DEER GROVE — Players on the Rochelle Hub varsity golf team navigated deep bunkers and large greens during the 2024 Rocket Invitational at Deer Valley Golf Course on Saturday, when the purple and white recorded a third-place finish in the Large Division with a score of 358.

Junior Ian Metzger led the Hubs in the 18-hole tournament on Saturday, shooting a 6-over-par 78 including a 1-over-par 37 on the back nine to medal in second place individually. Rochelle brought six players to the tournament including first-year sophomores Johnny Chadwick and Connor Lewis, who turned in scores of 104 and 106 out of the fifth and sixth varsity slots. 

“We’ve seen Ian progress from being the fifth player in our varsity lineup as a freshman to being our number one player,” head coach Glen Mehrings said. “That’s a credit to his willingness to learn… He’s really trying to give himself the best chance at success every time he goes out there. Ian fine tunes his small mistakes and he hates repeating the same mistakes twice. He’s an honest player in that he looks at his weaknesses and he works on correcting them.”

Sophomore Alex Dyer tied for fifth place individually, shooting a 9-over-par 81 that featured a 1-over-par 37 on the front nine. Sophomore Owen Carmichael fired a 95 with 42 on the back nine, while senior Chris Hickey rounded out the varsity lineup with a 111. Five schools including Dixon, Sterling, Rock Falls and Woodstock competed in the Large Division on Saturday.

“Alex is getting smarter and making better choices on the course,” Mehrings said. “He’s adding more tools to his toolbox and he’s eliminating big numbers on his scorecard. He’s becoming a more consistent putter and his misses are usually only one way. He’s made a similar jump from his freshman year to his sophomore year that Ian made from his freshman year to his sophomore year. Ian and Alex feed off of each other and they learn from each other.”

The Rocket Invitational concluded a successful first week of contest for the Hubs (2-1, 1-0 Interstate 8), who defeated both LaSalle-Peru and Freeport in match play. Rochelle will return to Fairways Golf Course for a nonconference match with Mendota and Amboy on Wednesday before heading south for the LaSalle-Peru Invitational at Senica’s Oak Ridge on Thursday.

“Our kids are resilient enough to fight back and they have the skills to make birdies,” Mehrings said. “We had some young players step into our varsity lineup on Saturday and they fought their way through. Johnny [Chadwick] had a birdie on the 17th hole and Connor [Lewis] didn’t have any bogeys. Our sophomores need to play more courses and 18-hole tournaments because we need to be six men deep. We’re trying to figure out who our top six players are right now.”