Local Men’s Golf: Prairieview repeats at Lincoln Highway, Mills earns medalist honors

STERLING – Joe Mills, competing for Deer Valley Golf Club, had an emotional moment on Sunday after winning medalist honors by one stroke at this weekend’s 102nd annual Men’s Lincoln Highway Golf Tournament at Emerald Hills.

“It feels really good,” the first-time winner said. “My grandpa [Wilbur] played in this tournament way back, probably World War II times; so really neat to think about that.

“It’s nice to keep the family tradition going.”

Mills finished at 7-under-par 209 to edge 2020 and 2021 champion Jason Wombacher (210) of Prairieview.

Prairieview ran away with a fifth straight team title after scoring +112 in the best-against-bogey format tournament. Emerald Hill (+74) was runner-up and Timber Creek (+69) was third.

Emerald Hill’s Jarred Hippen (+24, 211) was the flight one winner, and Mendota’s Jon Prescott (+23, 213) was flight one runner-up.

Mills and Wombacher were in Sunday’s final group with Sunset’s Adam Marshall and Deer Valley’s Jason Welker. Welker (+24, 211), last year’s winner, won the third flight and Marshall (+21, 217) won the second flight.

Mills (103-106) said he played really well Saturday but struggled on his first nine holes Sunday before finishing strong with three straight birdies to close it out.

Mills, a Morrison native and Northern Illinois University grad, figured he was close with Wombacher and needed his last putt to tie it. It turned out to be the winning putt.

“Nice, long, downhill putt to clinch it, so that was a surprise,” he said. “I just kind of stuck with it all day and kept my head up and ended up with a pretty good score.”

Wombacher said Prarieview had another solid team after its fifth straight Lincoln Highway title.

“We had a lot of good players, and a lot of good players that aren’t even on the team,” he said. “We try to play as good as we can and try to help everybody out and just take care of ourselves and count them up at the end.”

Also scoring for Prairieview after Wombacher’s +28 were Trent Snodgrass (+15), Andrew Canfield (+21), Ryan Jahr/Zach Tucker (+16), Scott Aken (+12) and Trent Eddy (+20), the flight six winner.

Wombacher credited Mills after his win.

“We both birdied the last three holes and he got me by one, so it was a lot of fun,” he said. “Emerald Hill did a great job, and the course is in great shape.”

102 annual Men’s Lincoln Highway golf tournament

at Emerald Hills in Sterling (Best-against-Bogey format)

Team scores: 1. Prairieview, +112; 2. Emerald Hill, +74; 3. Timber Creek, +69; 4. Deer Valley, +49; 5. Mendota, +45; 6. Fairways, +43; 7. Indian Oaks, +38; 8. Sunset, +23; 9. Emerald Hill 2, -4; 10. Shady Oaks, -56; 11. Lost Nation, -80.

Medalist: Joe Mills, DV, 209

Medalist runner-up: Jason Wombacher, Pr., 210

Prairieview: Trent Snodgrass +15, Andrew Canfield +21, Wombacher +28, Ryan Jahr/Zach Tucker +16, Scott Aken +12, Trent Eddy +20

Emerald Hill: Jarred Hippen +24, Nick Olds +4, Cody Britt +17, Trevor Sisson +17, Mason Hubbard +16, Scott Fischer -4

Timber Creek: Cole Rockman +15, Luke Hofmann +14, Ryan Harrison +18, Alex Harrison +8, Joel Kipping +12, Mason Weigle +2

Deer Valley: Mills +28, Ben Sondgeroth +9, Jason Welker +24, Todd Nelson -13, Dave Pilgrim +1, Mike Batten E

Mendota: Jon Prescott +23, Craig McConville +8, Troy Bauer +9, Patrick Goy +7, Ethan Hanaman +5, Cody Phalen -7

Fairways: Jon Woeppel +12, Ian Metzger +14, Josh Johnson +18, Jared Johnson -4, George Webber +3, Alex Dyer E

Indian Oaks: Matt Davis +6, Kyle Davis +17, Payton Gates +4, Mike Mason -3, Riley Nelson +7, Louis Faiver +3

Sunset: Carson Buck +7, Adam Marshall +21, Brian Weidman +7, Mike Berogan -3, Nate Bramm -12, Hunter Schultz +3

Emerald Hill 2: Heath Warner +2, Gregg Petrosky +5, Zach Rehmert +1, Austin Cook -3, Eli Anderson -9, Trevor Dir E

Shady Oaks: Wesley Wilson +6, Sam Klein -12, Conor Leffelman -23, Matt Welty +1, Chad Noble -20, Sparky Larkin -8

Lost Nation: Ryan Harrison E, Jeff Heintzelman -7, Alex Frey -20, Luke Phillips -14, Ashton Gates -19, Rick Fustin -20

Flight winners: F1, Hippen, +24; F2, Marshall, +21; F3, Welker, +24; F4, Sisson, +17; F5, Hubbard, +16; F6, Eddy, +20.