Young Golfers Get Into Tourney Swing

As an unofficial start to summer on the fairways, 57 young golfers from the North Shore area competed in the 47^th annual Al McLean Junior Open Championship at Wilmette Golf Club on Wednesday.

Despite rainy conditions, every golfer,  ages 11-19, completed the 18-hole round, with some taking home prizes.

“Our junior golf program starts about this time each year,” said Jamie Locke, club manager and resident PGA pro. “A lot of the kids that are playing in [the Al McLean championship] started in Wilmette; others are coming from different neighborhoods.”

Winnetka’s Jack Junge, who will be a freshman at New Trier in August, shot 75 to tie for the low round of the day on Wilmette’s par-70 course. He finished fourth in the tournament’s Junior Division (ages 14-16) after a playoff with three other competitors.

“I was definitely hitting a lot of fairways,” Junge said. “My putting wasn’t that great, I missed a lot of short putts. But I was hitting it pretty accurate and I was happy with 75.”

Connor Maytnier won the playoff to take home first place in the Junior Division. Skyler Levine shot 76 to win the Freshman Division (ages 11-13) while Wilmette’s Tom Kennedy fired a 75 in winning the Senior Division (ages 17-19).

The annual tournament is named after the late Al McLean, a former resident of Wilmette who died at the age of 22. McLean was an accomplished golfer and was named team captain of Northwestern University’s golf team while a senior in 1964. He won the 1965 Midwest Amateur Championship shortly before his death.

Since 1966, the tournament has been hosted by the Wilmette Golf Club. In the competition's first year, the young golfers played four rounds over three days and the entry fee was $8.

“This tournament used to be a little bigger, but there are just so many playing opportunities now available for kids,” said Locke, who is in his first year as head pro at the golf club.

In 2001 the tournament drew 350 golfers from the Chicago area, but such organizations as the Illinois Junior Golf Association and the Mid-American Junior Golf Tour sponsor a number of other tournaments for junior golfers.  

While Locke is still adjusting to his new role at Wilmette, he says attracting more players to the tournament will be a priority in the future.

“As the seasons go on, I’m going to try to pick it up,” he said. “I think it can be a premiere junior event again.”