IL State Jr. Amateur

Eagle helps Shepherd’s cause

By DENNIS D. JACOBS - editorial@kcchronicle.com


BARRINGTON – Daniel Shepherd is well within striking distance at one of the state’s toughest junior tournaments.

Shepherd, who will be a junior at St. Charles North this fall, fired a 75 over 18 holes at Tuesday’s 42nd Illinois State Junior Amateur Championship at Makray Memorial Golf Club. That puts him four shots behind Ian Mankoff of Lake Forest, who was the only golfer who managed to avoid finishing over par.

“It’s a pretty tough course,” Shepherd said. “I was happy to get out of there with a 75.”

St. Charles North golfers Shepherd, John Carroll, and Raghav Cherala are among 156 of the state’s top young golfers competing in the Illinois Junior Golf Association event.

Shepherd was aided greatly by an eagle on the 431-yard, par-4 fifth hole. A fortuitous bounce off the cart path on his tee shot left him just 131 yards from the pin.

“I hit a pitching wedge in and it took a hop or two and then it just kind of rolled in,” he said of his second shot on the hole.

His fellow North Stars did not have as much luck with the course. Indicative of Cherala’s day was a 15-foot putt for birdie on No. 11 that went halfway down the hole and then popped out.

“I was striking it really well,” Cherala said of his round. “I just couldn’t find the hole. … I was just making not great decisions. I would hit a great shot and then I would hit a bad second, good putt, then miss the par.”

Cherala, who will be a sophomore this fall, finished with an 86. That still put him ahead of about a third of the field.

Carroll found more success. His 79 put him in a tie for 38th.

“I played a good back [nine], but I left a few [strokes] out there on the front,” the Elburn resident said.

Carroll, a senior at North, got off to a rough start, double-bogeying the first two holes. He finished with a 7-over par 42 on the front nine. He was much more consistent on the back nine, parring every hole except 12, which he bogeyed.

After struggling with his drives on the first nine holes, Carroll consistently found the fairway over the final nine. He thought he chipped and putted well throughout the day.

“It saved me today,” he said of his short game. “I was chipping good and making lots of good putts.”
Shepherd also putted well.

“I think if you can go out there and not have any three-putts, you’re doing something pretty well,” he said, “because the greens are pretty fast and pretty sloping.”

Shepherd is tied for 12th heading into today’s second round. He said his goal coming into the tournament was to make the cut to play in Thursday’s final round. But after his opening-round success, he said he’s revising his goal to finishing in the top 30, which would exempt him from having to qualify for next year’s championship.

“If I can do that, I’d be happy with my performance,” he said.

Geneva has a pair of golfers in the tournament, but Monday was not their best day. Andrew Cisco shot an 84 and John Stolte carded a 90.

A highlight of Cisco’s round was a birdie on the 540-yard, par-5 sixth hole.