9th Place State  --- Good Job Raiders!!

Lake Forest warms up to title; BHS takes 9th

By Douglas Hamm
dhamm@pantagraph.com

BLOOMINGTON -- Everyone was cold Saturday at The Den at Fox Creek Golf Course. The only people the blustery weather didn't seem to bother played for Lake Forest High School.

Trailing by three shots entering the day, Lake Forest rallied behind individual champion Ryan Linton to claim a 12-stroke victory over first-round leader St. Charles East in the Class AA State Golf Tournament.

"After we came in yesterday and were only three shots behind, the guys were really encouraged with that," said Lake Forest coach James Matheson. "Then knowing when they got up this morning that the wind was blowing 35 mph, three shots is pretty much an even match.

"Our first guy out (Danny Dolan) shot 37 on the front, which is a great score. That definitely went back to the rest of the players and got them going. These kids have put it up every tournament all year long, and every one of them contributed all year long. I couldn't be more happy."

Lake Forest, the 1997 team champion, posted a final-round 303 for a 605 total to overtake St. Charles East (318-617). Defending champion New Trier (313-619) was third followed by Galesburg (312-628) and Peoria Notre Dame (327-638).

"It's great," said Linton, who fired a sizzling 32 on the back nine en route to a 1-under-par 71 and a 145 total. "We've got six players that can go out every single day and play well. We all knew we could improve from yesterday, and I think we did. We left a lot of shots out there yesterday."

Bloomington followed its 322 in the first round with a 326 to claim ninth place at 648. The Purple Raiders finished third last year and second in 2002.

"I know one thing. We left it all on the course," said BHS coach Rich Gordon. "We gave everything we had. I'm proud as heck of the kids. They're were a lot of good shots we hit that weren't rewarded. But when we hit some bad shots the wind really penalized us, and that's what the game does.

"I'm not disappointed. They practiced forever and stayed together as team. It was just an overall great, fun effort."

Senior Matt Bova led the Raiders at 80-157.

"Personally I didn't want to shoot 80 this year, so I didn't meet that goal," Bova said. "I three-putted the last hole which kind of made me mad, but overall I did really well. The team did phenomenal. We weren't as stacked as last year. It was a big team thing with us. We're really a close family. We all played with each other well and had good times."

Rounding out the BHS lineup were senior Dustin Thompson (79-161), senior David Strand (81-164), junior Grant Milling (87-167), senior Brandon Holtz (86-170) and junior Alex Titlow (86-171).

"It was an extremely difficult day," Gordon said. "We've been out here so long my hand warmers cooled off. It was the kind of day you knew you were going to have a disaster somewhere. One of our kids played his round in 6 hours and 45 minutes, and that's a long time to keep your concentration."

Lake Forest's Linton kept his concentration despite being 4-over after four holes. He tore up the back nine with birdies on Nos. 10, 12, 14 and 15.

"After four holes I was like, "I've got to make things happen if I want to win this individually,'" Linton said. "And I had to go out there and post a good score for the team, and 4-over through four isn't good for the team. Mentally you have to focus in this weather. That's what it comes down to."

St. Charles East's D.J. Magee (77-149) tied for second individually with Rockford Guilford's Brad Benjamin (74-149). Antioch's Joe Kinney (77-150) was fourth, while St. Charles East's Nick Edwards (78-151) and DeKalb's Stuart Schelkopf (79-151) shared fifth.

"Give Lake Forest credit. (303) is a great score," said St. Charles East coach John Stock. "We had an amazing season. Second place in the state is absolutely fantastic. Yeah, we would have liked to have won. But Lake Forest came to play."

Meanwhile, Normal West's Brandon Anderegg (77-158) led the contingent of individual Intercity participants by tying for 28th at 77-158. Anderegg began the round in a tie for 57th. West teammate Kyle Bragg shot 81-160, and Normal Community's Stu Wallace finished 86-167.