Glory Days with Lake Forest High State Champion Golfer Ryan Linton

It wasn’t exactly a Kodak moment.

After chowing down on burgers and fries from Steak ’n Shake, a food coma took over.

“Everyone fell asleep going home and they took a picture of all of us passed out and holding the state trophy,” recalled Ryan Linton.

The food-based celebration came after  state championship in golf and an individual title for Linton on a less than ideal day in downstate Bloomington. Together it made for one lasting memory.

“We played through 40-degree winds,” Linton said. “It made it more of mental game than a physical one.”

Mind Over Matter

Lake Forest golf coach Jim Matheson wasn't worried about Linton's mental game down the stretch. He had full confidence in the senior.

“On the golf course, he was and is today the most focused player I have ever coached,” Matheson said. “He just focused on what he had to do.”

Despite the miserable conditions, Linton set his mind to shoot below par on the back nine at the Den in Bloomington. He fired off four birdies on the 10th, 12th, 14th and 15th holes.

“That back nine was the most intense and focused golf I had ever played,” Linton said. “When I got to the 17th, I thought, ‘I'm going to win this.’ ”

He still had a hurdle on that par-three hole.

“That's an island green. You can make a 10 on that hole. There is no place to bail,” said Linton, who did par the hole and went on to par the 18th.

Linton blitzed the back nine with a 71, which made up for a first-day score of 74 and catapulted him from a tie for sixth place on Friday to a state win on Saturday. Linton’s 145 bested Rockford Guilford’s Brad Benjamin and St. Charles East’s D.J. Magee, who tied for second at 149. Benjamin, DeKalb’s Kaleb Holt and Peoria Notre Dame’s Matt Ryba had shared the first-round lead with 72s.

“It was a great way to cap my season,” Linton said.

On that state day, Linton was the only senior shooting for the Scouts. Kyle Willis, Kyle Post, Kyle Timson and Danny Dolan were all juniors, while Andrew Wyatt was a sophomore.

A Team of Destiny

The 2004-05 Lake Forest team was expected to be a great one. The Scouts made people notice almost immediately when Linton shot an amazing 63 at the Antioch golf course. He was matched by teammate Willis. The Scouts blew up the course with a brilliant 281 team score.

“That was 16-under par,” Linton said. “That's got to be a state record. That meant anything was possible. That set the tone for the state title.”

It was almost a perfect season for Linton and company. Matheson recalled another bad weather day at the NSC meet.

“That was our only loss as we lost the conference title to Stevenson,” Matheson “We should have never played. It was horrible conditions.”

The regional was held right at Lake Bluff. The Scouts shot a 301 and beat that same Stevenson team by 12 strokes. Linton was the regional champion with a 72. He had help from Timson (74), Dolan (76) and 79s from Willis and Post.

The sectional called for a visit to Rock Island. The Scouts shot better than they did on their home course to claim this title, posting a 294 to win the sectional by five strokes. The top four scores for this state champion came right in order. Willis (72), Post (73), Linton (74) and Timson (75) led the way. In addition, Wyatt (77) and Dolan (78) also played well.

Go West, Young Man

The success paid off handsomely the next fall for Linton when he earned a golf scholarship to the University of Southern California.

“That's something for a kid from the North to go to a California school,” Matheson said. “We are at such a disadvantage because of the weather.”

If the weather was not enough of a change, Linton struggled to maintain some sort of balance in his life.

“It definitely demanded more of your time,” Linton said. “I was playing from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day. I was taking my classes up until 11 p.m.”

Linton’s best season came his senior year (2008-09) when he played in 21 tournaments, averaging a 75 and a low round of 69.

Still Pursuing the Dream

Skip ahead to 2011, and Linton suffered injuries to his shoulder in a car accident. He went through successful surgery on his left shoulder in December.

“It's a blessing in disguise,” he said. “It's new motivation to make it on the tour.”

Linton is camped out near Pinehurst, N.C., where he practices his game at Forest Creek Golf Club. His professional career has been highlighted by an eighth-place finish in the Caburrus Classic in September 2011 playing on the E-Golf Tour.

He still has ties to the Lake Forest area, making sure his high school coach know he’s appreciated.

“Jim Matheson was an awesome coach,” Linton said. “He was more of a manager.”

There also is a loyal sponsor in town. That's  and owner Rick Mancuso.

 is also where Linton played both basketball and football.

“I was kind of big for a golfer,” he said. “I was 190 pounds as a freshman.”

Maybe it was that size that scared off some of his high school opponents.

“He was intimidating,” Matheson said. “He was a little larger than life.”