Marmion's Emory shoots 66, wins by a stroke

Font Size

Email

Bookmark

Black Text

White Text

NORTH AURORA -- Bryce Emory can hit it long. He can also knock down the short ones.

On top of all facets of his game Saturday at the Batavia Invitational, the senior from Marmion Academy fashioned a 6-under par 66 at the Fox Valley Golf Club, claiming medalist honor while tying the previous low score.

Milo French of Kaneland shot a 66 in 2003.

Playing against a field of 167 other golfers, Emory elevated his game. He birdied six holes and eagled the par-5 17th while bogeying just two holes, including the 18th.

The Cadets finished fourth overall in the 28-team invite, tallying a 298. Hinsdale Central was triumphant for the third consecutive year, finishing with a score of 279. Lyons Township was second (285) and Benet Academy (297) took third.

"The first couple of tournaments I played well, but I didn't put it all together," Emory said of the early season. "But today, I finally kept it in play most of the day and made a couple of birdies on the easy holes. Then I just kept it relatively straight on the holes that you need to par."

Emory was 5-under heading into his final two holes. Driving his tee shot about 245 yards on the 438-yard 17th hole, Emory pulled an 8-iron from his bag and spanked the ball to within inches of the cup. He drained the easy putt and moved to 7-under. While he missed a six foot putt for par on the 18th, he still outdueled the rest of the field.

"I hit my drive down the middle and was about 195 yards out," Emory said of the 17th hole. "I was a little down wind, so I hit an 8-iron and put it to a couple of inches.. It almost went in on the fly."

"I didn't really make too many putts, but I didn't miss too many besides the one on 18," continued Emory. "Everything else was really solid."

To place in the top 10, a par or better was required. Kevin Workman (Lyons Township) shot a 67, Sean Marquardt and Brett Tomfohrde of Hinsdale Central each notched a 68 and Brenten Blakeman (Lyons Township) garnered a 69.

Alex Waltor (Minooka) and John Callahan (Benet Academy) each scored a 70 while Ben Nelson (Naperville North) and Dylan Lee (Hinsdale Central) shot 71. Theo LederHausen of Hinsdale Central rounded out the top ten with an even par 72.

"It's nice to see him (Emory), I know this is going to sound crazy, put a number on the board that he hasn't done in a while and not putt well," said Marmion coach Jen Konen. "He made birdies and eagle from three feet and in."

Batavia finished in ninth place scoring a 308. Shawn Steurer led the Bulldogs with a 73 while Tim Schofield and Dan Sohst each used 77 strokes.

Waubonsie Valley placed 12th with Josh Stefanski leading the way with a 77. Nick Lappin (77), Tim Johnson (78), David Brouch (81) and Taylor Kanute (81) helped the Cadets to the fourth-place finish.