IESA Headlines

2018 IESA Golf State Tournament Tees Off Saturday in Peoria

Students from 76 Illinois Elementary School Association (IESA) member schools will compete in the ninth annual IESA Golf State Tournament at Kellogg Golf Course in Peoria on Saturday, September 15. There will be over 150 students who will compete in the event on Saturday. A complete list of the individuals, participating schools, and tee times is located on the IESA website at the following link:

https://www.iesa.org/activities/go/times_State.asp?Year=2018

This will mark the sixth year that the Kellogg Golf Course in Peoria has hosted the 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, September 14 from 6-8 p.m. at the Learning Center across the street from Kellogg Golf Course. Schools need to register for the event and they will need to RSVP to Ryan Thornton (rthornton@peoria.org) by 12 noon on Thursday if they want to attend the Friday reception. Pizza is available to the golfers as well as use of the driving range. Schools can access the following link to register:

http://www.iesa.org/documents/activities/IESA-GO_FridayReg.pdf

The sectional qualifying tournaments were held on Wednesday, September 5 at nine different sites across the state. This is the fifth year that the boys and the fourth year that the girls advanced to the finals as a result of sectional tournaments. The state finals 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. A total of 120 schools participated at the sectional level.

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

The boys competed in their sectional qualifier on Wednesday, September 5 at six different sites. Sectional A was held at Ingersoll Golf Course in Rockford; Sectional B was held at Prairie Vista Golf Course in Bloomington; Sectional C was held at the Links in Jacksonville; Sectional D was held at Eagle Ridge Golf Course in Paris; Sectional E was held at Quail Meadows in East Peoria; and Sectional F was held at the Pontiac Elks Course in Pontiac. The number of golfers who qualified for the state final from each sectional varied slightly. Sectional A had 13 state qualifiers; Sectional B had 10 qualifiers; Sectional C had 16 qualifiers; Sectional D had 13 qualifiers; Sectional E had 13 qualifiers; and Sectional F had 16 qualifiers.

Results from all six boys sectionals are located at this link:

https://www.iesa.org/activities/go/results_Sectional.asp?Year=2018&Gender=Boys

Three boys who finished in the top 10 last year are returning this year. Last year's runner-up, Weston Walker is an 8th grader from Peoria Christian and will be looking to take home 1st place honors for a second time. Walker won the individual title as a 6th grader in 2016 and followed that up with a runner-up finish last year. Wade Schacht is an 8th grader from Champaign Franklin and finished 3rd last year. Cooper Watt tied for 5th last year as a 7th grader when he competed for Rockford Marshall. This year, Watt is in 8th grade and attends Rockford Holy Family. All three might be chasing Cy Norman, an 8th grader from Benton who is making his first appearance in the IESA finals. Norman shot a blistering 66 in the sectional meet at the Eagle Ridge Course in Paris. Norman, Schacht, and Walker are all in the final paring scheduled to tee off at 12:54 p.m.

Three courses served as sectional hosts on September 5 for the girls ---Sectional A was held at Orchard Valley Course in Aurora; Sectional B was held at Madison Gold Course in Peoria; and Sectional C was played at Country Hills Golf Course in Greenview. There were 25 state qualifiers from Sectional A; 26 qualifiers from Sectional B; and 21 qualifiers from Sectional C.

Results from all three girls sectionals are located at this link:

https://www.iesa.org/activities/go/results_Sectional.asp?Year=2018&Gender=Girls

There are six girls who finished in the top 10 last year who are returning to the finals this year. Leading the field will be Isabella Pettersen, a 7th grader from Rockford Lincoln. Pettersen finished in 2nd place last year as a 6th grader when she toured the layout at Kellogg with a 77 finishing one stroke out of 1st place. Lexi Schulman, an 8th grader from Vernon Hills Hawthorn North finished 3rd last year and was runner-up to Pettersen at the sectional this year. Eva Greenberg carded a 79 last year as a 6th grader to tie for 4th place and returns this year as a 7th grader. Greenberg attends Cathedral of St. Peter in Rockford. Ella Greenberg tied for 8th last year as a 7th grader with an 81 and will be looking to better her finish this year. She placed 4th in her sectional. Ihneralayze Gerongay, a 7th grader who attends Metcalf School in Normal tied for sixth last year and returns this year as a 7th grader hoping to better that finish. Reagan Kennedy, an 8th grader from Normal Epiphany tied Gerongay for sixth place at last year's finals but was medalist at her sectional last week. This is Kennedy's third trip to the IESA finals.

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 will be located 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 completion of the tournament. Go to www.iesa.org for any changes to the schedule and for the final results which will be posted at the conclusion of the awards ceremony.

For more information, please contact the Golf Administrator Chris Frasco at 309-829-0114 or chris@iesa.org.