Will Hickey, less than a month after moving to Illinois, claimed the 31st Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship at Biltmore Country Club.
Day Two: Tuesday, Aug. 22
NORTH BARRINGTON, Ill. - Up until early August, it was impossible to imagine Will Hickey (Burr Ridge) winning the 31st Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship.
It wasn’t that his game was lacking, or that he couldn’t withstand the pressure cooker that is elite amateur golf. It was that he didn’t meet the most simple requirement to compete in the event.
He didn’t live in Illinois.
Related Links: (Scoring) / (Photo Gallery)
Hickey, 45, and his family relocated from Minnesota to Illinois, where he grew up, mere weeks before the first tee shots flew Monday at Biltmore Country Club. What Hickey describes as a “whirlwind” stretch culminated with him hoisting hardware in his first competitive event since the move, as his 6-under-par 207 total through 54 holes bested Maxwell Scodro (Chicago), Andrew Price (Lake Bluff) and Charlie Waddell (Kenilworth) by one stroke on Tuesday.
Despite the new surroundings, Hickey entered the event confident in his chances. His game was in “pretty good shape,” he was familiar with high-level golf having played in Minnesota events and he knew many of the players in the field through his brother, mid-am stalwart Brian Hickey (Burr Ridge).
“I’ve had the pleasure of playing against the likes of [defending State Mid-Am champ] Chadd Slutzky, [2023 CDGA Mid-Am champ] John Ramsey and Charlie Waddell before,” Hickey said. “Those guys are incredible golfers.
“My goal was to finish somewhere in the top 10. I felt comfortable with how I was playing, I felt I could do it.”
Through 36 holes, though, those expectations had been ramped up a notch, as Hickey stood only two shots behind Scodro following Monday’s first day of action. Playing in the final group alongside Scodro and Price, Hickey birdied Nos. 1 and 2 to kickstart his final round and strengthen his belief.
“The first couple holes, I hit great shots,” Hickey said. “The birdie on No. 1 settled the nerves even more. I birdied No. 2 and then I had great looks at birdie on most of the holes on the front side.”
Hickey went out in 32, bringing him even with Scodro at the turn, before Scodro birdied No. 10 to go back ahead. Hickey responded with a birdie of his own on No. 11, due in large part to the advice of his brother Brian, who was caddying after missing the cut.
“[Brian] is my best friend, a co-worker,” Hickey said. “He’s somebody who knows my game very, very well. There were a couple of situations out there where he certainly guided me through the shots. On 11, that was a key point. I had a really tough shot, and he just said, ‘Back-foot a 9 iron,’ and I literally almost holed the shot from 152 yards.”
A bogey on No. 13 from Hickey gave Scodro a one-stroke lead, which he would keep in his grasp through the 15th. Hickey pulled even with a two-putt par on the par-3 16th, as Scodro three-putted for bogey. Then, on 17, Scodro lipped out another short par attempt, giving Hickey his first lead of the day heading to No. 18, a 538-yard par 5 with OB left.
“I hit a real solid drive right where I wanted to,” Hickey said of his drive on 18, which settled in the right rough.
“I had a little bit of a gnarly lie, so I punched a 4 iron up to about 40 yards, and I hit a great pitch to about 7 or 8 feet.”
Scodro, meanwhile, was greenside in two, but found himself with a tough sidehill lie. His chip rolled off the front of the green, and he three-putted following his chip back up. Armed with a “few strokes to play with,” Hickey conservatively played the downhill birdie bid, and wound up three-putting to secure the one-shot victory.
The 2023 slate of CDGA Championships hits nearly a month-long hiatus before resuming with the 37th Illinois State Senior Amateur Championship, Sept. 18-20 at Rockford Country Club.
Day One: Monday, Aug. 21
NORTH BARRINGTON, Ill. - As Maxwell Scodro (Chicago) surveyed his second shot from the rough on Biltmore Country Club’s par-5 finisher, he sat 2-over-par, well off the pace in the first round of the 31st Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship on Monday.
Five hours and 18 holes later, Scodro had become the pacesetter. Following rounds of 71 and 65, he enters Tuesday’s 18-hole finale with a one-stroke lead at 6 under overall.
The dramatic shift was galvanized by an eagle on the aforementioned 18th, as Scodro lashed his approach out of the rough and on to the back of the green. He sank the 25-foot putt to salvage what he claimed had been “kind of a bad round” up to that point.
Related Links: (Scoring) / (Round 3 Tee Times) / (Photo Gallery)
“I hadn’t really seen much go in, so it was nice to get that visual and it definitely jumpstarted the second round,” Scodro, a 33-year-old Notre Dame graduate, said.
Following a quick lunch spent clearing out emails, the private equity advisor carried the positivity into the second round, birdieing the par-4 10th, his opener. Armed with momentum and growing familiarity with a track he had not played before, Scodro would proceed to notch five more birdies en route to a clean 6-under 65, the lowest round of the day.
“[The second round was] much more solid,” Scodro said. “I missed one green and gave myself tons of looks. I learned that you don’t have to do too much here. It gives you looks - just be patient and hit greens.”
Scodro will enter Tuesday’s final round with a one-stroke lead over Andrew Price (Lake Bluff), the 2014 State Mid-Am winner and last year’s runner up. Also experiencing Biltmore for the first time, the 2016 CDGA Amateur champion sits at 5 under following rounds of 68 and 69, and hopes to build off the course management lessons learned Monday for Tuesday’s final round.
“Seeing [the course] helps, for sure,” said Price, 41. “There are a couple of quirky little shots where you need to take the right line. After seeing it today, it will definitely help for tomorrow. I don’t think my game plan will change a whole lot, but at least I know where to hit it.”
Will Hickey (Burr Ridge) is two shots back of Scodro at 4 under, followed by Nick Feinberg (Chicago) at -3. The trio of Graham O’Connor-Brooks (Libertyville), Charlie Waddell (Kenilworth) and David Keenan (Champaign), who aced the par-3 fifth, round out the top five at -1.
Defending champion Chadd Slutzky (Deer Park) sits T8 at even par. In total, exactly 35 golfers made the cut, which came at +8.
Scodro, Price and Hickey will compose the final group. Third-round play will begin on Tuesday at 7:30 a.m., with the final group of Scodro, Price and Hickey teeing off at 9:20 a.m.
Preview
The 110th season of amateur golf championships conducted by the CDGA continues with the 31st Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship, Aug. 21-22, at Biltmore Country Club in North Barrington. Three rounds of stroke play await a field featuring 78 of the Chicago District's top amateurs age 25 and up.
Schedule
Monday, August 21
The entire field will play 36 holes of stroke play to determine the low 35 and ties who will advance to the 18-hole finale.
Tuesday, August 22
The low 35 and ties from Monday will play 18 holes to determine a champion.
CLICK HERE or the image for a full preview and notes package.
Related Links: (Full Preview) / (Round 1 Tee Times) / (Round 2 Tee Times) / (Field) / (2022 Recap) / (Event History)
Championship Information
The Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship, conducted annually by the Chicago District Golf Association, features the state’s best golfers 25 and older. It began in 1993 when it was won by Tom Studer. Currently, the championship is 54 holes, with the entire field playing 36 holes the first day and the low 35 and ties playing 18 holes on the final day. Deer Park native Chadd Slutzky won the Championship last summer.
Qualifying
Chicago District Golf Association
11855 Archer Avenue
Lemont, IL 60439
Copyright © 2024 The Chicago District Golf Association. All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy | Terms of Use
