South golfer rallies

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BARRINGTON – Nick Robles did his best to play catch-up at the 41st Illinois State Junior Amateur Championship on Thursday.

Rain Wednesday shortened the three-day, 54-hole tournament into a two-day, 36-hole race, giving golfers little time and little margin for error to move up the leaderboard at Makray Memorial Golf Club.

Robles, who will be a junior at Crystal Lake South in the fall, overcame a shaky start in which he bogeyed the first four holes and moved up 16 spots from Day 1 to finish the tournament in a tie for 10th place.

“I struggled off the first few holes, and it wasn’t looking like it would be a good day,” Robles said.

“I wasn’t striking the ball well, but I was able to find my swing in the back nine and got a little groove going.

Robles shot a 4-over-par 75 and finished the tournament with a 10-over par 152. Wils Hawn of Waterloo won the championship by shooting 2-over for the tournament.

Robles credited a sharper short game for his improved performance.

“It’s all about practice and putting in quality time,” Robles said. “I’ve been working a lot on my short game and focusing on making my putts.”

Riley Bauman, a Crystal Lake Central graduate who will attend and play golf at Carthage College, shot 11-over par in the tournament and finished in a tie for 13th place.

Bauman, who ended his first round with a seven-over 78, shot three strokes better Thursday, with a 4-over 75.

“It would have been nice to play all three days,” Bauman said. “If you had a rough first day, it was going to be tough to catch the leaders.”

Ryan Laughlin, who finished the first round in a tie for ninth place by shooting a 4-over 75, had a rough second round, shooting a 9-over 80, dropping him into a tie for 22nd place.

“I was hitting the fairways, but just couldn’t get any of my shots on the greens,” Laughlin said. “On the first day, I hit about 13 greens with my irons, and I think I only hit about six today.”

Laughlin, a Cary-Grove graduate, plans to attend and play golf at Ferris State University in the fall.

Luke Waggoner, who will be a junior at Marian Central in the fall, also finished in a tie for 22nd place with a round of 5-over 76. Waggoner shot an 8-over 79 Tuesday.

Waggoner, who was coming off a first-place finish in the senior boys division of the McHenry County Junior Golf Association McHenry Open, finished last year’s amateur championship in a tie for eighth place.