Carlson, St. Viator keep cool
Joe Carlson never lost his cool.
Neither did his St. Viator teammates.
The Lions shook off an early challenge from Hinsdale Central to win their second straight Class 3A boys golf state title, and Carlson survived an epic battle with Parker Freiburg of Quincy and Barrington senior Ross Frankenberg to win the individual tournament medal.
Hinsdale Central overcame a 5-stroke deficit on Day 1 to take a lead on Viator midway through the front nine Saturday, but the Lions answered with a vengeance to record a course record two-day score of 583 at the Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington.
The margin of victory was an amazing 15 strokes ahead of the second-place Red Devils, while Carlson's tourney score of 137 (7 under par) was also a record.
The junior bested Freiburg by just 1 shot, and Frankenberg finished 2 shots back as the individual race wasn't decided until the final 2 holes.
"He showed a maturity beyond his years," St. Viator coach Jack Halpin said of Carlson, who followed up Friday's round of 69 with a 68 Saturday at the par-72, 6,926-yard layout. "He stayed calm the entire tournament."
"I was calm," said Carlson, "except my heart was pounding (down the stretch.)"
St. Viator's Danny Stringfellow shot 73 Saturday (143 overall) to finish tied for fifth in the individual race.
The junior rallied after stumbling with a quadruple-bogey at the Den's infamous par 4 sixth hole by playing bogey-free the rest of the way and recording 4 birdies.
"That's an extremely tough hole," said Fremd junior Sean Jones, who shook off a troublesome first day to fire a 71 Saturday and tie for eighth place for the second straight year. "The tee shot is extremely difficult. It's a dogleg right up a hill, there's water on the right and the wind tends to blow to the right. Then you've got to carry it 250 yards to get over a bunker."
Jones fired 3 straight birdies on the back nine to help him best last year's score by 5 strokes.
"I didn't realize the scores were going to be so low this year," said Jones. "My mindset was to just stay in contention on Day 1, and that's how I got myself into trouble. The competition this year was a lot better than last year."
Both Carlson and Frankenberg trailed Freiburg by 5 strokes with only seven holes to play.
"He (Freiburg) was playing solid all day," said Frankenberg. "He didn't give Joey or myself a chance to do much damage."
"Those three guys were playing so well," said Barrington coach Mike Kallenbach, "that watching their group was like watching a pro tour event."
But the Quincy senior faltered with a bogey and double-bogey late, opening the door for Carlson, who excelled by 1-putting 8 of the last 12 holes.
Carlson cold-bloodedly sank a 22-footer on the 17th to forge ahead, then parred the final hole for the victory.
Junior Brad Klune (151 two-day total) and senior Matt Vitale (152) made big contributions to the historic day for the Lions.
"This is a great day for St. Viator golf," said Halpin. "For these guys to shoot a score like this here is just unbeleivable."
Frankenberg closed out his brilliant prep career with under-par rounds on both days, shooting 68-71-139 and eagling the par 4 third hole Saturday by holing out from 146 yards out with a 3-wood.
And Jones may have put it best on behalf of himself and the bevy of underclassmen, including Carlson, Klune and Viator sophomore Kenny Wienckowski, who will return for another title quest in 2009: "I can't wait," said Jones, "for next year to come."