Evanston Golfer, 9, Wins Chip Competition At National Finals

EVANSTON, IL — A 9-year-old local golfer won a trophy for best chip shots and came away tied for fifth place at the national finals of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition earlier this month. The tournament is held annually before the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club.

Luciano Giangrossi began playing golf at age 2½, and according to the Illinois Junior Golf Association, he has been winning tournaments since the age of 6. He won 16 U.S. Kids Golf local tournaments in 2016 and 2017 before being selected as league MVP and picked for a Chicago All-Star team.

The Drive, Chip and Put national finals are scored based on a 30-point system, with a maximum of 10 points available for each discipline. The player with the farthest drive, the closest cumulative chip shots and closest putts each earned 10 points.

On April 7, Giangrossi won the chip portion of the competition for boys between ages 7 and 9, with his second attempt landing just 1 foot, 3 inches from the hole. He wound up with 17 points overall and a tie for fifth place among the 10 finalists. Each of the competitors had won a regional tournament to qualify, with Giangrossi finishing top at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin.

The overall winner was Conner Ford of Mount Vernon, Kentucky, who took top scores for driving and putting. Ford's top drive was more than 204 yards and his two putts combined to be just 1 foot, 9 inches from the hole.

Giangrossi first hit a golf ball at the Skokie Park District's driving range. His home course later became Foss Park in North Chicago, where his father became a volunteer golf coach, according to the Evanston Review.

To qualify for the 2019 Drive, Chip and Putt finals, Griangrossi won events in Peoria and one in Lemont before winning the regional final. After that he spent several months training at a golf dome in Buffalo Grove and a facility in Evanston. On April 5, Giangrossi and several family members drove 14 hours on April 5 to the illustrious Georgia course, Pioneer Press reported.

During the competition, Giangrossi said he "had butterflies in my stomach the whole time," and his father, Anthony, described the experience as "surreal," according to the Evanston Review. He never got nervous playing sports himself, he said, but it was an entirely different experience to watch his son on the green where Tiger Woods would go on to win his fifth green jacket in dramatic fashion a few days later.

“You don’t figure your 9-year-old son is going to give you the opportunity to watch him play at Augusta National," his father told Pioneer Press. "We are so proud of him, of the way he composed himself and sportsmanship he displayed.”

Several other Chicago area junior golfers qualified for the sixth annual competition among the 80 finalists, according to the Illinois PGA.

“We are thrilled to have four local players qualify for the National Finals at Augusta from our PGA Section,” said Executive Director Carrie Williams.

Lilian She, 9, of Buffalo Grove, makes her first trip to the finals after her older sister last year tied for a fifth place. Joseph Luchtenburg, 13, of West Chicago, began golfing at age 3 and qualified in his fifth attempt. Joshua Pehl, 14, of Sugar Grove, placed first in the 2012 Ryder Cup Youth Skills Challenge at Medinah Country Club.

In addition to golf, Giangrossi is a fan of watching and playing hockey. He would be happy as a professional golfer or hockey player, according to a Drive, Chip & Putt questionnaire. Asked to pick his top three golfing companions in a "dream foursome," Giangrossi chose Tiger Woods, Rickie Fowler ("he's really nice and wears orange, my favorite color") and his father.

Local qualifying begins in May for the next edition of the Drive, Chip and Putt competition. It will be the seventh year for the free event, which is open to boys and girls from ages 7 to 15 and sponsored by the PGA of America, the United States Golf Association and the Masters Tournament.