ROCHELLE — Junior Ian Metzger fired a new season-best score for nine holes on Thursday, when the Rochelle Hub varsity golf team hosted Genoa-Kingston at Fairways Golf Course.

Metzger birdied four holes and finished with a 3-under-par 33 as the Hubs defeated the Cogs 163-175 to end a two-match losing streak. Sophomore Alex Dyer followed with a 39 for the Hubs (10-3, 4-1 Interstate 8), who will play their final dual match of the season next Tuesday evening, when the Hubs welcome in the DeKalb Barbs for their Senior Night contest.

“Ian’s consistently our low man and that’s hard to do,” head coach Glen Mehrings said. “He’s right up there with some of the best players we’ve had over the last 30 years and he’s only a junior, so we’re excited to see how things pan out for him as a senior. He sets high goals and he works hard. He reaps the benefits of his hard work and he’s a great example for others.”

The Hubs fielded eight varsity players for the second consecutive meet. Rochelle’s depth was on display Thursday evening, as sophomores Preston Borris and Trenton Cunningham carded scores of 45 and 46 to finish as the third and fourth-lowest scorers for the Hubs. Sophomores Johnny Chadwick and Connor Lewis each recorded 47 for the Hubs, who will head east to Kishwaukee Country Club on Monday morning for the Interstate 8 Conference tournament. 

“Our top two players led our team tonight and they hit the ball well,” Mehrings said. “We had some help from the lower end of our varsity lineup and that was good to see because we’re winding down our season and we’ll have 12 players going to Kishwaukee on Monday, so we wanted our kids to have some good competition.”