Budding golfer to get his game on at Augusta National
Positives emerging from the coronavirus pandemic are hard to find, but Logan Keeter's got one.
His golf game improved. And he's got a national platform to show it off.
A seventh-grader at Sunset Ridge School in Northfield, in 2019 Logan advanced through three qualifying rounds to reach the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters.
The pandemic wiped out the finals in 2020 so Logan, now 12, will compete on April 4 with the same group who qualified in the 10-11 age group in 2019.
This year the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals brings together 40 boys and 40 girls in four age categories, between 7 and 15 years old, representing 30 states, two Canadian provinces, and France. South Barrington's Reese Wallace will compete in the same age category as Logan on the girls' side. The event gets live national coverage on the Golf Channel.
Flying out April 3 with parents David and Emily and younger brother Sam, another highlight for the Keeters will be watching a Masters practice round before the family returns to their Northbrook home on April 6.
"Words can't describe it," Logan said. "Obviously it's an amazing opportunity, and I'm really looking forward to it. My dad, too. He's watched the Masters every year, I think, since 1990. It's a great opportunity. We'll see the pros do what they do best."
Until only a couple years ago what Logan did best, sports-wise, was baseball and soccer. He said he's got no expectations for the competition at Augusta National.
"I just want to go out there, smile and have a good time," he said.
That was the general idea when Logan, using a neighbor kid's hand-me-down clubs, joined a Northbrook Park District golf program out of the former Sportsman's Country Club, recently renamed Heritage Oaks Golf Club.
A left-handed hitter, though a natural righty, Logan was still involved with travel teams in his two other sports when he entered a Drive, Chip & Putt local qualifier in June 2019 at Pine Meadow in Mundelein.
He led all golfers in his age group on his drives, placed second in putting and third overall to advance to the next round. The competition assigns points to driving distance and accuracy, and closest to the pin on the chipping and putting.
Positively reinforced, Logan took lessons at Sportsman's under Chu Han Lee, and David Keeter got his son a new set of clubs. At the subregional at Countryside in Mundelein that July, he added 40 yards to his drive to win that portion, earned the top score in putting and also improved in chipping to win the event and advance to the regional qualifier at Interlachen in Minneapolis.
Not only did the Keeters get a nice late September trip out of it, but Logan topped 11 contestants to punch his ticket to the Drive, Chip & Putt nationals in Georgia.
"We moved away from travel baseball and travel soccer at that point," David Keeter said.
Though the 2020 finals were postponed, golf was one of the few things people could do even early in the pandemic. Logan took advantage and honed his game.
With his home Sportsman's course under renovation, he spent a lot of time at the park district's Anetsberger par-3 and at the Glenview Prairie Club and Deerfield Golf Club.
Golfing with mom and dad meant bonding, and sometimes a little parental humility. By the end of the season, Logan was shooting in the mid- to high-80s.
"One of the most fun things about this is how much we've gotten to play. By the end of last year it was very uncomfortable how competitive he was," David Keeter said, proudly.
Logan has something for which people would, and do, pay a lot of money.
"I think I just have a natural touch with the putter," he said.
Over the winter, he moved indoors to The Golf Practice in Highland Park, working on the Track Man simulator. Over the past couple months, he's also attended a "mindfulness" class there. For one thing, it's helped Logan take it a little easier on himself when he does happen to duff a shot and not have it turn into two or three bad ones.
"The next shot is the most important thing in golf," he said, sounding like a swing doctor.
While he's still a kid, the sport, and the PGA-sponsored event he's headed to this week, has sparked a budding professional interest in "anything" related to golf, from the shoot-the-moon dream of being a tour player to a caddie.
"Now it's all about golf," Logan said.
The pandemic was good to his game. He has no expectations, but he's glad for the chance to stay hot at the Drive, Pitch & Putt.
'I'm grateful for the opportunity that they held out and I still get to be a part of it this year," Logan said. "It's going to be a fun time having both my dad and mom around, maybe see Augusta for the first and last time. Hopefully more in the future."