Big putt propels Joliet Township’s Wallace to second-place finish
By Logan Malloy For Sun-Times Media September 8, 2012 9:12PM
Updated: October 10, 2012 6:30AM
A bogey on his first hole wouldn’t stop Trent Wallace from a stellar round of golf. The Joliet Township sophomore nailed a 50-foot birdie putt four stops later to highlight a 1-under 71 at Sanctuary Golf Course in the 26-team Providence Invitational.
Wallace’s round, which featured four birdies and a 32 over the back nine, put him in second place behind Loyola Academy’s Michael Abrahamson (71) based on a handicap tiebreaker.
“I love this course. A lot of good teams are here so I look forward to playing it every year,” Wallace said. “I was 3-under coming out of the back nine, but I four-putted on hole one which was pretty ugly. Other than that, nothing went that bad.”
Wallace and Devyn Boswell (79) led Joliet to a 313, which was good for third behind champion Loyola (299) and Neuqua Valley (304).
Joliet finished one stroke higher than its total last season, but coach Ed Larson was pleased with the results. Larson noted the dedication of his team as a major reason why it is competitive in large tournaments.
“We’ll cancel a Friday practice to go watch a football game and yet I found out on Monday that they went out and played golf anyway,” Larson said. “They love the sport. They play golf, breathe golf and they’re just real students of the game, which goes a long way.”
Lincoln-Way East, led by Matt Stoner’s 75, finished fourth with a 316.
Paced by Matt Groebe (76), Lemont was sixth with a 321.
Mickey Brick (76) guided Providence to a 341.
Defending tournament champion Lincoln-Way Central saw its bid to repeat dissolve when its top golfer, Bryant Bolden, was disqualified. Bolden was 4-under at the time of the incident and in contention for medalist honors. Central finished seventh with a 323.
