Libertyville's Kowal delivers county Amateur title
With an old friend suddenly on his bag and encouraging him not to punch out, old Connie Kowal reached for one of those old irons he still swings - they've been touched by greatness, after all - and hit his golf ball over trees and onto the seventh green at Lake Bluff Golf Club.
Like an old pro, he then sank a big right-to-left breaker from 20 feet for a birdie.
By the following day, he had proved that you're never too old to see your potential realized.
No kidding.
Kowal, a longtime Libertyville resident and professional sports executive who's worn more hats than a journeyman lefty, had won the handicap net division of the 40th annual Lake County Amateur.
It was the first win in competitive golf for the 58-year-old, who's young at heart.
"I hide it well," Kowal jokes of his age.
Kowal taught social studies and coached golf at Mundelein High School from 1976-1980 and then launched a 30-year career as a sports executive. He worked 15 years for the Cubs, and his resume also notes employment by the Chicago Sting, Chicago Motor Speedway, the New Orleans Saints and the Chicago Shamrox of the National Lacrosse League.
He was with the Cubs in 1987 when during the all-star break he took pitcher Greg Maddux and catcher Damon Berryhill to play golf at prestigious Butler National. To show his appreciation, Maddux, who wasn't a star then, gave Kowal a set of Wilson Ultra 435 irons.
The 8-handicapper still hits them.
"He was then, as a young player, and still is, a polite and all-world nice guy," Kowal says of Maddux.
Kowal, who today runs his own sports marketing and consulting company and also serves as executive director of the Chicago Baseball Museum, has met lots of professional athletes. Yet, when it comes to golf, he considers himself just a regular guy who likes to measures himself against others like him. A baseball player at Glenbard West and Western Illinois, he started playing golf regularly after college.
"I've always loved the game and just tackled it with a passion," Kowal says.
He stands just 5 feet 5 but, like Maddux, is more competitive than his modest build would suggest.
Finally, two years ago, Kowal decided to give competitive golf a try. He entered the Lake County Am and did "OK," he says. Last year, he competed in his first Chicago District Golf Association event.
Rules-committee officials walked the course at Marengo Ridge. Ninety golfers teed it up and each was introduced on the first tee box. Kowal tried to stifle a gulp.
The little guy stood tall, though.
"I had the most unbelievable, successful, scrambling round to come in with a 79," Kowal says.
His effort earned him a trip to Peoria for the Illinois State Senior Am. He shot 84 and missed the cut.
He was hooked on competitive golf, however. So, undaunted, he kept entering more CDGA events.
At this year's two-day Lake County Am, which took place a couple of weeks ago, Kowal had just missed the fairway on the par-4 seventh when his buddy Luke Lukens came walking through the trees to tell Kowal he was caddying for him.
Libertyville-resident Lukens - "Master Luke," as Kowal calls him - is Kowal's regular Sunday playing partner along with Greg "GorKon" Gorski of Gurnee and Brad "Bubba" Baker of Libertyville.
Buoyed by his friend's encouragement and the camaraderie he provided, Kowal hit his pitching wedge, and then grabbed his putter. He walked off the green with his birdie and didn't look back. He fired a 5-over 77 (net 69) on the first day.
His Sunday 83 (net 75) included his third birdie of the tournament when he stuck his tee shot on the par-3 16th within 2 feet.
Two holes later, he had a 2-stroke win.
Career win No. 1 has put a spring in the step of the Del Webb-eligible Kowal.
"The game of golf is like the game of life," Kowal says. "You got to take it a shot at a time."
That's an oldie. But a goody.
BEGIN ATTRIBUTIONjaguilar@dailyherald.comEND ATTRIBUTION