WOOD RIVER – Edwardsville's Ben Tyrell showed he is in solid form to begin the 2017 high school golf season on Thursday.

Tyrell fired a 3-under 69 at the par-72 Belk Park Golf Course to take large-school medalist honors at the Madison County Boys Golf Championship on Thursday, tying with Marquette's Jack Patterson for the lowest score of the day.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

“I played much better than the other day,” Tyrell, a senior, said. “Today I started out pretty good, towards the middle was kind of rough, but at the end, I birdied five of the last six holes, so that helped my score overall; there's a few other things I need to work on, so hopefully we'll keep getting them good.”

Tyrell is also coming back from what could have been a very serious accident during a visit to the Lake of the Ozarks recently; he had to abandon his watercraft while out on the lake when a boat was coming towards him. The boat wound up hitting him in the head; Tyrell had to take stitches to close a wound on his head, but he was otherwise all right.

Article continues after sponsor message

“I'm just happy to be here,” Tyrell said.

Tyrell still feels he needs to work parts of his game. “A little bit of everything,” Tyrell said of what aspects he needs work on. “My ball striking is pretty good right now; a few drives are a little right – I need to work on that a little bit – but my putting is good. I missed a few shorter putts that I should have made, but other than that, my putting's good.”

Conditions on the course were good Thursday, Tyrell felt. “The course was in great shape,” Tyrell said. “The greens were rolling great and the fairways were excellent; I love this course.”

Tyrell's hopes for the remainder of the season are simple: “I hope to win some more tournaments, then we'll see what happens in the postseason,” Tyrell said. “I'll keep trying to lower my scores.”

More like this:

3 days ago - Copeland Key Baseball Player For Oilers, Is A Midwest Members Credit Union Male Athlete Of Month

6 days ago - Domask's Triple-Double Leads No. 3 Illinois To First-Round Win Over Morehead State

Mar 6, 2024 - Arbuthnot Stepping Down As CM Girls Basketball Coach After Four Seasons

Oct 3, 2023 - Ottwell Qualifies For State; Season Ends At Sectionals For Siatos, Hagen - All Three Are Auto Butler Athletes Of The Month For Redbirds' Golf Team

Aug 9, 2023 - Dillon Gerner Is Expected To Be Key Player For Oilers Football Team, He Is Multi-Sport Athlete