Incredible finishes lift St. Viator to ESCC crown
Every golfer hopes to finish a round on a good note.
Incredible and unforgettable endings by seniors Ricky Gattone and Nick Van Stedum put St. Viator's boys team back at the top of the East Suburban Catholic Conference.
Gattone ended with an eagle and Van Stedum closed with a birdie as Viator edged Carmel 310-311 for its sixth ESCC title in seven years Thursday at The Links of Carillon in Plainfield.
"It was beyond exciting. Amazing," said Viator coach Jack Halpin, whose team lost to Carmel by a shot last year.
"It was a sweet little revenge," said Van Stedum, who shot a 4-under-par 76 to tie Gattone for third place.
"It was really cool to experience," Gattone said. "Hopefully this shows everybody we're really deep and we have players who are really consistent."
Viator's Luke DeTrempe shot 77 to tie for fifth with Carmel's Mike Wilkinson. Pat Schuetz had the Lions' fourth counting score of 81.
Ted Kon of St. Patrick took medalist honors over Carmel's Josh MacKenzie in a playoff after they shot 75.
Gattone was the Suburban Catholic Conference medalist as a sophomore at Driscoll. After the school closed he transferred to Viator.
Gattone reached the par-5 18th in 2 shots after hitting a 6-iron about 12 feet from the hole. He nailed the downhill putt for his eagle while his playing partner from Carmel bogeyed the hole.
"I had to do my best to beat the kid while not throwing any strokes away at all," Gattone said. "I kind of put together close to the perfect hole.
"It was kind of cool to come back and win as a team. Last year I was adjusting to a new school and I didn't play good golf."
Van Stedum was an alternate in last year's ESCC tourney. He was playing just ahead of Gattone and with a shotgun start finished on the par-5 first hole.
Van Stedum was just off the green in two but chipped within 7 feet for his birdie.
"At that point I didn't know it was that critical in the match," Van Stedum said. "It was incredible. I didn't really understand how close the match was going to be.
"I felt pretty confident. All of us have been hitting ball pretty well and we've all been pretty consistent."
Viator and Carmel were 7-1 in the ESCC dual meets that count toward the team title.
"For these guys to win this is just huge," Halpin said. "Especially coming back. They didn't know they were behind and to win it that way is a great story."
Carmel's Brian Miller shot 79 to finish in a tie for ninth. Benet shot 321 to finish third as Matt Giblin and Quincy Van Eekeren shot 78 to tie for seventh.
Central Suburban North: Maine West finished fourth as Tom Kukec finished 20th with a team-best 81 at Glencoe Golf Club. Highland Park shot 296 to win the team title by 2 shots over Glenbrook North, which had medalist Brian Ohr shoot 71.