Easy Dohse it: Surprise win for Libertyville
Libertyville coach Sean Matthews penciled down Matt Dohse as his No. 7 golfer for Tuesday's North Suburban Conference meet.
Which isn't seventh heaven for a golfer. For if you're playing seventh, you probably have a tendency to card a 7 every now and then.
This, however, was Dohse's lucky day.
"I had a lot of lucky shots," he said.
He didn't need a lot of them.
Dohse fired a 2-over-par 73 at Midlane Championship Golf Resort in Wadsworth to claim a stunning victory, the first of his high school career. He prevailed by 2 strokes over Lake Zurich's Mike Nutter (second), Lake Forest's Perry Johnson (third), Stevenson's Trevor Osmond (fourth) and Lake Forest's Mike Skinner (fifth), all of whom shot 75.
"I've been struggling during the past couple of tournaments, but I practiced a lot (Monday) and it paid off," Dohse said. "I knew I could do it."
Lake Forest won the team championship by shooting 306. Mundelein (314) was second, while Stevenson (316) edged Libertyville (316) for third on a sixth-score tiebreaker. Buoyed by Dohse's round, the Wildcats dropped Warren (319) to fifth.
"These guys were all (joking) that I was stacking the deck," Matthews said of some fellow NSC coaches. "I certainly wasn't trying to do that. That wasn't sandbagging or anything like that. It was just one of those things where (Dohse) had a great game."
Dohse can play some great golf. He shot an 81 earlier this month in Antioch's Roger Alm Invitational at Spring Valley Country Club, earning him a medal for 14th place.
"He's been shooting well," Matthews said. "He's just a real hard worker and constantly going at it. He's toughest on himself."
Dohse's day included 2 birdies. On one shot, he said his ball landed on a hill and rolled within 10 feet of the cup. More than luck, though, preparation put him in position to shoot well.
"I played here (Monday) and shot decent (85)," Dohse said. "I played really good today. My irons were my key."
Warren sophomore Adam Glogovsky shot a 77 to finish sixth and lead the Blue Devils. Like Dohse, he normally is not one of his team's top players.
"I'm like fifth or sixth," he said. "But I came through today."
His round included 1 birdie.
"I had a lot of up and downs," Glogovsky said. "My putting way key. I made a lot of 6-foot putts for par and stuff."
Runner-up Mundelein received matching 78s from Eric Nelson (11th) and Grant Witt (12th), as well as 79s from Eric Steagall (15th) and Grant Heelan (17th). Sean Forsythe (84, 29th) also medaled.
Like Dohse, Witt was also his team's seventh golfer. He overcame a bogey-bogey start to shoot his career-best round.
"It was cold out there and pretty windy, too," Witt said. "But I was just hitting greens and my putting was good. It kind of worked, I guess."
Witt earned his lineup spot by shooting 36 in practice at Steeple Chase on Monday.
"I lost my swing for a while during the season, and then I found it," Witt said. "I got back to playing in some matches and now I'm just here. I played well (Monday) and it got me here."
Besides Osmond's 75, Stevenson also counted Ryan Prince's 79 (14th), Landon Kowalski's 80 (21st) and Aren Reed's 82 (24th). The Patriots' John Michael Boyle also had an 82 (26th) and medaled.
Other medal winners included Libertyville's Nolan Russart (78, 13th) and Rocky Hudson (80, 18th); Warren's Brian Sears (80, 19th), Zack Kim (80, 22nd), Jon Frericks (82, 27th) and Adam Guthrie (83, 28th); Grant's Dillon Peterson (80, 20th) and John Schenning (82, 25th); and Lakes' David Riedel (81, 23rd).