Local golf: Experienced field to tee it up in Mendota

There will be lots of familiar faces teeing it up at the 101st Men’s Lincoln Highway Tournament this weekend at Mendota Country Club, as four former champions highlight the field.

There are also 17 of the top 23 finishers from last year’s tournament, and the winners and runners-up in each of the top five flights from 2022 are in the field as well for the 54-hole best-against-bogey tournament on Saturday and Sunday.

PrairieView’s Jason Wombacher saw his two-year run as champion end with a second-place finish last year, but he’ll once again tee it up for the Byron club. He’s joined on that team by 2010 champ Andrew Canfield and Trent Snodgrass, who both tied for third last year and won the second and third flights, respectively; and Tim Marcum, who tied for 10th and won the fourth flight. Trent Eddy tied for 18th last year, after tying for fifth in 2021. Newcomer Mike Lange will round out that team this year.

As the host team last year, PrairieView had two teams, and they finished 1-2 in the standings. The Byron team has won the last three titles, and four of the last five; Shady Oaks took the team trophy in 2019.

Timber Creek took third last year, and was the only other team to finish in positive numbers. The Dixon club brings back five of the six players from last year, including Luke Hoffman, who tied for 10th and won the fifth flight; Scott Hargrave, who tied for 13th and took second in the fourth flight; and Ryan Harrison, who tied for 21st overall. LHT veterans Joel Kipping and Bob Venier (the 2021 Senior Lincoln Highway champ) will also tee it up for Timber Creek, as will newcomer Alex Harrison.

Emerald Hill, which finished fourth last year, will be led by Jarred Hippen, who tied for third last year and took second in the first flight to Wombacher. Trevor Sisson, the 2021 individual runner-up who tied for 13th and was runner-up in the second flight last year, will also return, while the Sterling club features four fresh faces in their first Lincoln Highway competition: Jacob Rude, Mason Hubbard, Austin Cook and Cody Britt.

Joe Mills leads Deer Valley, which placed fifth as a team in 2021; he comes in off a sixth-place finish last year and a third-place finish in 2021. Jason Welker will tee it up for the Deer Grove team this year, after tying for 13th and taking second in the fifth flight last year for Emerald Hill. Dave Pilgrim, Mike Batten and Heath Warner also return to the lineup, and newcomer Ben Sondgeroth rounds out the roster.

Sunset, sixth last year, once again features LHT stalwart and 2003 champion Brian Weidman, who won the Senior Lincoln Highway back in May for the second time in three years. Tournament veterans Adam Marshall, Carson Buck and Scott Aken (tied for 21st last year) are also back for the Mt. Morris squad, along with newcomers Hunter Schultz and Andy Eckardt.

Shady Oaks’ first-flight golfer is 2019 LHT champ Cole Ruckman, who tied for eighth last year. Matt Welty and Chad Noble also return to the lineup from last year. Clay Partington, Wes Wilson and Jeffrey Dagenais will play in the tournament for the first time for the Amboy team.

Lost Nation out of Dixon brings back four of its six golfers from a year ago in Ryan A. Harrison Luke Phillips, Jeff Heintzelman and Alex Frey. Luke Kline and Randall Glover round out the squad.

Fairways out of Rochelle has three returning players in Jon Woeppel, George Weber and Ian Metzger; Weber tied for 18th a year ago. Josh Johnson, Dave Shaw and Garrett Burdin are new to the team.

Indian Oaks is led by Matt Davis and Kyle Davis in the top two flights; Kyle Davis placed 17th last year. The Shabbona club also has returning players Louis Faivre and Mike Mason, while Justin Becker and Sean Haag will also compete this weekend.

Mendota will field two teams as the host club. The first team is led by Jon Prescott, who tied for 10th last year, and Troy Bauer, who was runner-up in the third flight. Eric Elsner is back from last year, while Craig McConville, Pat Goy and Randy Politsch will also play for Mendota 1.

Miguel Bermudez and Pat Kerchner are returning players for Mendota 2, as is venerable LHT veteran Spark Larkin, who has played for Shady Oaks in years past. Cody Phalen, Ethan Hanaman and Steve Wasmer round out that lineup.