Carmel senior Jacob Lutzke was locked in a four-way tie atop the leaderboard entering the second and final round of the Class 2A state meet on Saturday.
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Remarkable though that was, Lutzke wasn’t in a frame of mind to appreciate it after his hopes for a state title were dashed over the final three holes at Weibring Golf Club in Normal.
So he walked over to the putting green.
“I putted for 20 to 30 minutes,” he said. “I just wanted to get back on the green to decompress a bit.”
Lutzke was focused on what he thought was a missed opportunity, not his comeback from a harrowing medical situation that had made the state meet look like an impossible dream only weeks earlier.
In late August, Lutzke suddenly struggled to breathe and experienced debilitating chest pain. He was taken to the emergency room and learned his left lung had collapsed. He was diagnosed with spontaneous pneumothorax.
He had surgery and spent six days in the intensive care unit, not sure when he would be able to return to the sport he loved.
“It was so random,” he said. “It was kind of hard at first, just knowing it was more bad luck. There was nothing I could do to stop it. But I didn’t want to miss my senior season.”
Lutzke was sidelined for three weeks in the middle of the season but got back on the course in time for the state series.
He shot an 88 in the Vernon Hills Regional at White Deer Run Golf Club on Sept. 28, barely advancing as Carmel’s fourth of five individual qualifiers. But at the Sterling Sectional at Emerald Hill Golf Course on Oct. 5, he shot a team-best 78 — the seventh-lowest score of the day — to earn a berth at state with teammate Kevin Crow.
After playing his way into contention for the state title with a 72 on Friday, Lutzke bogeyed on the 16th hole and double-bogeyed on the 18th on Saturday. He finished tied for ninth with a two-day total of 148, good enough for all-state honors.
“That last hole was brutal,” he said. “My season was so up and down. It was a summary of my season.
“Ultimately, why was I so disappointed? At the end of the day, I appreciated it. I’m very competitive, but I can’t complain about a top-10 finish.”
Carmel coach Dave Silbar said he was amazed Lutzke was even there.
“It was such an exciting day,” Silbar said. “He held his emotions in check. Just think where he was just over four weeks ago. As a coach, you see your captain and team leader in a hospital bed with a collapsed lung. It was crushing for me. He thought his season was done. He made state as an individual.
“He lost it mentally for a second. But you can’t let your last hole ruin the entire experience of the weekend, especially considering he just had surgery and couldn’t even pick up a ball. It’s an incredible story.”
Lutzke, who will have surgery on his right lung in November, said he hopes to get a chance to play in college after proving he can overcome adversity and thrive.
“Never in a million years did we expect him to be tied for first place after the first day of state,” his mother Tina said. “For him to medal is the icing on the cake. It was a crazy 44 days.
“He’s worked really hard and was so driven for this. He’s played competitive sports his whole life but never had that moment. He worked so hard by himself with golf lessons, camps and tons of rounds. He did it for himself. It was nice for him to be recognized.”
Bobby Narang is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.