HP_081618

hplandmark.com sports
the highland park landmark | August 16, 2018 | 29
Golf
Rain doesn’t slow golfers at Illinois Open
Neil Milbert
Freelance Reporter
Vince India must have
felt as though he was on
Cloud 9 after he took off
from O’Hare International
Airport at 9:35 p.m. on
Aug. 8 bound for Hayward,
California and a 9:05 a.m.
(Pacific Time) tee time at
the Ellie Mae Classic that’s
a stop on the web.com golf
tour.
Less than 2 1/2 hours
29-year-old former University
of Iowa golfer from
Deerfield had left The Glen
Club carrying the trophy
that went to the winner
of the 69th Illinois Open
Championship.
In the final round India
shot a 6-under-par 66 to finish
the 54-hole tournament
with a 14-under par 202 that
put him one stroke ahead of
Brandon Holtz, a football
equipment salesman from
downstate Bloomington
who was the top pro in
the tournament the previous
year when he wound
up in a three-way tie for
second.
India recorded a par 72
in the first round at Ravinia
Green Country Club – the
Riverwoods course where
he’d worked as a caddie
as a boy and a teenager
— and then charged into
contention with an 8-under
par 64 in the rain-delayed
second round. The rain on
Aug. 7 forced many golfers
to finish second round
play the following day and
then those who made the
cut went on to the third and
final round.
For India, the turning
point in the tournament
came in the opening round
on the 12th hole, a par 4
hole that is the shortest hole
on the course at about 364
yards but is lined with trees
Jake Keller shot the tournament’s first hole-in-one on
his first shot of the day Aug. 8.
on both sides of the narrow
fairway.
“I was even par and
struggling and I hit a ball
that was going out of
bounds,” he remembered,
“but it hit a tree and went
into the fairway and I made
a birdie.”
After coming on strong
at the start of his second
round that ended late in
the morning India began
third round play at 2:10
p.m. in a six-way tie for
third place with an 8-under
par 136, one stroke back of
Holtz and David Cooke of
Bolingbrook.
“I didn’t really put myself
in a lot of trouble,”
India said, assessing his
solid final round. “My short
game bailed me out when it
had to.”
He birdied the second,
eighth, 10th, 12th and 18th
holes. On the 18th his drive
landed on 589-yard 18th —
which is the longest hole
on the course — his drive
landed on the cart path and
carried nearly 400 yards,
putting him in excellent position.
Playing in the final threesome
behind India, the
power-hitting Holtz drove
nearly the same distance
and was on the green in
two, looking at an eagle
putt from about 18 feet in
front of the hole that would
have forced a playoff. His
putt curved left just before
the hole and stopped 18
inches beyond it.
Holtz had to settle for
a birdie on the hole and
second place in the tournament.
India, whose performance
was highlighted by
15 birdies during the final
two days, was playing in
the Illinois Open for the
first time since 2015 when
he came in second. By virtue
of his victory, he collected
$19,004 while Holtz
took home $13,063 for
his second straight second
place performance.
Tying for third with
11-under par scores of 205
were Brian Bullington of
Frankfort and David Perkins
of East Peoria, who received
the trophy that went
to the top amateur.
Perkins had a 69 in the final
round after shooting 70
in the first round and 66 in
the second.
“Overall I’m happy with
the way I played this week,
at Ravinia in the first round
and here yesterday,” said
the Illinois State University
rising junior. “I played with
Vince in the second round
and we made some birdies
after the rain delay.”
Defending champion
Patrick Flavin of Highwood,
who won the 2017
Illinois Open as an amateur
prior to his senior year at
Miami of Ohio, made his
professional debut in this
tournament and finished in
a three-way tie for 30th.
Flavin played steady golf
as attested by rounds of 70,
74 and 70 to finish 2-under
par at 214 and earned
a paycheck of $1,045 in his
pro debut.
“I hit it great but I didn’t
make as many putts,” he
said. “There definitely
were a lot of nerves. Trying
to defend is very tough but
you also want to get off on
the right foot in your first
pro start.”
Four-time Illinois Open
champion Mike Small
wound up in a five-way tie
for 13th. The University of
Illinois coach shoot 71, 70
and 69 to finish at 6-under
Highland Park’s Bret Leon hits a shot out of the rough
during the 69th Illinois Open Aug. 8 in Glenview. Brittany
Kapa/22nd Century Media
210. Lake Forest’s Brett
Walker (72-67-71) also
was among those in the
deadlock.
Matt Murlick, the former
New Trier star who has
continued to excel during
his first two years at Marquette
University, was one
of the three golfers who
tied for second last year and
this year he tied for seventh
with an 8-under par 208.
Locked in a six-way tie
for 24th at 3-under par 213
were two of Flavin’s teammates
at Miami of Ohio:
redshirt senior Brian Ohr,
the IHSA 2013 Class 3A
individual champion from
Glenbrook North, and
Charlie Nikitas, a 2017
Glebrook South alumnus.
Lake Forest High School
2018 graduate Connor Polender
was another area
golfer involved in the 24th
place logjam.
There were two golfers
who had holes-in-one during
the tournament.
Jeff Kellen of Machnesney
Park was the first
player to tee off on the
final day, starting the last
two holes of his rain-delayed
second round at 8
a.m., and he found the cup
on the 176-yard hole with
a 7-iron. Kellen went on
to finish fifth with a 206
total.
The other hole-in-one
was by Garrett Chaussard,
director of instruction at
Skokie Country Club. He
used a three-wood to accomplish
the feat in the
second round at the 226-
yard ninth hole at The Glen
Club. However, Chaussard
failed to make the cut.