Sterling senior, sophomore teammate advance

The Golden Warriors fell seven strokes short of making their third consecutive appearance at the 2A state meet as a team, but Blackburn will be joined this weekend at Normal's Weibring Golf Club by teammate Ryan Hurley.

Blackburn fired a 7-over-par 79, good for runner-up individually at the Class 2A Belvidere North Sectional on Monday at Timber Pointe Golf Club. The two-time regional medalist admitted to mixed emotions after his round.

"It's a little strange," Blackburn said. "We came so close as a team, and it's kind of disappointing. I'm still going down as an individual, but before the team has been there with you. Ryan and I are on our own now, and we're in control of our own destiny at state."

With the wind sweeping across the open countryside and temperatures in the mid-50s, Blackburn and the rest of the field battled the conditions all day. After playing the first three holes at 4-over par, Blackburn notched pars on the next seven holes, then birdied No. 11. He finished his final seven holes in 3-over, taking second place behind Ottawa's Lane Barbier, who was medalist with a 77.

"My game plan was to lay up, play it safe and be conservative, just get my 76 to make it out," Blackburn said. "When I started bogey-par-triple bogey, I got to the fourth hole and just started playing the type of golf that got me to this point. I didn't expect it to be this windy, but I settled in through the middle of the round and got some solid scores down."

His sophomore teammate was aiming for that same 76, and Hurley also had to adjust his thinking when he gauged the conditions. He matched Blackburn's 40 through the front nine, and was buoyed when one of his coaches told him 86 might be the number to qualify for state.

"I didn't know for sure, so I just played the best I could," said Hurley, whose 84 was the third-best score among the advancing individuals not on the top three teams. "I saw a lot of scores in the 100s come in, but I was still nervous until my coaches told me I was officially in. I felt more relief than anything else, and now I've got another week to play golf this season."