Reading the Green, Part III

Here is part one of three contributions I have made to the local Pioneer Press newspaper. All three have also appeared in the Chicago Tribune's special insert, Trib Local.

Reading The Green - Part III

By Chris Happ, PGA Assistant Golf Professional at the Winnetka Golf Club

March, April and May, the first three months of the golf season in the Midwest, are widely known as three of the most exciting months in all of sport. Rivalries are created during college basketball’s NCAA Tournament in March. April brings us the Masters and Opening Day in baseball stadiums across America. And May holds its own by providing sports fans with the always exciting NHL and NBA playoffs.

For local junior golfers Logan Joseph and Dana Gullen, the month of May is certainly known for driving rains and unpredictable temperatures, but it also gives them the opportunity to develop some rivalries of their own during the well-known May Madness tournament series created and hosted by Winnetka Golf Club.

Joseph, an 8th grade student planning on attending New Trier in the fall as a freshman, participates in Jr. May Madness, a program created for 7th and 8th graders planning on attending New Trier or Loyola for high school. “I like playing in May Madness because it helps me get back to playing and practicing after the winter,” says Joseph. “I also get to play against my friends and other kids who will be in other summer tournaments and high school tournaments.”

Originally created in 1995 as a way for Trevian and Rambler golfers to propel their timeless rivalry, May Madness has reached an unforeseen level of popularity with local junior golfers. In 2009, the program now offers a 36-hole stroke play event called the Winnetka Junior, which awards the winner a coveted exemption into a national event hosted by the American Junior Golf Association. Also, the tournament series includes a match play event, a 27-hole stroke play Junior Club Championship, and a season-long point race that grants the leader at the end of the series an exemption into the Chick Evans Junior Amateur Championship. There are also levels for 7th and 8th grade boys, and high school girls.

Gullen, a freshman on New Trier’s varsity girls’ golf team, says May Madness is unique because it helps her get back into playing shape before her summer tournament schedule takes off, but it also fills a void in the spring when tournament s tend to be few and far between. “If it weren’t for these tournaments, I would probably have a tough time finding time to practice and play in the spring,” says Gullen. “Plus I get to see if all my practice over the winter works during competition.”

Clearly, the pros aren’t the only ones who get to have all the fun during the spring. For more information visit the Winnetka Golf Club web site at www.winnetkagolfclub.com.