Golf: Lots of familiar faces preparing for 100th Lincoln Highway

For the 100th time, some of the best amateur golfers in northern Illinois will tee it up at the Men’s Lincoln Highway Tournament this weekend at PrairieView Golf Club in Byron.

This year, as usual, the field is stacked. Jason Wombacher, the two-time defending champion, will lead the way for the host team, which has won the last two team titles, and three of the last four.

In addition to Wombacher, four other past medalists and seven past runners-up will also hit the links in the two-day, 54-hole best-against-bogey tournament.

Winners of five of the last six tournaments will be competing (Wombacher, 2019 champ Cole Ruckman of Shady Oaks, 2016 & ‘18 winner Thomas Brennan of Fairways), as will past winners Andrew Canfield of PrairieView (2010 medalist) and Brian Weidman of Sunset (2003 champ).

The past four runners-up will also be participating: Trevor Sisson of Emerald Hill (2021), Dennis Reedy of PrairieView (2020), Jarred Hippen of Emerald Hill (2015 & ‘19), and Ryan Harrison of Timber Creek (2018). Canfield (2014) and Weidman (2013) are also past runners-up, as is Jim “Sparky” Larkin of Shady Oaks (2006).

A lot of the golfers will be familiar faces for longtime Lincoln Highway fans. Timber Creek’s Bob Venier – who won the Senior Lincoln Highway in May – will be teeing it up for the 26th time in the tournament, and Shady Oaks’ Dave Kemp is playing in the LHT for the 24th time.

Weidman hits the 20-year mark this weekend; he also won the inaugural Senior LHT last summer, and finished one stroke behind Venier this year.

Canfield is playing for the 15th time, Timber Creek’s Joel Kipping is in it for the 14th time, and Larkin and Sunset’s Scott Aken are playing for the 13th time. Brennan and Harrison will tee it up for the 12th time, and Timber Creek’s Scott Hargrave and Fairways’ Jon Woeppel are both competing for the 11th time.

PrairieView is hosting the Lincoln Highway for the third time; the first two times, in 2000 and 2012, Kishwaukee won the team title, but that club no longer competes in the tournament. The Byron club is looking for a fourth title in the last five years, and the first one on their home course. Among their two teams – the host club is allowed to have a pair of teams compete – seven of the 12 players have participated in the LHT before.

But PrairieView isn’t the only team with lots of LHT experience. All six local clubs have at least four players who have teed it up before, and three of them have six LHT veterans.

All six Timber Creek (Dixon) players are in the tournament for at least the seventh time, and all six Sunset (Mt. Morris) players have participated at least three times prior. All six Deer Valley (Deer Grove) participants are making at least their third appearance.

Emerald Hill (Sterling) and Shady Oaks (Amboy) have five experienced players, and Lost Nation (Dixon) has four returning players.

There will be 11 clubs playing in this year’s tournament, including newcomer Mendota. The First Flight golfers will tee off first Saturday, followed by the Second Flight and so on; the tee times will be in reverse order Sunday, with the leaders teeing off last. Tee times run from 8 a.m. to 10:24 a.m. both days, and can be found at www.menslincolnhighway.com, along with a list of past winners and every player who has teed it up at the Lincoln Highway over the past century.

2022 LHT team rosters

(clubs in alphabetical order, players listed in flight order)

Deer Valley (Deer Grove) – Joe Mills, Heath Warner, Josh Eggleston, Erik Marsh, Dave Pilgrim, Mike Batten

Emerald Hill (Sterling) – Jarred Hippen, Trevor Sisson, Nick Olds, Nick Ceruzzi, Jason Welker, Aaron Fitzgerald

Fairways (Rochelle) – Thomas Brennan, Jon Woeppel, George Weber, Colton Guy, Tony Turner, Ian Metzger

Indian Oaks (Shabbona) – Matt Davis, Kyle Davis, Louis Faivre, Peyton Gatz, Ed Williams, Mike Mason

Lost Nation (Dixon) – Jeff Heintzelman, Luke Phillips, Ryan A. Harrison, Chad Wilkinson, Alex Frey, Rick Fustin

Mendota – Jon Prescott, Eric Elsner, Troy Bauer, Miguel Bermudez, Matt Novak, Pat Kerchner

PrairieView 1 (Byron) – Jason Wombacher, Andrew Canfield, Trent Snodgrass, Tim Marcum, Maison Brandt, Justin Sick

PrairieView 2 (Byron) – Ryan Jahn, Trent Eddy, Dennis Reedy, Gregg DeVries, Matt Thimjon, Brent Baker

Shady Oaks (Amboy) – Cole Ruckman, Dan Koch, Matt Welty, Dave Kemp, Sparky Larkin, Chad Noble

Sunset (Mt. Morris) – Scott Aken, Adam Marshall, Brian Weidman, Cary Bennett, Carson Buck, Nate Bramm

Timber Creek (Dixon) – Bob Venier, Ryan Harrison, Joel Kipping, Scott Hargrave, Luke Hoffman, Ryan Marshall