Noah Griffith was excited to play the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Meet at one of his favorite golf courses, and the Rochelle Township High School senior wasted no time shooting his way to the top of the 60-player leaderboard on Wednesday.
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LASALLE — Noah Griffith was excited to play the Northern Illinois Big 12 Conference Meet at one of his favorite golf courses, and the Rochelle Township High School senior wasted no time shooting his way to the top of the 60-player leaderboard on Wednesday.
Griffith cruised through the 18-hole competition, leading the Hubs varsity golf team with a 75 at Senica’s Oak Ridge Golf Club to finish first in the NIB-12 West and second overall in the conference. Kaneland’s Will Marshall took the NIB-12 East crown and won the overall title with a 69.
“I was thrilled with the way I played,” Griffith said. “It was an honor. I was hoping to medal, but it took me by surprise when I found out I placed second overall and first on our side of the conference.”
The Hubs placed ninth out of 10 teams in the NIB-12, shooting 378 to beat out LaSalle-Peru for the No. 9 spot. Senior Garrett Glosser scored 91 for Rochelle, while juniors Brady Shank (105) and Hayden Jones (107) rounded out the team’s top four scores on Wednesday. Senior Tyler Nalley and junior Ryan Friestad added respective scores of 118 and 119.
The story of the day for Rochelle was the performance of Griffith, who said his familiarity with the course boosted his confidence prior to entering the competition. Nearly every facet of Griffith’s game was working on Wednesday, particularly his play from the tee box and his touch on the greens.
“I was putting very well, and I was hitting the ball well off the tee,” he said. “My approach shots could’ve been better, but overall I thought they were pretty good. I sunk a lot of longer putts which saved me a couple of strokes.”
Rochelle will return to Senica’s Oak Ridge this weekend for the LaSalle-Peru Invitational before journeying to the Mendota Golf Club for IHSA Class 2A Regional play on Tuesday, Oct. 3. Griffith has solidified his role as one of Rochelle’s top varsity golfers, and the senior will need some support from his teammates if the Hubs look to extend their season next week.
“Playing well really boosted my confidence going into regionals,” Griffith said. “As a team, we just need to figure out the little things and play with more consistency. We’ll have to keep grinding to play well on Tuesday.”
