looks poised for another big year despite losing key players Taylor Krug and Phil Makowski to graduation.
Johnny Stringfellow, one of the few seniors on the Lions roster, came up big by shooting an 82 to complete Viator's scoring.
"He was playing No. 8 for us," Halpin said of the elder Stringfellow brother, "but he's been playing well and shot a 36 the other day (in 9-hole competition). I decided to give him a shot here and he really came through. That 82 made a difference."
Jacob Hurwitz of Prairie Ridge and Ben Glatz of Lake Zurich each shot 78, while Michael Sainz of Larkin and Hoffman Estates' Brett Meihls each finished the day with 79s.
For Meihls, a sophomore, it was only his second varsity competition.
"This (Biltmore) was definitely the longest course I've every played," said Meihls, who credited his putting for the stellar round that earned him a medal.
Dan Parks shot 81 for Hersey as did Ryan Smith finished for Larkin and Matt Calder for Crystal Lake Central.