AURORA — Success off the tee box and on the greens enabled sophomore Alex Dyer to take second place individually and lead the Rochelle Hub varsity golf team to fourth out of 13 schools during the Aurora Central Catholic Charger Invitational at Phillips Park Golf Course on Saturday.

Dyer fired a 4-over-par 75 and was one of two players to medal for the Hubs at the 18-hole tournament, which featured several area schools including Ottawa, Yorkville and Plano. Junior Ian Metzger medaled in eighth place with a 7-over-par 78 as Rochelle (9-2, 4-0 Interstate 8) recorded a final team score of 334. In addition to his success off the tees and on the greens, Dyer said that a calm mental state allowed him to finish strong over the final few holes.

“I was able to stay in my head and keep the nerves away toward the end of the round,” Dyer said. “It was a very driver-friendly course, but once I moved down toward the green, I knew I couldn’t miss too far left or right because out-of-bounds would come into play. I was able to hit my driver very well and I putt the ball very well. I thought the greens were very simple.”

Sophomores Owen Carmichael and Johnny Chadwick rounded out the top four scores for the Hubs on Saturday, with Carmichael shooting an 88 and Chadwick carding a 93. Senior Chris Hickey added 103 and sophomore Connor Lewis totaled 106 for the Hubs, who will conclude Interstate 8 Conference play with a home match against Ottawa at Fairways Golf Course on Tuesday. A win would result in Rochelle finishing undefeated in conference matches this fall.

“I’m playing with a lot of confidence right now, especially with the conference meet next week and then regionals,” Dyer said. “I’m hoping that I can qualify for sectionals and state. We have a lot of good talent this year and we’re posting good scores as a team. Everybody is really confident right now and I feel like we can compete with any team in our conference.”