CHICAGO DISTRICT GOLF ASSOCIATION

“I see a red door and I want it painted black.”

Following the first round of the 93rd Illinois State Amateur Championship at Atkins Golf Club at the University of Illinois, Jason Gordon (Northbrook) may be humming a slightly different variation.

"I see an Illini orange door and I want it painted Maize."

The rising sophomore at the University of Michigan certainly walked to the beat of his own drum Tuesday amidst windy and moist course conditions, carding a bogey-free 6-under 66 to hold the lead. He sits a stroke ahead of Carter Stevenson (Marquette Heights), two in front of Marcus Smith (Rockford) and three clear of John Ramsey (Glenview).

The 19-year-old began his round as part of the afternoon wave with a quality tee shot on Atkins’ opener. He then ripped a 270-yard 3-wood pin high and two-putted for birdie. More red figures followed on the par-4 third and par-3 fourth holes. And like he did on the opener, Gordon birdied the par-5 sixth. With a four-under-through-six-hole start, he had put the field on notice in his State Amateur debut. Internally, however, he maintained a calm and centered mindset.

“It was weird,” remarked Gordon. “It was so windy to start the round, that I was just trying to take it one shot at a time and I was so focused on the next shot, that I didn’t really think about it [the start] until the wind kind of died down on No. 14, 15. At that point, I was trying to keep my foot down.”

Those aforementioned windy conditions, with steady 20-mile-an-hour-plus gusts throughout the morning and early afternoon, made the lengthy layout play even more challenging. Pair that with a drenching of rain overnight, and Gordon’s start seemed all the more impressive.
Prior to the wind dying down, Gordon pierced a 4-iron through the breeze on the par-3 ninth to 20 feet and sank the putt. He again took advantage of a par 5, with yet another four on No. 11. While the start was all anyone could have asked for, Gordon was more focused on the finish, as he has recently struggled to culminate rounds.

“Recently, I’ve kind of had trouble finishing off rounds,” admitted Gordon. “[I’m] proud of myself that I was able to stick with it and continue to make birdies and keep my foot down.”

Nos. 17 and 18 really tested that mental fortitude, as he found what he called “terrible positions” on his approaches. Recalling hours of practice on the chipping and putting green at his home course, The Glen Club, Gordon was able to save par on both to finish off the bogey-free 6-under round.

“That was definitely in the back of my mind,” said Gordon of a potential rocky finish. “The lies are so tight out here, and it’s a little wet, which makes it more difficult. Like I said, keep going through my routine and sticking to my process and letting the result happen instead of forcing it. The bad swings are going to come.”

As Gordon sits atop the leaderboard, a host of players lurk, looking to find some of that good play during Wednesday’s second round. Stevenson, a rising sophomore at Bradley University, etched four birdies in a five-hole stretch around the turn to catapult himself into the clubhouse lead following the morning wave at 5 under. Following his T-4 finish last year at Bloomington Country Club, Smith, a rising senior at Howard University, utilized five birdies to finish at 4 under. Representing the mid-amateurs, Ramsey carded a 3-under 69 with four birdies to just one bogey.

Following Tuesday’s action, 14 players sit in red figures, including 2023 event runner-up T.J. Barger (Bloomington), who fired a 2-under 70. The entire field will return to Atkins on Wednesday for the second round before a cut is made to the low 35 and ties. The remaining players will compete in Thursday’s 36-hole finale. Tee times commence at 7:30 a.m. Wednesday morning.

QUOTES OF NOTE:

Jason Gordon (Northbrook) on how junior and college golf prepared him for a tournament like the State Am … “I played some pretty tough golf in junior golf and that’s prepared me, along with college events that I’ve played in. The last college event I played in, I played really well. That was at a course kind of like this.”

Carter Stevenson (Marquette Heights) on his somewhat mundane start to the day … “This round was a little weird. I got here and was like “whatever.” I didn’t feel great, I’ve been battling hip injuries for a while and I was just trying to control that. I was just trying to get through the round as best as I could. Minimize the strokes so I could save myself a little bit of damage. Other than that, I just tried to play golf – didn’t pay attention to the score and just kept going.”

Marcus Smith (Rockford) on playing alongside 71-year-old Mike Milligan, who captured the 1974 State Am title … “I thought it was cool. I felt like I was playing with my grandfather. I used to play with him because he’s the one who got me started. It was cool vibes all day. He was always in a good mood.”

John Ramsey (Glenview) on Atkins’ layout … “It sets up really well for my ball flight and distance. There’s fairway bunkers that I can carry it over, or if they’re out there, these college kids are driving it into them and I’m short of them.”

NOTABLES:

• The scoring average for the first round Tuesday at Atkins was 76.64. By comparison, the first-round scoring average in 2023 at Bloomington Country Club was 74.96.
• In total, 20 competitors carded rounds of even-par or better.
• The field carded five eagles on the day. Three of them came on the 565-yard par-5 opener, which played as the easiest hole of the day with a scoring average of 4.78.
• The most difficult hole of the day was the 423-yard par-4 second, on which the field averaged 4.63 strokes. Only four birdies were tallied on the 212-yard par-3 17th, which played into a stiff wind for the majority of the day.
• Three of the four players who call the Champaign-Urbana twin cities home sit in the top 28 following first-round action. Lyle Burns (Champaign) leads the trio at T7 following a 1-under 71. Eric Gilpin (Urbana) carded an even-par 72 and sits T15, while David Keenan (Champaign) shot 74 and is T-28.
• Four mid-amateur (age 25 and up) players sit in the top-seven after the first round - John Ramsey (Glenview), Lyle Burns (Champaign), Brien Davis (Peoria), Jake Erickson (Chatham) and Justin Schwab (Beach Park). The State Am has not been won by a mid-amateur since Bloomington native Todd Mitchell achieved the feat as a 25-year-old in 2003.