St. Viator's Vitale aims for victorious finish

The time, as Matt Vitale says, has flown by.

It's difficult for the St. Viator senior golfer to believe that only three short years ago he was just beginning his high school journey.

But what a three years it's been, both in the classroom and on the golf course.

Vitale, who scored a 31 on his ACT exam, boasts a cumulative 96 percent GPA (equivalent to greater than a 4.0).

And on the links the senior, who "made quite an impact even as a freshman" according to St. Viator golf coach Jack Halpin, has been an integral part of the Lions' recent success.

Viator captured the class 3A state championship last year, in Vitale's junior season, after finishing second in state in 2006.

"Previously I had brought some players up to the varsity as freshman, but for a number of reasons it never worked out," said Halpin, reflecting on Vitale's first season as a Lion.

"But Matt made the varsity in his first year. He's a laid-back, quiet kind of type who just put his head down and did his job."

"He was by far the best freshman that we ever had at St. Viator."

In that 2005 season, St. Viator fell short of their goal of qualifying for the state tournament but Halpin knew better things were to come.

"Our team had a meltdown in sectionals that year, and I told them that we had to learn from that defeat and be stronger next year. Then in 2006 we went on to finish second in state and won it all last year - and none of that would have happened without Matt."

"Last year," added Vitale, "all year long our goal was to make the state tournament - then when we got there, to go for the win."

"Our coach told us to take it one step at a time."

Vitale, an Elk Grove resident and graduate of Queen of the Rosary grade school, took up the game at age 6, inspired by his father Jim.

"My dad got me into the game," said Vitale, "and he's partially my golf coach."

Vitale also counts teammate Brad Klune as being one of his biggest influences.

"When we were younger," said Vitale, "Brad and I went to the same country club - Itasca Country Club. We played against each other a lot and we both were very competitive."

That fierce competition paid off in a big way for Viator last season and Vitale, Klune, Danny Stringfellow, Joey Carlson, Mike Ferrari and Matt Crandall.

Strong showings from all six St. Viator golfers at "The Den" at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington propelled the Lions to a 5 stroke state championship victory over highly regarded Quincy.

"When we finished second in state (in 2006)," said Vitale, "we kind of got our name out there. Then we won last year, and it just showed how deep our team was - our fifth guy (Ferrari) shot a 72, and our 6th guy (Crandall) a 76."

Now Ferrari and Crandall have graduated, and Vitale, Klune, Stringfellow and Carlson have all been named captains by Halpin.

And even though Vitale is a senior and Klune, Stringfellow and Carlson are all juniors, he doesn't feel any added pressure.

"I don't feel that I have to do anything special," said Vitale, "because in reality, all of my teammates have so much tournament experience."

"If there is something I can do, possibly it will be being a positive influence on the young kids who may come up (to varsity) in the middle or near the end of the season."

Speaking of tournaments, Viator has excelled at winning them. The Lions won ten tourneys last year, and have already started 2008 with a win at the Rolling Green Invite.

And Vitale, who estimates that he played "about 25 tournament rounds" this summer, scored a impressive match-play win at the IJGA Chick Evans Memorial Tournament over Hinsdale Central golfer Brett Tomforde, who tied for sixth in state as an individual in 2007.

Tomforde was seeded No. 1 at Chick Evans but Vitale won 4-and-3 and wound up reaching the Elite 8 at the meet.

"It was cool," said Vitale, "especially since he (Tomforde) went 69-66 (in the first two rounds of the tourney, which were competed at medal play)."

So what's in store for Vitale and his young gun teammates this season - will we see a Viator repeat at the state tourney?

Vitale, who plans to enroll at either Butler or Drake universities next fall to play division 1 golf and seek a degree in pharmacy, definitely thinks it can be done.

"We've got to play our game," said the senior, "and not worry about the competition."

And what does Vitale see, looking back, as the major difference between this year and his frosh season as an impact rookie?

"It's a comfort level," said Vitale. "As a freshman, I was playing to prove myself. Now I'm more relaxed."

"When I first started on varsity, I was a little nervous for the first couple of rounds. Then my coach took me aside and told me "you're ready - you're good enough to play at this level.' "