The boys golf team woke up to more rainy skies on Tuesday morning, adding even more moisture to a Lake Bluff course that had already been trying to hold water from the previous day and a treacherous summer. Despite the poor weather, the boys in blue were not going to let the cool rain put out their hot, fiery performance of late. The Scouts were coming off a strong victory at Bittersweet Golf Club in Gurnee over the weekend–highlighted by Connor Polender’s medalist honors–and looked to keep up their winning ways against a tough Stevenson team.

At the onset of the dual, the thirteen varsity players ventured out to their respective holes looking to get revenge on Stevenson after falling to them in the Lake County Invite earlier in the season. With water splashing from each step, the shotgun start began and golf was underway from Lake Bluff Golf Course. Danny Fisher, who has been turning heads early in his junior season, began his round with a wayward drive into the tall grass. Fisher wasn’t ready to give in though as the junior managed to find his ball and ended up blasting a 200 yard iron shot onto the green, thus setting himself up with a birdie putt on the opening hole. While he missed the birdie chance, Fisher showed early on the skills and the fight that the Scouts would bring to the match. His playing partner, Scott Frevert, opened his round with a birdie after sinking a tough fifteen footer. Frevert would go on to fire a low round of 34 (-2) for the Scouts thanks to crucial birdie putts on holes five and seven. Frevert would not surrender a bogey the entire round, and even though he only hit one fairway, the senior managed seven pars and two birdies on the day to take low ball honors for the Scouts.

Behind Fisher and Frevert another storm loomed, but not the kind that dropped all the rain on the course in the previous days. This storm was brewed by the young freshman, Pierce Grieve, who was playing in his first after school match for the Scouts. The lefty managed a 39 (+3) on Tuesday and while his score was not counted in the top four he surely turned heads with his swagger and maturity on the course for such an inexperienced high school player. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows during the round though as Grieve was struck by a Stevenson player’s drive on the third hole. Grieve came out safe and sound from the contact and walked away with two lasting memories from his first dual conference match.

The Scouts one-two-punch of Jed Thomas and Connor Polender proved solid once again as the two players fired 37 (+1) and 36 (E) respectively. Consistency was the name of the game Tuesday as Polender had all pars on the nine holes. Jed Thomas was excited for the scoring opportunities that the soft course would elicit on Tuesday. “You really have to control the spin out here,” Thomas said, “I’ve got to strike my shots well and hope they go straight.” Clearly, the senior had the right idea for the day as he played well except for an unfortunate bogey on the par 5 2nd hole. Head coach Jim Matheson knew he would need quality scores from his top players, and they surely delivered on Tuesday.

Overall, it was a solid and consistent day from the Scouts in some sloppy course conditions. Stevenson, being a rival conference opponent, was going to require a strong performance from each player, and that is exactly what the Scouts delivered at their home course. Lake Forest took the the top scores from Frevert (34), Polender (36), Patrick Moorhead (36) and Jed Thomas (37) to combine for a four person total of 143 strokes. Stevenson, on the other hand, took three 38’s and a 37 to combine for a total of 151 strokes. As a result, the Scouts continued their winning ways with an eight stroke downing of the rival Stevenson Patriots.

Lake Forest will look to continue their winning ways with a JV trip down to Winnetka on Wednesday as they face off against New Trier. The varsity top six will be back in action on Saturday as the Scouts travel to Buffalo Grove Golf Course for the Buffalo Grove Invitational.