Joe Cermak claimed the 9th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship with a nip-and-tuck 2-up victory over Derek Meinhart at Elgin Country Club.
9th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship May 20-22 • Elgin Country Club (Elgin)
Day Three: Wednesday, May 22
CERMAK’S GOLF RECLAMATION CULMINATES WITH CDGA MID-AM HARDWARE
ELGIN, Ill. – One morning 15 years ago represented the low point of Joe Cermak’s (Mt. Prospect / Pine Meadow GC) golf career. Wednesday morning at Elgin Country Club constituted a peak, as Cermak bested Derek Meinhart (Mattoon / Mattoon G&CC), 2 up, on a blustery morning to claim the 9th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship.
Following a decorated amateur career at St. Patrick High School and Iowa State, Cermak, now 38, was an aspiring professional on PGA Tour Canada. Until...
“One morning I woke up and I couldn’t walk,” Cermak recalled.
Major back surgery “ended [Cermak’s] professional dreams then and there.” Frustrated, he stepped away for the game competitively, taking up hockey as a competitive outlet. However, it didn’t take long for Cermak to be drawn back to the course.
“The game called me back,” Cermak fondly recalled.
Back as an amateur, Cermak “rebuilt” his game, diet and swing in 2013. The ensuing decade featured numerous positive moments, notably earning medalist honors in the 2023 CDGA Amateur Championship at Lake Shore Country Club.
Nothing matched the level of his accomplishment Wednesday, however. After earning the No. 4 seed with an even-par 72 on Monday, Cermak needed to overcome two past event winners (Jake Erickson and Chadd Slutzky) in his three matches to reach the showdown with Meinhart.
Championship Match
(4) Joe Cermak def. (2) Derek Meinhart, 2 up
Day Two: Tuesday, May 21
CERMAK, MEINHART SET FOR MID-AM BATTLE AT ELGIN
ELGIN, Ill. – In a championship that has seen seven different champions in its eight-year existence, another name is sure to be etched into CDGA Mid-Amateur glory at Elgin Country Club. Joe Cermak (Mt. Prospect / Pine Meadow GC) and Derek Meinhart (Mattoon / Mattoon G&CC), both names regularly seen amongst leaderboards at CDGA-sanctioned events, are set to compete for their first titles Wednesday morning in the 9th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship finale.
Cermak, the medalist a year ago in the 103rd CDGA Amateur Championship at Lake Shore Country Club, reached the Quarterfinals in that event before falling, 2 and 1. Less than a year removed, Cermak has returned to CDGA competition with a vengeance, earning the event’s No. 4 seed and besting 2019 CDGA Mid-Am champion Jake Erickson (Chatham / Panther Creek CC), 1 up, on Monday.
Tuesday featured both the Quarterfinal and Semifinal rounds, as Cermak cruised through his morning match by defeating Adam Turner (Galesburg / Soangetaha CC), 4 and 3. Cermak’s reward for his second-round win? Another past champion and a former CDGA Player of the Year in Chadd Slutzky (Deer Park / The Grove CC). A pair of birdies at Nos. 1 and 3 pushed Cermak out to an early 2-up lead. Slutzky’s birdie at the par-3 sixth was the 2017 victor’s lone win on the front nine, as Cermak notched pars on Nos. 7 and 8 to take a 3-up lead at the turn. Withstanding a pair of blows from Slutzky at the 11th and 12th, Cermak stayed afloat by matching Slutzky to maintain his narrow lead through the 17th hole. A perfect tee shot set up another birdie at No. 18 for Cermak to secure his spot in the Championship.
Joining Cermak in Wednesday’s title tilt is another competitor seeking his first CDGA-administered championship victory in Meinhart. Participating in his first championship since his T-15 finish in the 2023 Illinois State Amateur Championship at Bloomington Country Club, Meinhart fired an opening-round 70 Monday morning to earn the No. 2 seed. A Round of 16 showdown with 2019 CDGA Mid-Amateur runner-up Zach Jecklin (Glen Ellyn / Butterfield CC) began in a stalemate, as the two traded pars throughout the opening seven holes. Meinhart caught his groove with four consecutive wins at Nos. 8-11 to eventually take the match 4 & 2.
Meinhart returned to Elgin Tuesday to face off with seventh-seeded Christopher Misiak (Elmhurst / Itasca CC), as the former took care of business in convincing fashion and eventually won the Quarterfinal match, 6 and 5. Seeking his first true adversity of the championship, Meinhart’s Semifinal opponent Joseph Mills (Morrison / CDGA Member’s Club) got out to an early 3-up lead via wins at Nos. 1, 4 and 8. Meinhart battled through, taking a pair back at the par-4 11th and 13th to cut the deficit to 1 down. Needing some magic to close out the match without going to extra holes, Meinhart did just that, winning the 17th with a birdie and punching his ticket to the Final with a par at No. 18.
The first CDGA-administered championship of the 2024 season is set to culminate with the Championship Match between Cermak and Meinhart on Wednesday at 8 a.m. at Elgin Country Club.
MATCH PLAY RESULTS
Semifinals
(4) Joe Cermak def. (8) Chadd Slutzky, 2 up
(2) Derek Meinhart def. (14) Joseph Mills, 1 up Quarterfinals
(8) Chadd Slutzky def. (1) Rick Stewart, 20 holes
(4) Joe Cermak def. (12) Adam Turner, 4 and 3
(2) Derek Meinhart def. (7) Christopher Misiak, 6 and 5
(14) Joseph Mills def. (11) AGreg Bauman, 3 and 1
Day One: Monday, May 20
STEWART’S 66 EARNS MEDALIST HONORS, 1-UP IN 9TH CDGA MID-AM ROUND OF 16
ELGIN, Ill. – It’s been 228 days since the 9th CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball Championship wrapped up the 2023 CDGA Championship slate at Elgin Country Club on October 5.
The offseason, and winter, in the Chicago District came and went, and the 9th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship finally began on Monday, again at Elgin CC. As if the long layoff wasn't enough, Mother Nature decided to add even more time, in the form of an hour and 18-minute weather delay, to a day that was scheduled to feature both stroke-play qualifying and the Round of 16 matches.
Maybe nobody experienced that passage of time on Monday more than Rick Stewart (Park Ridge / Arrowhead GC), who earned stroke-play medalist honors with a majestic 66 on Monday morning. The 54-year-old, part of the second tee time off No. 10, went out in 34, with birdies on Nos. 11, 13 and 14 to turn in 3 under. He then added an eagle 3 on Elgin’s par-5 opening hole, before two more red figures on holes 2 and 4.
Stewart’s record-setting pace was soon halted with three bogeys and two birdies on his final five holes to finish with a 6-under 66. On a day which featured strong, gusting winds across the undulating Elgin design, Stewart’s round would (eventually) finish four shots clear of the rest of the field, as the cut line fell at +3, with a 5-for-2 playoff which took five holes rounding out the final match-play spots in the late afternoon.
After a prolonged break in between stroke and match play, Stewart was met by 2023 Illinois State Mid-Amateur Champion Will Hickey (Burr Ridge / Edgewood Valley), the No. 16 seed. The two traded blows through 14 holes of their match as the sun finally set, with Stewart holding a 1-up lead in the match that will resume on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m. The pair will sort out the final Quarterfinal spot, as they look to join the likes of 2017 Illinois State Mid-Am victor Greg Bauman (Crystal Lake / Biltmore CC) and 2017 CDGA Mid-Amateur champ Chadd Slutzky (Deer Park / Grove The Grove CC) who have already advanced.
Tuesday will feature the Quarterfinal matches in the morning, followed by the Semifinals in the afternoon. The title tilt will be contested on Wednesday morning.
MATCH PLAY RESULTS
Round of 16
(1) Rick Stewart def. (16) Will Hickey, 2 up
(8) Chadd Slutzky def. (9) John Ramsey, 1 up
(12) Adam Turner def. (5) Dan Pondel, 1 up
(4) Joe Cermak def. (13) Jake Erickson, 1 up
(2) Derek Meinhart def. (15) Zach Jecklin, 4 and 2
(7) Christopher Misiak def. (10) Ben Murphy, 2 and 1
(11) Greg Bauman def. (6) Anthony Fowler, 4 and 3
(14) Joseph Mills def. (3) TJ Staples, 5 and 4
Preview
The 111th season of amateur golf championships conducted by the CDGA will kick off with the 9th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship, May 20-22 at Elgin Country Club in Elgin. One 18-hole round of stroke play qualifying and a 16-golfer match play bracket awaits a field featuring 82 of the area's best amateur golfers aged 25 and up.
Schedule
Monday, May 20 The entire field will play 18 holes of stroke play in the morning to determine the low 16 who will advance to match play. The first round will take place in the afternoon.
Tuesday, May 21 The Quarterfinal and Semifinal matches will take place.
Wednesday, May 22 The Championship match will be contested on Wednesday morning.
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The CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship debuted its current format in 2015. Open to CDGA members age 25 or older with a handicap index not exceeding 7.4, the CDGA Mid-Am features an 18-hole stroke play round to determine a 16-player match play bracket. Glenview's John Ramsey is the defending champion, notching his first CDGA Mid-Am crown in 2023 with a 19-hole victory over Chadd Slutzky at Merit Club.
Joe Cermak claimed the 9th CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship with a nip-and-tuck 2-up victory over Derek Meinhart at Elgin Country Club.
Preview
