With back-to-back rounds in the 60s, including eagles on consecutive days, Hinsdale Central junior Brendan O’Reilly has saved his best golf for the end of the season.
O’Reilly shot a 5-under-par 67 on Tuesday, Sept. 30, to win the West Suburban Silver meet at Prairie Bluff in Lockport. The Hinsdale resident carded an eagle on the 539-yard, par-5 15th. After blasting a drive 300 yards down the left side of the fairway, he stuck a 4-iron 20 feet from the cup and from there rolled in a downhill putt that broke left.
“The eagle was exciting because it came late in my round,” O’Reilly said. “I was playing pretty well. I was trying to make a strong finish. That definitely played out pretty good.”
The previous day, he carded an eagle on the fifth hole at Ruth Lake on his way to scoring 66.
Defending conference champion Drew Shepherd of Hinsdale was one of three players to shoot a 73, but placed fourth in the tiebreaker. York senior Jordan Less took second and Lyons sophomore Patrick Akaniroj was third.
The Red Devils (292) won their third consecutive conference title behind four scorers in the top six. Junior Matt Wingren (5th) and senior Grant Labedz (6th) shot matching 76s.
O’Reilly battled strong winds at the links-style course to match Shepherd’s winning score from last year’s conference meet. O’Reilly shot a 71 for seventh last season.
“I was definitely trying to keep everything low and not get it up into the wind,” O’Reilly said. “I was playing low bullets all day.”
O’Reilly commits to Illini
Four weeks after the recruiting period began for golfers from the Class of 2017, O’Reilly verbally committed to Illinois on Saturday, Sept. 26.
O’Reilly, who finished third in the 2014 Class 3A state meet, didn’t need much time to think about his college choice. He gave his pledge to Illini coach Mike Small after considering Stanford, Duke and Wake Forest.
Illinois reached the NCAA championship semifinals in June in Bradenton, Fla.
“(Illinois) is close to my heart and I wanted to follow it,” said O’Reilly. “I’m excited about going to a place that I wanted to go.”
O’Reilly said the recruiting period was a distraction for the past month as college coaches were able to begin making phone calls to recruits on Sept. 1.
Hinsdale Central coach Jess Krueger said O’Reilly is one of the most heavily recruited players he has had since Theo Lederhausen graduated in 2010 and played at Harvard.
His teammate, Shepherd, verbally committed to Kansas, while senior Kenneth Li, the defending state champion, has yet to make his decision.
RESULTS
BOYS GOLF
West Suburban Meet
At Prairie Bluff
Silver Division
1.Hinsdale Central 292; 2. York 311; 3. Lyons 312; 4. Glenbard West 330; 5. Oak Park-River Forest 330; 6. Downers Grove North 339; 7. Proviso West 579
Medalist: Brendan O’Reilly, Hinsdale Central, 67.
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Gold Division
1. Downers Grove South 320; 2. Willowbrook 346; 3. Hinsdale South 346; 4. Addison Trail 364; 5. Leyden 372; 6. Morton 393
Medalist: Trent Caraher, Downers South, 75.
Scorers:
Hinsdale Central: O’Reilly 67, Drew Shepherd 73, Grant Labedez 76, Matt Wingren 76
York: Jordan Less 73, Mark Leali 79, Tom Manning 79, Mitchell Russell 80
Lyons: Patrick Akaniroj 73, Jason Miller 77, Jack Costello 79, Max Campbell 83, Joey Larson 83
OPRF: Kyle Warbington 78, Teddy Economos 79, Hank Christie 84, Tyler Swanson 89
Hinsdale South: Justin Schoenhardt 85, Petey Louise 85, Alex Schmid 86, Lane Niemann 90
Leyden: Gabe Garcia 86, Hunter Hankins 95, Graham Pedersen 95, Jimmy Whaley 96, Jared Eisenmann 96