IESA Headlines

2014 IESA Golf State Tournament Tees Off Saturday

Students from Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) member schools will compete in the fifth annual Golf State Tournament at Kellogg Golf Course in Peoria on Saturday, September 13. There will be over 150 students who will make the trip to compete in the event this weekend. A complete list of the individuals, participating schools, and tee times is located on the IESA website at the following link:

http://www.iesa.org/activities/go/times_State.asp?Year=2014

This will mark the second year that the Kellogg Golf Course in Peoria has hosted the Golf State Tournament. The state site contains two different courses, the Executive 9 and the Kellogg Course; both of which will be in use Saturday. The championship 18 hole Kellogg Course features bent grass fairways and greens. The Peoria Park District assists in the administration of the tournament. In conjunction with the Peoria Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Park District sponsors a reception for the golfers on Friday from 5-7 p.m. Pizza is available to the golfers as well as use of the driving range.

The tournament will consist of a girls and boys division. All participants will compete in one 18 hole round of golf. The girls will play the Executive 9 and nine holes of the championship 18. The boys will play the championship 18.

The first tee time on Saturday is scheduled to begin at 7:00 a.m. for the girls and 9:30 a.m. for the boys.

For the first time in Association history, the boys competed in a sectional qualifier this past Saturday at three different sites. The top 24 participants at each sectional site have advance to this weekend's state tournament. Seventh grader Sean Markham of Barrington Prairie placed first at the Rockford Sectional (Aldeen Golf Club), while shooting an 86 on the day. Eighth grader Parker Wisdom of Bloomington Holy Trinity nabbed the first place title at the Bloomington Sectional (Ironwood Golf Course), as he shot a 78. Rounding out the sectional champions was Hillsboro's seventh grade standout Alex Eickoff, who shot a 70 at the Hickory Point Golf Club in Decatur. Harrison Chumley of Jacksonville Our Saviour is the lone returnee from last year's state tournament who placed in the top ten for the boys. Chumley tied for 8th place while shooting a 91 at the Decatur sectional last Saturday.

On the girls side, last year's second place finisher returns in Freeport Carl Sandburg's Maxine Nesemeier. The standout eighth grader shot an impressive 81 during the 2013 state finals. Eighth grader Kirsten Osborn is also back following a strong showing at the 2013 finals in which the Galesburg Churchill star shot a 90 en route to tying for fifth overall. Nicole Ciskowski (8th) of Barrington Station and Katelyn Sayyalinh (7th) of Rockford Eisenhower tied for eighth overall last year, as each hope to build off their previous state finals experience. Rounding out the top returnees is Barrington Prairie's Ishani Majmudar, as the now seventh grade star cracked the top 10 a year ago by shooting a 94.

The awards ceremony will take place after the last golfers have completed their round. Individual awards will be given during the ceremony, with the top 10 finishers in each division receiving medals.

Complete tournament information can be found at www.iesa.org. Click on the Golf link at the top of the IESA Web site home page. Also, the IESA Fanzone available on the IESA home page can provide additional information.

There will be no admission or parking charge at the tournament.

Should weather become a factor, the IESA website will contain up-to-date information regarding the tournament playing schedule. Go to www.iesa.org for any changes to the schedule and for final results which will be posted at the conclusion of the awards ceremony.

For more information, please contact the Golf Administrator Julie Cochran at 309-829-0114 or julie@iesa.org.