Senior earns SLC player of year with season-high 69
By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
And Mike Ramczyk
In a Southern Lakes Conference golf season that saw Lake Geneva Badger overwhelm the competition, Union Grove senior golf Eric Chambers earned Southern Lakes Conference Player of the Year.
Chambers, a St. Thomas (Minn) recruit, shot a blistering 69 to win the individual Southern Lakes Conference Championship at Ives Grove Golf Course in Sturtevant Monday, May 15. The impressive performance helped Chambers (74.5) earn the top scoring average in the Lakes, a full stroke ahead of Connor Dugan of Badger.
“Eric was outstanding,” Union Grove coach Eric Swanson said. “He only hit one fairway all day, but his approach shots were good and he managed to get up and down a lot when he needed to.”
“This was his lowest round during the high school season, and it couldn’t have happened at a better time as he was a battling a few other players for Conference Player of the Year honors. This 69 earned him that honor, which he has worked extremely hard for. It is great to see his hard work payoff.”
Chambers’ best performance of the season helped the Broncos finish fourth (325), one stroke behind Wilmot. Badger, who had won the previous for Southern Lakes Conference meets this year, made it a clean sweep with a 302.
For Chambers, all the hard work and year-round golf has paid off.
Just one year ago, a scorecard disqualification thwarted his postseason run. This year, he’s motivated to advance to state, and he knows the conference tournament was a solid first step.
“I was really scrambling today,” Chambers said. “I only hit one fairway today. But I had 25 putts. I made five pars and was making putts.”
Chambers said he wasn’t even playing his best golf, but playing on his home course helped.
He tied his personal best at Ives Grove.
“It feels good to be conference champ,” he said. “It was a goal coming into the season. I’ve been practicing the whole year. I’ve worked on the same things I’ve been doing forever.”
Chambers joked that he hopes to sign the right scoreboard this postseason, which begins next week.
“I want to win state,” he said. “It’s going to take under par. This is my year for redemption.”
Brown provides 1-2 punch
While the Badgers rolled, Bronco sophomore Connor Brown was also collecting awards. Brown, who finished with a 77 at the Lakes championship, finished with the sixth-best scoring average in the Lakes this season with a 76.75 to earn second place all-conference honors.
“Connor, outside of a couple of holes, was solid as well,” Swanson said. “He’s been hitting the ball really well lately and this tournament was no exception. He slipped up on a couple of holes, but always managed to get it back on track.
Sam Letsch, meanwhile, shot a season-low 86 for the Broncos.
“Sam was very steady shooting a season-low 86,” Swanson said.
Honorable Mention all-conference performer and junior Taylor Maxwell (93) and Nick Tracy (94) rounded out the Bronco scorers.
“Taylor and Nick both had one solid nine, but were unable to put together a complete round,” Swanson said.
Chambers and Brown proved to be just as dominant Saturday May 13, earning medalist honors the Browns Lake Rider Cup.
The Broncos’ duo shot a 1-under-par 71 at Browns Lake Golf Course in Burlington.
“It was great that Eric and Connor won the event as a pair, but if you asked them they were not pleased with how they played,” Swanson said. “They both struggled with their approach shots, which resulted in way too many pars and not enough birdies.
“Thankfully they did just enough to win. The other groups had some good holes, but were a little inconsistent which hurt their scores.”
Chambers and Brown helped the Broncos (246) finished third in the team standings. Westosha Central (225) won the tournament.
Other Union Grove scorers included Maxwell-Tracy (85) and Letsch-Koch 90.
The Broncos will rely heavily on Chambers and Brown to lead the way in the WIAA regional playoffs that start Tuesday and Wednesday. Sectionals then follow Thursday and Friday.
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