Boys golf: Lake Forest tops Stevenson in NSC tourney

Stevenson will gladly accept the tie.

The Patriots and Lake Forest finished first and second, respectively, in the North Suburban Conference boys golf regular-season standings. The Scouts won Tuesday's NSC tournament, however, to earn themselves a tie of the overall championship. Lake Forest carded a 293, well ahead of runner-up Stevenson (308) at Willow Glen Golf Course in Great Lakes.

Libertyville (312) placed third, and Mundelein (315) earned the fourth spot on a fifth-score tiebreaker over Warren.

"It's wonderful tying for the conference because Lake Forest is a really good team." Stevenson coach John Reuth said. "Any time you can tie with Lake Forest it's an accomplishment. They're all strong (golfers) and they have a great coach."

Mark Noonan led Stevenson with a 1-over-par 72, 5 shots behind medalist Danny Fisher of Lake Forest. Fisher fired a 4-under round on the 6,642-yard layout

Stevenson also counted the scores of Jackson Bussell (76), Conan Pan (77) and Ethan Lee (83).

"It's a learning experience, especially for the younger players," Rueth said. "This is what playoffs and pressure is like, and hopefully we can learn from that. They have to figure out how to get around (on the course) if they're not playing well."

Noonan had a 38 on the front and a 34 on the back.

"I was making some pretty good putts," Noonan said. "I played pretty well, even though I triple-bogeyed the sixth hole (par 4). You can drive the ball in some bad places. You just have to keep your tee shots in play. The greens were great and the bunkers were in good shape."

Fisher, who had a 33 on the front and 34 on the back, posted 6 birdies. He double-bogeyed the sixth hole.

"In high school golf, this was my best round this year," said Fisher, who had a round of 66 during the summer. "I lost a little bit of an edge at the beginning of the year. I just found my swing again. I think the course sets up with me well, where I had a lot of wedges in my hand. A lot of my birdies weren't that far and inside of 10 feet."

The Scouts' other scorers were Charlie Haggerty (74), Sam Davis (76) and Jack Marshall (76).

Lake Forest was looking to redeem itself after losing on Stevenson's home course, Arboretum.

"They beat us handily," Lake Forest coach James Matheson said. "It was a good home course advantage for them. It was tough course, but they played well. We came out here (Willow Glen) for a practice round last Thursday because the kids really wanted to play well, and then they came out Sunday to practice. It paid off for us. It's fun to go against Stevenson. The kids know what's at stake. It gets the blood flowing and it's good competition."

Libertyville's Danny Keating shot a 2-over 74 that to lead the Wildcats, who also got strong play from James Schmidt (77), Bruce Jahncke (79) and Derek Calamari (82).

"I hit a lot of greens and a lot of fairways starting off," Keating said. "Putting could have been better, but I made some long putts that helped with some birdies. I just think this course suits my ball play and shape. It just works for me."

Mundelein was paced by Tanner Anderson's 77, while Colin Wade and Trevor Neumaier each shot a 79.

Warren got sub-80 rounds from Kevin Borbath (76), Reid Calvert (77) and Steffen Nerheim (78).