(OLNEY) — Ayden Nealis said “it was fitting” that his final Little Illini Conference golf tournament would end in a playoff with his senior Olney teammate Reese Glover. With the team championship safely tucked away, those two settled co-medalist honors with a three-hole playoff that put the wrap on a Tiger sweep Wednesday in front of the home faithful at Richland Country Club.
Olney turned the tournament into a rout. The Tigers finished with a total of 316 strokes, 27 shots ahead of runner-up Casey-Westfield’s 343. Defending champion Mt. Carmel was third at 353, followed by Newton (358 shots), Robinson (368), Paris (385) and Marshall (399).
Glover thought the encore golf was special, too. “We both played here for four years. It was fun,” he said.
It didn’t look to be fun earlier in the day, thanks to the weather. In fact, the start of the LIC tournament — for both boys and girls — was delayed by one hour. Once play began, weather was not a factor, even though soggy conditions in the days leading to the 18-hole affair did make a difference.
Said Nealis: “I think (the RCC course) played a little softer today. The ball didn’t roll as much. It definitely was a factor on some shots today. We’ve played this course so much we just know what to do.”
Glover said “it was a matter of adjusting to the new conditions. With the rain, it played a little tougher.”
Nealis birdied No. 3 and No. 16 and had things in hand until double-bogeys on the final two holes brought him back to a 76 and into a playoff.
The extra play began on the 167-yard fifth hole. Both went left off the tee but recovered for pars. It was the same result on No. 6, but on the seventh hole, Nealis sank a 4-foot par put to win the individual title for the second year in a row.
Weather or no weather, slow course or fast course, “playing on your home course, you just have to stay in it and let the other guy make the mistake,” Glover said.
The top 15 golfers were named to the All-Conference team: the first 10 to the First Team, the next five to the Second Team. In addition to Nealis and Glover, Olney landed Ameter, Carter Blank (who fired a round of 83) and Dierks Mitchell (84) on the First Team, along with Garver, Carson Hall (83) and Tyler Volk (85) of Casey-Westfield, Newton’s Kennedy and Zane Wilcox (84) of Mt. Carmel.
The Second Team consisted of: 11th-place Logan Mobley (86) of Mt. Carmel, Mason Arnone of Robinson and Ty Rhodes of Paris, who tied for 12th place with rounds of 87, Sean Dunn of Paris (14th place with an 88), and the tandem of Jack James of Newton and Drake Stevenson of Mt. Carmel, who tied for 15th place (with rounds of 90).
