There was a point in West Aurora junior Ryan Vanderway’s round Wednesday where he figured he was out of contention.
Vanderway was searching for his third straight Upstate Eight Valley medalist honor at St. Andrews Golf & Country Club, but his game wasn’t cooperating early on.
“I was just like, ‘Well, play as well as you can, don’t worry about what you shoot or what anybody else does, just you and the course,'” Vanderway said. “I was thinking about it too much. I kind of felt like all eyes were on me. Once I felt like I was out of it, then I started playing my game and I started to come back.”
Vanderway birdied his final three holes, two in dramatic fashion, to help him salvage a 2-over 74 on an up-and-down day. That was good enough to take medalist honors again.
His quest for a third straight Upstate Eight Valley player of the year award was thwarted, however, by Glenbard East’s Tyler Reitz. Vanderway missed the East Aurora dual with a minor injury, costing him player of the year points.
“I never thought this would have happened in a million years, to be honest,” Vanderway said. “I was like 5-over through six. It was just all over the place. Three-putt, make a 40-foot (putt), hit it out of bounds, stick it to two feet. It was crazy.”
Vanderway’s 16th hole, the par-3 No. 7, was his most dramatic. He drained a 40-foot putt for birdie to start his finishing kick. For good measure, he holed a 25-footer on his final green.
“It was going off the green if I didn’t hit the cup,” Vanderway said. “It hit dead center, then went up in the air and went in.”
West Chicago edged Bartlett 322-325 for the meet title, but the Hawks had better success during the regular season to repeat as overall conference champions. Junior Justin Everson led the Hawks with an 81.
“Back-to-back was nice for us,” Bartlett coach Jim Dinkheller said. “My three main seniors, Nate (Gorniak), Joey (Tomazin) and Nick (Pavell), they deserve it. They’re just nice young men.”
Nick Mehta fired a 78 for South Elgin.
In the Upstate Eight River Meet, junior Tyler Isenhart repeated as champion, shooting a 76 to lead Geneva to the team title with a 312.
“It was pretty difficult,” Isenhart said. “There was a little bit of wind out there. I didn’t really play very well, but I’m happy the team won.”
Isenhart is in the midst of some heavy college recruiting. He has already visited Northwestern, Pepperdine, Purdue and Vanderbilt, with a trip to Baylor upcoming this weekend.
“He’s getting some serious looks,” Geneva coach Eric Hatczel said. “I’ve been telling him, save every letter. Download your voicemails to your computer. It is one of the coolest things to have these coaches after you. You’re going to look back fondly on it, no matter what your future career is.”
The Vikings lost to St. Charles East in the regular season, but came back to win the conference title by winning Wednesday’s meet. East shot a 323.
Nick Green and Jack McDonald each shot 78s for Geneva, while Teegan Ebel shot an 80. East was led by Mason Meadows’ 78 and Jeff Makowski’s 80.
Paul Johnson is a freelance writer for The Beacon-News.
