Big start leads Vernon Hills' Zoll to NSC triumph

Jake Zoll found out just how big a birdie can be on his opening hole Tuesday.

The Vernon Hills junior sank a 30-foot putt on the par 3, 162-yard 12th hole, his first in a shotgun start format during the North Suburban Conference boys golf meet at Willow Glen Golf Course.

"Getting the birdie got me going," said Zoll, who putted 29 times, down from his averages 34. " I hit the ball past at the pin, but it went a little long. I made the putt from 30 feet going downhill."

He finished the day with a 1-over 72 and posted the winning score.

Zoll had a 1-under 34 on the back and a front nine 38 on the par-71, 6,637-yard course.

"I was hoping the score was a good one and was thinking I could be in the top five," Zoll said. "I was putting better than I usually do. I hit the ball well and hit a lot of greens. This was the first time, I played (the course), and it was pretty tough."

Zoll finished 2 shots better than a group of five golfers that all recorded 74s. Mike Nutter of Lake Zurich earned second through a scorecard tiebreaker. Mundelein's Sean Forsythe placed third, followed by Jack Hermes of Lake Forest, Ryan Prince of Stevenson and Perry Johnson of Lake Forest.

"I hit the ball really well and struggled a bit on putting," Forsythe said. "I thought it was a grind I didn't play too well on the back. Never gave up, made a lot of recovery shots and made a lot of putts. Still, put together a pretty good round."

Mundelein finished 4 shots off the pace of tournament champion Lake Forest, 305-301. The Mustangs' other scores were Eric Nelson (76), Brett Cigelnik (77) and Grant Heelan (78).

"We came here to win and not to finish second," Mundelein coach Todd Parola said. "I think the most important part of the season is ahead of us. We just fell a little short of winning it."

Mundelein also played a 9-hole match with Warren, and won. The Mustangs ended up in a three-way Lake Division tie with Lake Forest and Stevenson. The recent match was to be played last Tuesday and was postponed because of weather.

Vernon Hills finished third with a season-best (308), led by Zoll. Others included Jimmy Trycha (76), Kris McGovern and Eric Swanson, who each shot 80. The Cougars claimed the Prairie title.

"We've been starting to play better lately," Vernon Hills coach Shaun Healey said. "A bunch of these guys are capable of playing well. They just happened to do it all on the same day. It's the right time of year to do it with the regional coming up next week."

Stevenson was 1 shot back of Vernon Hills with a (309). The Patriots were led by Prince (74), Nick Geissler and Amaran Sandhu each had 78s and Reed Aren shot 79.