Christmas 1—MONTICELLO — Will Ross realized early in his round Wednesday morning at Monticello Golf Club that someone was in for a memorable day.
The 2023 Monticello High School graduate just didn’t think it would be him.
Ross played even on the par-4 first hole. Kross Reynolds, a now-former teammate who will be a Sages junior later this year, recorded a birdie.
“Maddux (Quick) started talking on behalf of Kross a little bit,” said Ross, referencing another former Monticello teammate who was also playing. “I was like, ‘OK, I see how it is.’ I thought, ‘This is going to be the round of Kross’ life.'”
Reynolds did well overall, playing just the front nine to a total of 2-over 38.
But it was Ross who made the biggest splash.
The future Parkland College golfer established a Monticello Golf Club 18-hole record by shooting 10-under 62. He surpassed a mark previously held by Phil Ahlrich, who shot 63 sometime in the 1980s.
“It means a lot to have the course record at Monticello. I’ve been playing out there with my grandpa since I was 6 or 7,” said Ross, who estimates he’s played “at least 50 rounds a summer” at the course during the last few years.
Ross’ grandfather, Steve Schilling, just happened to be in the course clubhouse when Ross concluded his historic round.
“I walked in there and put the scorecard down on the table, and he’s like, ‘No way,'” Ross said. “He was like, ‘The course record is a 59.’ That’s the urban tale I’ve been told since I was 8.”
Speaking with a couple individuals who were more in the know, however, eventually led to confirmation that Ross indeed was the new 18-hole record-holder.
“It’s a pretty special course to me, personally, playing out there all the time during the summers and with my buddies,” Ross said. “It means a lot to say I’ve shot the lowest round on that course.”
Ross sat at 1-under through four holes before going on a tear through most of the course’s remaining 14 holes.
He birdied the par-5 fifth hole, then booked an eagle on the par-4 sixth. Birdies followed on the par-4 seventh and ninth holes, sandwiching his lone bogey of the day on the par-3 eighth.
“I hit 4-wood (on the sixth hole) and I ended up long, and I was like, ‘How is this possible?’ Because it wasn’t even windy,” Ross said. “The pin was bottom right (on the green). The putt’s impossible to stop from above coming back down.
“I chipped it and was like, ‘It’s tracking the hole, going pretty fast.’ And it hit the pin and went in. I was like, ‘Oh, gosh, here we go.'”
Ross’ response to his single bogey of the round was to get “a little angry” and pummel his ensuing ninth-hole tee shot right down the middle of the fairway, leading to another birdie.
“That helped a little bit,” Ross said. “It helps to get your confidence back after a bogey.”
Ross birdied the par-4 10th and 12th holes, the par-5 13th and 14th holes and the par-3 17th hole on the back nine, parring the other four holes. He carded 31 on both the front nine and back nine.
“I probably realized on 17 (what I was accomplishing),” Ross said. “I didn’t know what the course record was before, actually. … You can ask Maddux, I started panicking a little bit.
“I was like, ‘Just get it on the green on 17. It’s a par-3. And I got it (on) and sank a 25-foot putt.’
Ross said he’ll “never forget” the look on his grandfather’s face after setting the day’s scorecard in front of his longtime playing partner.
This 62 comfortably surpasses Ross’ previous career-best total for 18 holes, a 65 that he authored at the UI Blue Course in Savoy.
Ross was a three-time News-Gazette All-Area boys’ golf first-team selection during his high school career. He helped Monticello qualify for the IHSA Class 1A boys’ state tournament each of the last two school years, leading them in scoring amid an eighth-place finish in 2021 and a seventh-place showing in 2022. Ross placed 16th in the 2021 1A individual standings and tied for 13th on the same list in 2022.
Ross has stayed busy on the golf front since becoming a high school graduate in May.
He’s recently played in a qualifying tournament for the 92nd Illinois State Amateur Championship, as well as in the State Farm Youth Classic showcase. Ross ranked third in the latter event’s 8B division — the highest level offered — shooting a two-round 148 at Weibring Golf Club in Normal to finish one stroke off the lead.
Ross also is working at Urbana Country Club this summer before he joins a nationally-recognized Parkland golf program in the fall.
“I’m really excited to be going with Parkland,” Ross said. “I’ve kind of felt like I could use more competitive surroundings to better myself, and I’m excited to prove myself at Parkland.”