Libertyville senior Parker McConnell surely thought he was hitting his final tee shot of the North Suburban Conference meet as he entered his 18th hole at Thunderhawk Golf Club with a two-stroke lead on Wednesday.
But McConnell left the door ever-so-slightly open for someone’s comeback, three-putting for bogey after his approach shot spun back more than he expected.
“The dreaded three-putt — not the best,” McConnell said.
Lake Forest junior Sam Florjancic and Libertyville senior Austin Scott capitalized with birdies on their final holes to create a three-man deadlock at the top of the leaderboard. Each had totaled a one-under 71 through 18 holes.
McConnell, however, brushed off the blown lead like a veteran in the playoff, posting back-to-back pars to win the individual title in a thrilling two-hole showdown.
“It’s kind of how golf is, you know?” he said. “You should forget about the past, refocus and try and get that win.”
McConnell quickly put the three-putt behind him to make a two-putt par from more than 25 feet on the tough 18th green to tie Florjancic on the first playoff hole. Scott was unable to recover from a wayward tee shot that left him pinned behind a tree, leaving just Florjancic and McConnell competing for the individual title heading into the second playoff hole, which was the first green at Thunderhawk.
McConnell and Florjancic blasted tee shots on the 414-yard par-4, leaving both within 100 yards of the steep, downhill-sloping green. Florjancic had the slightly worse lie, with his ball nestled no more than an inch into the left rough.
After McConnell hit a wedge to 15 feet, Florjancic skied his approach off the back of the green, leaving McConnell another window. Florjancic narrowly missed an uphill 10-footer for par after a nice chip, and McConnell converted yet another clutch two-putt for the win.
McConnell and Scott led Libertyville to the team title at 292, six shots ahead of Lake Forest and defending champion Stevenson.
“I’m just really proud of the guys for being super resilient out there, and it’s just awesome to see their hard work pay off,” Libertyville coach Kevin Wall said. “They’re a really tight group of kids. They’re all best friends. I think that chemistry makes my job a lot easier.”
Stevenson won the tiebreaker over Lake Forest to take second place. Junior Nathan Guo, who won the individual conference title in 2025, paced the Patriots with a 73. Each of his teammates carded a 77 or better.
“Wonderful result from everybody,” Stevenson coach John Watson said. “They all had a chance to contribute to our top four scores today. So that’s really exciting.”
Warren surged past Mundelein late to finish fourth at 312, led by senior Jameson O’Neill’s 74.
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“I think today is right where we should be,” Warren coach Dave Zaban said. “In conference matches, I don’t think we did as well as we should have. So today is a really great validation to get fourth place.”
Mundelein, paced by junior Ethan Mason’s 78, was fifth at 315.
“Warren clipped us a little bit,” Mundelein coach Todd Parola said.
Lake Zurich, led by junior Evan Kerr’s 76, was sixth.
“I thought the boys all competed well and played well as a group,” Lake Zurich coach Mike Kolze said. “We lose two valuable seniors, but we have a young group as well, so the future is bright.”
Harris Horowitz is a freelance reporter.