{"id":43046,"date":"2026-07-27T13:54:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:54:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/43046\/"},"modified":"2026-07-27T13:54:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-27T13:54:13","slug":"josh-gass-wins-illinois-valley-mens-golf-championship-for-first-time-since-2016-shaw-local","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/43046\/","title":{"rendered":"Josh Gass wins Illinois Valley Men\u2019s Golf Championship for first time since 2016 \u2013 Shaw Local"},"content":{"rendered":"

Josh Gass waited on the green with open arms as his sons ran toward him.<\/p>\n

He wrapped them both in a hug when they arrived.<\/p>\n

Gass had waited a decade to celebrate this moment.<\/p>\n

He shot a two-round score of 8-under-par 134 to win the Illinois Valley Men\u2019s Golf Championship on Sunday at Deer Park Golf Club in Oglesby, claiming the crown for the first time since 2016.<\/p>\n

Caleb Dzierzynski, who won in 2023, placed second with a 138, and defending champion Jon Prescott finished third at 140. Four-time champion Baley Lehr was fourth at 140, with Ben Cyr rounding out the top five with a 141.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been 10 years since I won it, so this one feels pretty good,\u201d Gass said. \u201cHopefully I don\u2019t have to wait another 10 years to win again.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut that\u2019s how it goes. There\u2019s so many good players around here, and anybody can win it. It feels really good to win this one.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

Josh Gass hits ball from fairway on the 13th hole of Deer Park Golf Course during the Illinois Valley Men’s Golf Championship on Sunday, July 26, 2026 in Oglesby. (MaKade Rios for Shaw Local)<\/p>\n

Gass put himself in a strong position after shooting a 68 on Saturday at Edgewood Park Golf Club in McNabb, sitting one stroke behind Dzierzynski. Six players shot in the 60s on Saturday, with Lehr also sitting at 68 and Carson Zellers, Mason Kimberley and Troy Bauer at 69.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Caleb being on his home track and being right there with Baley, I knew I was right where I wanted to be,\u201d Gass said. \u201cI could have been a little bit better (Saturday), but that\u2019s the way it goes sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gass birdied two of his first four holes Sunday and shot a 33 on the front nine. He began to pull away on the back nine with birdies on No. 14 and No. 16 as he finished with a 66.<\/p>\n

\u201cI checked (the scores) after nine and on the back nine a little bit,\u201d Gass said. \u201cI knew once I two-putted on 15 and birdied 16 that I could pretty much cruise along to win. It was a solid round all the way through.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gass said he began to change his approach with a comfortable lead on the back nine.<\/p>\n

\u201cThrough 13 when I had a four-shot lead, I usually hit driver on 14, but I laid back a little bit, and it paid off because I made birdie,\u201d Gass said. \u201cIt worked out in my favor. I hit a nice wedge. The wedge was really good this weekend as well as the putter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dzierzynski birdied his first two holes Saturday along with No. 9 before recording five birdies on the back on his way to the first round lead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hit the ball really well,\u201d Dzierzynski said. \u201cI kind of struggled with the putter all weekend, but (Saturday), I hit it close enough where I was able to get some tap-in birdies and played the par 5s a little bit better. Edgewood is my home course, so I feel pretty comfortable there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dzierzynski carded a 1-over 71 on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have my best stuff today,\u201d Dzierzynski said, \u201cbut I grinded it out. Unfortunately, Josh was just too good to catch today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had some close finishes the last couple years. I had a good chance to win, and unfortunately I didn\u2019t get it done. But there\u2019s a lot of good competition here. I\u2019m proud of the way I fought to be able to place.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Caleb<\/p>\n

Caleb Dzierzynski walks across green of the 12th hole at Deer Park Golf Course during the Illinois Valley Men’s Golf Championship on Sunday, July 26, 2026 in Oglesby. (MaKade Rios for Shaw Local)<\/p>\n

Prescott was tied for seventh with a 71 after Saturday\u2019s round. He shot a 69 on Sunday to earn a trophy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith Josh and Baley playing their home course and being three shots ahead (of me), I didn\u2019t think there was much of a chance (for me to win),\u201d Prescott said. \u201cI just tried to climb and see what happens.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt feels good (to place third). It\u2019s always good to take home a piece of hardware.\u201d<\/p>\n

Connor Baker won the A class with a 143 followed by Tucker Hill (149) and Rich Williams (150).<\/p>\n

Jake Knottek won B class with a 154, topping Matt Obmann in a playoff. Mark Prescott took third with a 156.<\/p>\n

In C class, Tyler Hartman won with a 166, Jordan Swietek (170) was second, and Chance Blumhorst (170) was third.<\/p>\n

Spark Larkin (145) won Senior class, Jerry Joiner (148) topped Brian Lehr in a playoff to win Legends class, and Carson Zellers (141) won the Junior class.<\/p>\n

Mendota won the team title by one stroke over Deer Park.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Josh Gass waited on the green with open arms as his sons ran toward him. He wrapped them…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":43047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[44,17040,17039,3529],"class_list":["post-43046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-golf","tag-illinois-valley-front-headlines","tag-newstribune","tag-premium"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/golf\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}