Golf: Sterling's Carter Schlegel caps off season with 98 at boys sectional

FREEPORT – Sterling golfer Carter Schlegel capped off his high school career Monday at the Class 2A Freeport Sectional at Park Hills West with a 26-over-par 98 to finish 61st overall.

Schlegel and the other golfers faced rainy conditions in the morning, with the rain tapering off before Schlegel, in one of the final groups, made the turn. But the rain gave way to wind.

"The weather was really bad," he said. "It was super windy, the rain. I just had to play with the wind, play it right, play the draw."

Playing the back nine first, Schlegel made par three times in his first nine holes: the par-3 11th, the par-5 15th and the par-5 18th. But he also had three double-bogeys in that stretch to make the turn in 9-over-par 45.

"I tried to make up for the bad holes that I had and just try to get pars and get it close to the hole," he said.

He faced some challenges on the front nine, with a quadruple bogey on the 479-yard par-5 fourth and a triple on the next hole, a 380-yard par-4.

He bogeyed his final three holes, just narrowly missing a par putt on the 355-yard par-4 eighth and leaving a par putt short on the 428-yard par-4 ninth.

"It was a struggle, but I tried to push through and have fun on the last round of the year, last round of my high school career," he said.

With no state tournament this year due to COVID-19, Schlegel, a senior, knew before he teed off that this was the final round of his high school career, no matter how things went.

"I'll continue to play as much as I can and improve my game," he said. "For college, I haven't really thought about it. I've looked into it. I'll see where it takes me.

"It's a weird feeling. I remember when I started out as a freshman and looked up to the other varsity golfers. Now that I'm there, it's just a weird feeling."

Kaneland won the sectional title as a team, shooting a 314 to beat Crystal Lake South by eight strokes. Crystal Lake South's Will Stewart was the individual medalist with an even-par 72, beating Boylan's Cooper Watt by two strokes, with Kaneland's Cody Ganzon a stroke behind Watt in third.

Pink plays in suburbs: Sterling junior Maddie Pink fired a 96 in her final round of the season Monday at the Class 2A Dundee-Crown Sectional at Randall Oaks Golf Club.

Pink notched three pars and eight bogeys, and finished her final six holes in 6 over par. She had just two holes of worse than double bogey in her round as she finished at +25.

Stevenson’s Allie Santos was the medalist with an even-par 71, five strokes ahead of teammate Chelsea She and Vernon Hills’ Lexi Schulman. Stevenson also won the team title, finishing with a 311 to defeat runner-up Barrington by 12 strokes.