Hollatz propels Lockport to SWS Blue title

FLOSSMOOR – Lockport senior golfer Gehrig Hollatz said committing to Butler University about 10 days ago was a weight off his shoulders.

Judging from recent results, he is spot on.

Hollatz shot a 2-under-par 69 Tuesday at Coyote Run Golf Course to help Lockport win the SouthWest Suburban Blue Tournament with a 302 total. Homewood-Flossmoor was second with 311, followed by Sandburg 313, Joliet Township 371, Stagg 355 and Bolingbrook 375.

Hollatz was three shots better than his nearest pursuers. Joliet’s Trent Wallace shot 72, as did H-F’s Jack Mulligan.

“This was my best competitive round since I qualified for the U.S. Junior Amateur in the summer,” said Hollatz, who will play basketball in the winter and compete in the pole vault in spring track season. “I’ve been hitting the ball well. I had a 71 last week [in the Don Nichols Will County Tournament], then this 69. It’s better to be playing your best at the end of the season, so that’s a good sign.

“There’s definitely a lot off my shoulders now that I committed. I feel like I’ll fit in well there. There’s not so much pressure now that I come out and feel like I have to play well.”

“It’s nice to see Gehrig rounding into form,” Lockport coach Matt Eber said. “You always want your No. 1 shooting well. That has a positive effect on everyone else.”

Hollatz said although he is not about to give back his 69, “the first three holes I missed 5-foot putts, or it could have been even better.”

Senior Luke Trent and junior Matt Sheldon shot 77, and junior Andrew Crowe chipped in with a 79 to complete the Porters’ scoring. Trent finished sixth on a scorecard tiebreaker. Sheldon was seventh and Crowe 10th.

“Luke [Trent] played well most of the day,” Hollatz said. “He was 1-over with five holes left. “And that 79 from Andrew Crowe was really nice to get. He’s been about our seventh man.”

“I’m really please with Andrew’s effort,” Eber said of Crowe. “He’s been in and out of the regular lineup. And the two 77s are real solid. Matt [Sheldon] has been solid, steady all year.

“I wanted all the guys to go out and think par. They didn’t have to think birdie, birdie, birdie. If you would have said we’d shoot 302 out here in these [cool] conditions, I definitely would have taken it.”

Hollatz, who was at state last year as an individual and rallied to finish 51st after shooting 48 on his first nine holes, said the conference showing will give the Porters confidence heading into next week’s regional.

Joliet also came away with positive feelings. The Steelmen’s scorers besides Wallace were junior Mark Boykin with 77, junior Kyler O’Connell 80 and junior Harris Alexander 88. Boykin was fifth on a scorecard tiebreaker.

“Our [team] score is getting better and better,” Wallace said of Joliet. “This was our best all year.”

“We got three pretty good scores but couldn’t quite get the fourth,” Steelmen coach Ed Larson said. “If our fourth guy can have a stellar day in the regional, which is at Inwood, we can do some good there. Trent [Wallace] wants to bring the team along with him this year as far as we can go.”

Wallace is a threat to shoot in the 60s any time he steps on the course. On Tuesday, however, he said he experienced “a rough start. I didn’t know where the ball was going. It’s something I have to work on.”

It finished in typical Wallace style, however, as he birdied the final three holes and finished at 1-over-par.

Bolingbrook received 85s from Justin Freiberg and Jacob Nagel, a 98 from Clayton Tragarz and a 107 from Greg Page.