Why Highwood's Flavin wants to delay his pro golf dream
The best golfer in Illinois last season has made his decision. Patrick Flavin won't turn pro - at least for a while.
Last year Flavin became the first player in 37 years to win the Illinois State Amateur and Illinois Open in the same year. Only David Ogrin (1980), had accomplished that feat.
Flavin, from Highwood, is completing a solid collegiate career at Miami of Ohio. He set his school record with eight tournament wins, four of them in his senior season. While his team narrowly missed going to the NCAA tournament, Flavin made it as an individual. He's one of 10 competing in regional play on Ohio State's Scarlet course on Monday.
If Flavin finishes among the top three there, he'll continue to the NCAA finals in Stillwater, Okla., May 25-30. Many college seniors will turn pro after that tournament, but not Flavin.
"I plan to stay amateur through the summer," he said. "Staying amateur was a no-brainer for me. It was incredible to win the state Amateur and state Open last year and to repeat is a huge goal of mine, though I know the fields will be strong.''
There hasn't been a repeat champion in the Illinois State Amateur since Todd Mitchell in 2002-03 and only five others have won back-to-back since the tournament went to a stroke play format in 1963. Illinois men's coach Mike Small was the last to repeat in the Illinois Open. He won three straight titles from 2005-07.
Flavin tested the professional ranks when he went through qualifying for the Canadian PGA Tour while retaining his amateur status. He didn't make it, and he didn't survive Monday's local qualifying round in the U.S. Open, either. A 73 in his first round on Cog Hill's famed Dubsdead course left Flavin in a tie for ninth and only the top five advanced to sectional play.
His summer tournament schedule includes the Western Amateur (July 30 at Sunset Ridge in Northfield), the Sunnehanna (Pennsylvania), the Northeast (Rhode Island) and the Trans-Miss (Ohio). All are invitationals. He'll also enter the U.S. Am before fall qualifying tournaments for the PGA's Web.com Tour begin. That's when he figures to turn pro.
"My game is solid right now. I know I can play at the next level," Flavin said.
NU dominates U.S. Open locals
Northwestern is ready for next week's NCAA regional in Columbus after an impressive showing in Monday's U.S. Open locals. Dylan Wu and Ryan Lumsden were among the five sectional qualifiers at Cog Hill, and Sam Triplett was the medalist at South Bend.
Big Ten champ Illinois will be at Columbus but its conference titlist, Nick Hardy, opted to skip the Open eliminations. Hardy, who has reached the U.S. Open finals twice, received a sponsor's exemption to the Web.com's Rust-Oleum Championship at Ivanhoe Club. The Open sectionals are June 4, the Monday of tourney week at Ivanhoe.
Hardy will turn pro at that tournament and will participate in a pro-am during the sectional qualifying day. Wheaton's Tee-K Kelly also received an invite to play at Ivanhoe and he skipped the Open locals.
In addition to Wu and Lumsden, the local qualifiers at Dubsdread were: Bloomington's Bob Wuethrich, the low man with a 3-under-par 69; Crystal Lake's Ethan Farnam; and Wheeling's Brian Ohr, who survived a four-man playoff. Illinois' other locals will be Monday at Illini Country Club in Springfield and May 17 at ThunderHawk in Beach Park.
Szokol wins on Symetra Tour
Winnetka's Elizabeth Szokol, who spent two seasons at Northwestern before transferring to Virginia, notched her first victory on the LPGA's Symetra Tour on Sunday. A final-round 4-under-par 68 gave her a one-stroke win in the IOA Invitational at Atlanta National in Georgia.
The win earned her $22,500 and came in the second tournament of her second season on the circuit. She had a 4-under 212 score for 54 holes.
Here and there
Berths in the NCAA women's finals will be on the line Wednesday in a regional at University Ridge in Madison, Wis. Illinois, Northwestern and Notre Dame are among the 18 teams in the competition with the top six advancing to the finals at Karsten Creek in Oklahoma from May18-23.
• Yujeong Son of Norman, Okla., and Martina Edberg of Sweden were the two survivors of Monday's U.S. Women's Open sectional qualifier at Elgin Country Club. Both shot 4-under-par (140) for 36 holes.
• Jim Billiter, head pro at Kemper Lakes, was eliminated in his first match in the Illinois PGA Match Play Championship on Tuesday. Billiter, the reigning Illinois PGA Player of the Year, was the tournament's defending champion. The event concludes on Thursday at Kemper Lakes.
• Jason Day, winner of the PGA Tour's Wells Fargo Championship on Sunday, will co-host the Go. Give. Gala Celebrity outing on May 21 at St. Charles Country Club. Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps will share hosting duties with Day.
• Chicago State is playing in the 32nd PGA Minority Collegiate Championship, which begins its five-day run on Thursday in Port St. Lucie, Fla.
U.S. Women's Open qualifying
Yujeong Son of Oklahoma and Martina Edberg of Sweden were the only two players to advance in the U.S. Women's Open qualifying event at Elgin Country Club on Monday. The 6,268-yard course was played at a Par 72.
<b>Leaderboard</b>Pos. Player (Club/Home) R1-R2 - Tot
T1 Son, Y. (Norman, OK) 67-73-140
T1 Edberg, M. (Jonkoping) 70-70-140
Local competitors
T13 Matsubara, M. (Evanston) 76-74-150
T18 Furtney, M. (South Elgin) 75-77-152
T20 Fischer, J. (Lake Forest) 78-75-153
T31 Pearson, J. (Wheaton) 77-79-156
T38 Tir, P. (Winnetka) 78-82-160
T38 Smith, C. (Inverness) 80-80-160
T42 Curran, G. (New Lenox) 85-76-161
T42 Dofflemyer, H. (Belvidere) 85-76-161
T44 Nay, L. (Naperville) 81-81-162
T44 Kil, G. (Arlington Heights) 80-82 162
T44 Lyne, M. (Cary) 82-80-162
T51 Duan, E. (Buffalo Grove) 85-79-164
53 Sterling, K. (Mokena) 82-85-167
54 Carpenter, E. (DeKalb) 87-84-171
55 Moritz, H. (Wheaton) 89-88-177
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