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Boys golf: Josephson leads Vernon Hills to regional championship

Being DJ seems like a common name in the golf world and it's a great nickname for Dylan Josephson, the leader for Vernon Hills' boys team.

The Cougars' senior has had a storied season and has been a medalist in a number of meets this season.

He has now captured the Class 2A regional championship with a 2-over par 74, but he needed a playoff hole to get past Grayslake Central's Thomas Bolin. Josephson had a par to Bolin's bogey on the extra hole at White Deer Run Golf Course in Vernon Hills on Wednesday.

"I'm just super happy to get it done," Josephson said. "I had two putts to get it in and lagged it up there. I was in a playoff in my sophomore year and it didn't go too well. Every year, I feel I've gotten better to handle the pressure. Once I stepped up to the tee, I knew I had a chance of getting it done."

Bolin forced the playoff by making par on the 18th hole, while Josephson bogeyed the hole.

"I thought I had a pretty good score for a tough for a tough course," Bolin said. "I just couldn't close it out on the last few holes."

Vernon Hills and Grayslake Central ended in a tie with a team total of 316. But the Cougars won the regional championship on the fifth score 86-91. Both teams advanced to the Sycamore sectional to be played next Monday at Kishwaukee Country Club.

Grayslake Central beat Vernon Hills by a shot last year in the regional and the Cougars prevailed this year.

"We just came out and played golf," Vernon Hills coach Shawn Healey said. "The boys did well. We've had trouble getting the guys at the end of the lineup to get us some good scores, Today, everybody did a great job. The two scores in the 80s got us the tiebreaker. That was clutch for us to score."

The other scores posted for the Cougars were Kartik Vasodeva (78), Tyler Hammond (82) and AJ Koprosy (82).

The Rams posted their best score of the season and would like to take the next step of making their first state tournament appearance.

"The kids played good today on Vernon Hills' home course," Grayslake Central coach Jim Mazzetta said. "We just have guys that are hard workers. The last couple of days we've practiced on chipping and putting. It might be boring, but they did it. They stuck to the game plan and we came up a shot short."

The other scorers for Grayslake Central were Dominic Lucchesi (79), Nolan Mussey (80) and Nolan Blennis (83).

Carmel Catholic was the other team that qualified with a team total of 330. The Corsairs were led by Jacob Lutzke and Mathew Ellwanger each with 80s, James Molar (83) and Brad Schaefer (87).

The other individuals that advanced out of the regional were Antioch's Donald Barnett (80), Lakes' Josh Anderson (81), Antioch's Tyler Stackhouse (84), Antioch's Rylan Frazier (88), Lakes' Josh Broman (89), Antioch's Ethan Losinger (89), Grayslake North's Creighton Campbell (76), Trevor Deering (89) and Zack Huffman (91).

Deerfield regional:

Lake Forest (291), Libertyville (309) and Mundelein (310) advanced to the Class 3A Buffalo Grove sectional as teams, while Lake Forest's Jack Marshall was medalist with a 69.

Wyatt Sorenson (75), Ethan Lindberg (76), Jack Norris (79) and Aleks Siesers (79) led Libertyville, while Brandon Hinkle (73), Kevin Edquiban (78), Jackson Koenigsknecht (78) and Matthew Kisselburg (81) led Mundelein.

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