Boys golf: Lundberg sparks Vernon Hills to 3rd at Buffalo Grove invite
At Saturday’s Buffalo Grove boys golf invite at Buffalo Grove Golf Course, nobody had a more adventurous round than Vernon Hills junior Henrik Lundberg did.
The ups (4 birdies) nearly matched the downs (5 bogeys) in his rollercoaster-esque round of 1-under 71, solid enough for fifth place and the Cougars’ best score at the 16-team tournament.
A Lundberg shot found somebody else’s fairway divot on the 18th hole and chose to settle in it.
“Some bad breaks,” a shrugging Lundberg said. “It can get you, this course. But, I have to be honest: I chunked a lot of wedge shots today.
“But my putting was electric.”
Lundberg, normally Vernon Hills’ No. 2 golfer, paced his squad to a strong third-place showing (296) behind runner-up Glenbrook North (295) and runaway champion New Trier (283) in sunny and warm conditions.
Scores from junior Jake Levitan (73), senior Conor Fayard (75) and junior Brendan Handoko (77) also counted for coach Shawn Healey’s Cougars.
Rolling Meadows senior Nico Haber also experienced a day heavy on the fluctuations. He blistered the front 9 in 3-under 33 and carded a 6-over 42 on the back 9 for a dizzying 75 (18th-place tie). The easygoing Mustang rolled in a trio of 20-foot putts, a 40-foot putt and another putt between 25-30 feet.
Hersey junior Kyle Carlson’s round of 73 (12th-place tie), meanwhile, featured consecutive birdies on holes 4, 5 and 6 — “I’d never made three in a row in a tournament,” he noted — that accompanied a bogey on the 18th. He then made a 3-foot birdie on the first playoff hole to edge Fremd junior Rayden Tee (73) for medalist honors among the first wave of 8 teams.
“Exciting round,” said Carlson, a consummate team player who praised longtime Huskies coach Dan Caporusso for creating the program’s positive, welcoming culture. “Up-and-down day, you could say. It was nice to be able to redeem myself after that late bogey.”
Fremd’s Tee, who hasn’t qualified for state but has the game that belongs at the year-end meet, ripped a 290-yard tee shot on the 16th when he knew he was in contention.
“The course is a pretty simple layout, but there are some fairly tough holes where you’re happy with a par as you’re walking off the green,” he said. “And there are attackable holes here.”
Loyola Academy’s Drew Southwell earned overall medalist honors with a 4-under 68. Glenbrook North’s Alex Lee also shot a 68 but settled for second overall after a scorecard tiebreaker.
Lake Forest (299), Glenbrook South (299), Loyola Academy (301), Libertyville (304), Stevenson (306), Hersey (308) and Fremd (308) finished 4-10.
The rest of the field: Naperville North (312), Rolling Meadows (315), Homewood-Flossmoor (341), Highland Park (346), Buffalo Grove (349) and Elk Grove (370).
Other significant area scores included Stevenson’s Trenton Kurtz (74), Libertyville’s Ryan Andrews (75) and Cole Eiserman (75), Naperville North’s Trevor Schmidt (75), Buffalo Grove’s Cori Lee (75), Hersey’s Owen Spokas (76), Stevenson’s Tyson Daube (76) and Fremd’s Brighton Mao (76).
Invite host and BG coach Peter Duffer, whose son Jack, a senior, plays for Rolling Meadows, lauded Buffalo Grove Golf Course’s Joe Bridges and Brandon Matchen for their help in putting on Saturday's smooth show.