Boys golf: Fremd’s Tee drains long putt to win playoff, sectional championship

Even though he was excused from school Monday to play in the boys golf sectionals, Fremd’s Rayden Tee made sure he was learning.

Tee lined up a 35-foot putt on the second playoff and drained the birdie try. He then had to hold his breath as Barrington’s Sam Uutala’s 55-foot putt finished just inches short to give Tee the individual sectional title.

“I had pretty much the extract same line earlier in my round today,” said Tee, who along with Uutala shot a two-under 70 to tie for the medalist.

“I almost holed that one, but left it two inches short. So, it is definitely good to have had that experience.”

Tee, along with Uutala, qualified for the state tournament which will be held this Friday and Saturday at the Den at Fox Creek Golf Course in Bloomington.

Stevenson, Hersey and Barrington each qualified for the team title. All three came from the same Palatine regional last Wednesday.

At that regional, Stevenson and Hersey tied for the team title. Hersey was then able to prevail thanks to the second tiebreaker.

This time, Stevenson was able to prevail with the Patriots scoring a 304. Hersey was one stroke back with a 305 and Barrington shot 306.

It was the first time Stevenson qualified for the state finals since 2018 when the Patriots finished second. It will also be the final trip to the state finals for coach John Rueth, who is retiring after 25 years as head coach.

“I was thinking about retiring early,” Rueth said. “But then I saw Trenton (Kurtz) play. And these other kids as well. I thought they may have something special, so I wanted to see them through.”

The Patriots got solid scores from Nathan Guo (72), Trenton Kurtz (73), Ben Merdalo (78) and Dylan Lee (81).

“This is unbelievable,” said Kurtz, who is a senior. “This is our coach’s last year and we just want to do something special for him. To get it done today was huge.”

Stevenson was able to get into the clubhouse before the rain. At that time, the Patriots were two strokes back with Hersey still having three golfers on the course. After a 45-minute rain and lightning delay, play resumed and Hersey was unable to hold onto the lead.

Still, the Huskies were able to qualify for the finals. Hersey will bring its full team to the state finals for the first time since 2003. Hersey did qualify for state in 2019, but the finals were canceled due to COVID.

Hersey’s top four golfers shot scores under 80: Davis Lockwood (74), Kyle Carlson (76), Colin Lockwood (77) and Henry Esposito (78).

“It was a battle for us out there today,” Hersey coach Dan Caporusso said. “It was a challenge for us. But we were able to regroup at the end and we are excited to headed downstate.”

Barrington, which finished fifth in state last year, will return again this year. Uutala paced Barrington with his score along with Charlie Blomquist (73), Trevor Naughten (81) and Jonathan Radosh (82).

“We lost a lot from that team last year,” Barrington coach Bryan Tucker said. “But we got some veteran help this year in Sam Uutala and Charlie Blomquist. They stepped up today. Both of those guys birdied 18, so it was nice to see that leadership when the pressure was on.”

Burlington Central just missed qualifying with a 308. They were followed by Mundelein and Libertyville who each scored a 313, Carmel with a 315, and Huntley with a 319. Grant, which was making its first sectional appearance, tied Hampshire with a 325.

Tee led the group of 10 individual qualifiers. He will be joined by Burlington Central’s Tyler Samaan (71), Libertyville’s Finn Sullivan (71), Hampshire’s Nolan Adamczyk (73), Jacobs’ Logan Henning (73), Buffalo Grove’s Cori Lee (74), Palatine’s Charlie Hulsebosch (74), Prospect’s Luke Ginsberg (74), Palatine’s Darrin Dick (75) and Carmel’s Ryan Denapoli (75).