Baley Lehr back on top at Illinois Valley Men’s Golf Championship

MENDOTA – On Saturday, Baley Lehr “did everything good” during the first round of the Illinois Valley Men’s Golf Championship at Deer Park Golf Club.

Lehr shot a 6-under-par 64 to give himself a two-stroke lead entering Sunday’s final round.

“I putted good. Hit the ball good. When I missed greens, I got up and down,” Lehr said. “I just did everything well [Saturday].”

While everything didn’t go as well Sunday, Lehr led comfortably from start to finish, shooting 2-over par at Mendota Golf Club to win his fourth IV Men’s Golf title with a two-round score of 4-under 136. Lehr won three in a row from 2018-20.

“It feels good,” Lehr said. “It’s a relief because today was a lot tougher than yesterday, but I grinded through. I’m just glad I got through it on top.”

Lehr beat T.J. Templeton by two strokes.

“It’s been a long time [since I placed],” Templeton said. “It’s something a little different for me this year.”

After shooting a 71 in the opening round, Templeton said he had no thoughts of chasing down Lehr in the final round.

“When Baley Lehr is up six or seven strokes, you don’t catch Baley, so I was just wanting to play my own game and just go out there and make good swings and see what happens,” Templeton said.

Lehr recorded an eagle on No. 3 and birdied No. 8 en route to an even-par 35 on the front nine. He parred seven of his final nine holes with bogeys on Nos. 13 and 14.

“This course, for me, is a little trickier,” Lehr said. “It’s just hard to commit to shots a lot out here. I’m pretty used to Deer Park. I don’t play out here too often. It’s tougher to commit to shots, and it was just more of a grind than it was yesterday.”

Lehr led by five or six strokes for most of the back nine but said the lead didn’t factor into how he played.

“Honestly, I wasn’t paying attention,” Lehr said. “I didn’t look at the scoreboard until before my putt on the last hole. I just tried to stick to my own game. The goal today was to shoot par or slightly better. I felt like out here that’d be good enough. I shot 2 over, but I grinded through it.”

While there wasn’t much drama about who would win, Templeton finished strong to tighten the leaderboard. Templeton birdied four of his final eight holes.

“It feels pretty good,” Templeton said. “I hit it good. I struggled in the middle of the round, but it feels good to finish the way that I did and make a few birdies down the stretch. We’ve been working hard at it. I’m glad to see it pay off.”

“Just keeping my cool [was key]. That’s always been my struggle is keeping my cool. I thought about what I was doing, kept my head down and kept grinding and see what was going to happen. It was a nice finish for me.”

Templeton said putting was key to his closing surge.

“I’ve been working hard,” he said. “My buddy Joe Cravatta, I play a lot of golf with him, and he said, ‘Hey, if we’re going to work on putting, let’s work on putting.’ He’s helped me a ton. He had me doing all sorts of drills I’ve never done before. He’s helped me so much. I’m grateful for it, because he got me all the way to second place.”

Defending champion Caleb Dzierzynski placed third at 140, while Josh Gass and Rick Krumscheid tied for fourth at 142.

“It’s nice to see I can be consistent and have a chance to win,” Dzierzynski said. “Obviously, I would have liked to win, but to play in a field as strong as this and finish in the top three, I’m still pretty happy with the performance.”

Dzierzynski played in the final group with Lehr, Gass and Alex Blumenshine after shooting a 68 on Saturday. He was 2 over Sunday.

“I played pretty good overall,” Dzierzynski said. “Today I made some mistakes, more mentally, picking the wrong club. I hit a couple out. But I scrapped and played pretty well. Baley played well. It was going to be a tough task to catch him today.”

Dzierzynski and Gass were tied for third going to No. 18. Dzierzynski parred the final hole, while Gass got a double bogey.

“I hit a driving iron off the tee, and I got kind of caught up on the slope and had a pretty tough downhill wedge shot,” Dzierzynski said. “I pushed it out, but my chipping was pretty good all day. I got it up and down. He had a tough up and down from just beyond the sand. It was nice to finish third, but he played pretty good today, too.”

Carter Fenza, Doug Pinter and Jon Prescott tied for sixth at 143, while Blumenshine and Mason Kimberley tied for ninth at 144.

Jacob Ursua and Jacob Armstrong tied for the A flight title, with Armstrong winning in a playoff. Taylor Joyce won B flight by seven strokes with a 146. Beau Fancher won C flight.

Fenza claimed the Junior (21 and under) title with a 143 to beat Ethan Hanaman and Drake Kaufman by three strokes. Spark Larkin took the Senior class. Krumscheid won the Legends class.

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Baley Lehr (right) shakes hands with Josh Gass after winning the Illinois Valley Men's Golf Championship on Sunday, July 28. 2024, at Mendota Golf Club. (Scott Anderson)