LEMONT, Ill. – The CDGA’s oldest competition is set to return following a year hiatus, as the CDGA Amateur Championship heads northwest to Woodstock’s Bull Valley Golf Club for its 101st playing June 21-24. This marks the second time Bull Valley will host the championship, with the first occurring in 2010 when former Illinois State University standout Tommy Bliefnick emerged victorious. 

The eventual victor of this four-day championship will have his name engraved on the Joseph G. Davis Trophy, alongside the likes of golf legends Chick Evans, Robert A. Gardner, Frank Stranahan and Joel Hirsch. 

FORMAT

The entire field will play 36 holes of stroke play on Monday June 21, with tee times starting at 7:30 a.m. and the low 16 advancing to match play. The morning of Tuesday, June 22 will feature the first round of matches before the Quarterfinals and Semifinals take place on Wednesday, June 23. A 36-hole Championship match on the morning of Thursday, June 24 will determine the winner.

ABOUT THE FIELD

Registration was open to all CDGA members with a USGA Handicap Index® of 7.4 or below. More than 300 individuals signed up for the event, with exemptions and four qualifiers earlier this year at Westmoreland Country Club, Briar Ridge Country Club, Cress Creek Country Club and Pontiac Elks Country Club determining the final field of 78.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Bennett Cotten (Winnetka / Shoreacres CC) advanced to the Semifinals in the 2019 CDGA Amateur Championship at Glen View Club. The 21-year-old qualified for the 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship contested last month at Chambers Bay Golf Course, following his victory in the 2021 Will County Amateur in April.

Ethan Farnam (Crystal Lake / Crystal Lake CC) is the defending Illinois State Amateur champion following his 2019 victory at Cantigny Golf. The recent St. Mary’s College of California graduate earned three top-10 finishes for the Gaels in the 2020-21 season. 

Zach Jecklin (Glen Ellyn / Butterfield CC) finished as runner up in the 2019 CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship at Northmoor Country Club, falling to Jake Erickson in the Final. Jecklin advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2021 CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship last month, prior to advancing to the Round of 16 in the 2021 U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Championship, alongside Daniel Gratton.

Brad Kay (Arlington Heights / Ivanhoe Club) is a two-time CDGA champion, with his first victory coming in the 2018 CDGA Senior Amateur Championship at Itasca Country Club. Kay later teamed with Brien Gerber to claim the 2019 CDGA Senior Amateur Four-Ball at Calumet Country Club.

Charlie Nikitas (Glenview / Glenview Park GC) advanced to the Quarterfinals of the 2019 CDGA Amateur Championship at Glen View Club. A rising senior on the Miami-Ohio men’s golf team, Nikitas finished tied for second at the 2021 MAC Championships and earned second team All-MAC honors.

John Ramsey (Glenview / North Shore CC) captured the 2020 Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship at Edgewood Valley Country Club last summer for his first individual CDGA championship hardware. Ramsey has teamed with Chadd Slutzky to win the CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship in 2017 and last summer at Skokie Country Club.

Chadd Slutzky (Deer Park / The Grove CC) has two Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championships (2015, 2019) and a CDGA Mid-Amateur Championship (2017). Slutzky also has two CDGA Amateur Four-Ball Championship wins alongside Ramsey, including their triumph last year at Skokie Country Club.

OTHERS TO WATCH

Noah Benbow (Galesburg / Soangetaha CC) earned co-medalist honors at the Pontiac Elks C.C. qualifier by firing a 5-under 67.

Michael Fastert (Wheeling / The Sanctuary GC) was a co-medalist at the Cress Creek C.C. qualifier after his 3-under 69.

Jimmy Morton (Sugar Grove / Prairie Landing GC), co-medalist at the Pontiac Elks C.C. qualifier, was a member of both NCAA Division III National Championship teams at Illinois Wesleyan.

Logan Stauffer (Bloomington / Ironwood GC) captured the Illinois State Mid-Amateur Championship in 2018 at Glen Oak C.C.

Charlie Waddell (Chicago / Glen View Club), medalist at the Westmoreland C.C. qualifier, has participated in seven USGA championships since 2014.

John Wild (Glen Ellyn / IJGA Members Club) earned the medalist position at the Briar Ridge C.C. qualifier by shooting 6-under 66.

BULL VALLEY GOLF CLUB

Bull Valley Golf Club in Woodstock is the product of a collaboration between a landscape architect (Harry Vignocchi), real estate developer (Russell Ray) and a golf professional (Steve Sidari) on a reclaimed dairy farm. As opposed to the often-flat prairie land found across Midwest golf courses, Bull Valley sits on 500 acres touched by the glacial advance some 10,000 year ago. This adds unique elevation changes, including the 12th tee box, which sits some 1,000 feet up and is the second highest point in McHenry County.

No stranger to championship events, the layout was the site of the 2021 Illinois PGA Match Play Championship last month. It has also played host to the CDGA Amateur Championship once before, with Tommy Bliefnick claiming the Joseph G. Davis Trophy in 2010. For the 2021 iteration, Bull Valley will play at a par 72, with the course stretching to 7,051 yards.

2019 CDGA AMATEUR

While neither Jordan Less or David Perkins will be participating in the 2021 iteration, the duo left their mark on CDGA Amateur history with a scintillating Championship match in 2019 at Glen View Club. The duo combined to notch 23 birdies over the course of the match, which never featured a competitor leading by more than two holes. The entirety of the second 18 was played within a one-hole margin, with the deciding moment coming on the first playoff hole when a Less par secured the title.

Each golfer recently completed their college careers at Northern Illinois and Illinois State, respectively. Less will be competing in the Illinois State Amateur July 20-22 at Mistwood Golf Club, while Perkins is slated to make his professional debut as a sponsor exemption at the John Deere Classic July 8-11.