Patient Park putts proficiently for Vernon Hills
Justin Park had a long time to think about a long putt.
The Vernon Hills sophomore refused to wear a long face, however. As he made the long walk back to the clubhouse when a rainstorm interrupted Mundelein's invitational at Steeple Chase Golf Club on Saturday, instead of frowning, Park focused.
He had lagged his putt 10 feet short on the hole on the par-4 13th when the rain came.
“I was thinking about that the whole time (during the delay),” Park said. “I was telling myself, ‘Forget about it. Forget about it.' ”
After about an hour delay, Park returned the 13th green with a clear mind. He lined up his uphill putt and sank it for par.
“That gave me a huge relief,” Park said. “After that, I felt a lot more confident.”
Park wound up shooting a 1-over-par 73 to tie Lake Forest's Elliot Georges for the low score of the day. Georges was named medalist thanks to a score card tiebreaker.
Park's season-best round included birdies on Nos. 1, 6 and 8, and 4 bogeys.
“If I had just focused a little more, I could have shot a lot better,” Park said. “But overall I did well.”
New Trier boasted four scores in the 70s, led by David Perl's 76, and won the invite with a 310. Vernon Hills and Lake Forest both shot a 311, with Vernon Hills winning the tiebreaker for second place.
Sophomore Ryan Magee paced fourth-place Mundelein (317) with a 78. Magee triple-bogeyed his second hole, hitting his tee shot on the par-4 third out of bounds.
“I got into a really good groove after the delay with a lot of pars,” Magee said. “But I just couldn't close out. I had a lot of bogeys down the stretch, and my putting from 8 feet was not very good.”
Mundelein's Jeff Lee had a 79, while Tyler White and Nick Chuma each shot an 80 for the Mustangs. Mundelein won last weekend's Antioch invite at Spring Valley with a 313, as Chuma earned medalist honors. Then, led by Magee's invite-best 74, the Mustangs took fourth (332) in last Monday's Ivanhoe Classic.
“We've been on a good run, so this is just disappointing,” Magee said. “Hopefully we can bounce back. We know we're good enough to be good, and hopefully we do well in the postseason.”
Huntley placed fifth with a 318, as senior Trent Craig (75) and junior Jake Grabner (76) finished fourth and sixth, respectively. The Red Raiders also counted Danny Spoeth's 82 and Jake Bowser's 85.
“It's a lot better than I have been doing,” Grabner said of his round, which included one birdie. “It's still not quite where I want it to be, but it's a step in the right direction. I'm pretty happy with it.”
Most golfers had played seven or eight holes when the rain blew in. All the golfers came off the course.
“It got kind of soft after the rain hit,” Grabner said. “It was a little windy at first, but then the wind died down. So it wasn't too tough.”
Vernon Hills also got a good round from Ricky Schmidt, whose 77 earned him the seventh-place medal. The Cougars got an 80 from Tanner Fulton and an 81 from Brian Favia.
Other golfers to break 80 included Lake Forest's Scott Frevert (74, third) and Allessandro Raganelli (79), Hampshire's Myles Miller (78) and Grayslake Central's Kyle Reynolds (79).