Lions, Broncos in their element

The past couple of years, the weather at the boys golf state finals in Bloomington has been brutal, with cold termperatures and howling winds.

So Friday's pleasant conditions at the Den at Fox Creek Golf Course gave the competitors an advantage this season -- especially so for Barrington, according to the Broncos' Ross Frankenberg.

"I'm glad we played here in an early-bird tournament during the summer," said Frankenberg. "Otherwise, we might not know how to play this course without the wind."

Frankenberg, who tied for 18th place at state last season as a sophomore, sure knew how to play the course this year in the first round of the Class 3A tournament.

The junior fired a 2-under par 70 at Fox Creek to take a 2-shot lead in the race for individual medalist, where the team competition is shaping up as a battle between St. Viator and Quincy.

With 18 holes remaining today, the Lions are 1-up with a team score of 300. Quincy follows at 301, Hinsdale Central is in third place with 307, while Barrington is still in striking distance with a total of 311.

Luke Guthrie of Quincy, last year's tournament medalist at Class AA (before the IHSA expanded to 3 classes in 2007), shot even-par 72 to trail Frankenberg by 2 shots, as did teammate Conner Daniels.

Sophomore Danny Stringfellow led the Lions with a 73, classmate Joe Carlson shot 75, and junior Matt Vitale and senior Matt Crandall both contributed 76s.

Other golfers pitching in to the Barrington score were Jason Batliner (79), Ryan Quinn (80) and Charlie Douglas (82).

"The weather was fantastic, for a change," said Barrington coach Mike Kallenbach. "It contributed to the low scores."

"This was fun," said Frankenberg, whose stellar round included 3 birdies and an eagle at the par 5 10th.

"I hit a good drive, and it was 200 yards to the center of the green. I hit a 4-iron to the edge of the green, then sank a 25-foot putt."

"What makes this even more amazing," said Kallenbach, "is that Ross bogeyed his first hole. He played the rest of the day 3-under."

Other local scores of note included Fremd senior Erik Peterson, tied for 12th place with a 76 and teammate Sean Jones, who fired a 78.

Dan Alsup of Rolling Meadows finished day one at 84 while Ryan McCullough of Buffalo Grove carded an 88.

Now Frankenberg will look forward to today's round and the possibility of tournament medalist honors.

"I've got to play my game," said the junior, "and not make any dumb mistakes."