West Hancock honors Bill "Red" Rogers in memorial golf meet

The family of Bill “Red” Rogers stands behind a bench made in his memory at the first hole of Deer Run Golf Course in Hamilton. The West Hancock Invitational was renamed the Bill “Red” Rogers Memorial Invitational Golf Tournament in honor of the long-time Hamilton teacher and coach. Pictured are, from left: Brad Rogers, Trey Rogers, Bonnie Rogers, Bart Rogers, Elle Rogers, Hannah Rogers and Kris Rogers.

The West Hancock boys golf team honored the memory of its former coach by winning the 2007 Bill “Red” Rogers Memorial Invitational Saturday at Deer Run Golf Course.

Senior Zach Rodeffer earned medalist honors to lead the Titans to a 328. West Central was second with a 336, and Brimfield-Elmwood finished third among the 14 teams with a 337.

Rodeffer shot a three-over-par 75, edging Brimfield-Elmwood's Travis Kreiter by one shot. Brimfield-Elmwood's Tom Crow was third with a 78, and Pittsfield's Bryan Bristow defeated Rushville-Industry's Tyler Barr in a playoff for fourth. Both golfers finished with a 79.

Mac Schlicher shot an 83 for West Hancock and finished with the low score among the freshmen golfers who competed in the tournament. Joel Thompson added an 84, and Ty Runge shot an 86.

Barr had the low round among the sophomore golfers, and Kreiter shot the low round among the junior golfers.

The tournament was renamed for Rogers, a coach and teacher at Hamilton since 1962, who died Feb. 18, at the age of 74. Rogers was a member of the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame and the Illinois Golf Coaches Hall of Fame.

Hamilton dropped golf due to financial reasons in 1987, but Rogers was asked to restart the program in 1990. Rogers did and coached the Cardinals to four straight West Central Conference titles and back-to-back state appearances in 1991 and 1992.

Rogers still served as the West Hancock boys golf coach with players from Hamilton, Warsaw and Nauvoo-Colusa until his death. He coached through four years of dialysis treatments, and his final team qualified for the Class A state tournament.

A ceremony was held before the start of the tournament with Hamilton athletic director Dave Dion presenting a plaque to Bonnie Rogers and his family.

“My family and I are very honored to have this tournament carry his name,” Bonnie said. “If Red were here right now he would say (to the golfers) use your heads, play smart and enjoy your day at Deer Run.”

Illini West finished 10th with a 395. Ryan Wilhite shot an 89. Aaron Logan shot a 99. Nathan Trout had a 101, and Ethan Snodgrass finished with a 106.

Southeastern was 11th with a 397. Rickey Ramsey shot an 88. Sean Grosinic had a 97. Dillon Flesner had a 102, and Justin Van Fleet shot a 110.

Southestern

The Suns defeated Liberty 174-214 in a home meet at Tri-County Golf Course near Plymouth. Sean Grosinic was medalist for Southeastern with a 40. Dillon Flesner shot a 43. Justin Van Fleet had a 44. Alexis Slater shot a 47.

Southeastern lost to Unity 167-184 in a home meet. Kyle Bowman from Unity was medalist with a 39.

Southeastern was led by Rickey Ramsey with a 40. Grosinic shot a 46. Dillon Flesner, Logan White and Justin Van Fleet each had a 49.

Southeastern were third at a quadrangular meet at Rushville. Rushville/ Industry won the meet with a 162. Unity was second (163), followed by Pittsfield (166) and Southeastern with a 179.

Jacob Roberts from Rushville was medalist with a 37.

Rickey Ramsey led the Suns with a 42. Logan White shot a 44. Sean Grosinic had a 46, and Kollin Kerker shot a 47.

West Hancock

The Titans girls golf team finished fourth among seven teams at the Rushville Invitational Saturday.

Central won the event with a 360. Williamsville was second with a 380. Rushville-Industry took third with a 415, and West Hancock finished with a 417. Also competing were Beardstown, 434; Rockridge, 441; and Macomb, 472.

Central's Marlene Nall earned medalist honors with a 78.

West Hancock's Emily Mast was sixth overall with a 93. Emma VanArsdale followed with a 101. Shawnee Dickerson shot a 111. Tina Gee fired a 112. Lauren Dorethy added a 116, and Andrea Mast had a 119.