University of Illinois senior Jackson Buchanan won this year’s prestigious Byron Nelson Award given annually by the Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) to an outstanding Division I, II, III or NAIA scholar-athlete in recognition of his achievement in the classroom and the community. Four of the five finalists for this year’s Nelson Award have connections to the Chicago District.
In addition to having graduated with a 3.63 GPA in Business: Operations Management, Buchanan received a slew of prestigious academic honors. The Dacula, Georgia native also served at the Eastern Illinois Foodbank all four years he has been in Champaign and has been similarly active at a foodbank in his Georgia community. As of this writing, Buchanan was ranked ninth in the PGA Tour University standings. Through 30 rounds as a senior, his scoring average was 70.90.
Elmhurst native and graduate-senior Matt Buckley served as co-captain on the D-III Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) golf team for the last two years and graduated magna cum laude (3.78 GPA) with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering. The York High School graduate will receive his Masters in Mechanical Engineering (3.76 GPA) at the end of this semester. In his free time, Buckley led volunteer efforts to serve meals at local homeless shelters and tutor local children among other activities.
Vanderbilt’s Jackson Van Paris, originally of Lake Forest, was ranked No. 7 in PGA Tour University standings as of this writing. He carried a 3.79 GPA while majoring in Human & Organizational Development. Growing up, Van Paris played at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest before moving out of state.
Northwestern’s Cameron Adam is a Learning and Organizational Change major, graduating with a 3.785 GPA. The native of Edinburgh, Scotland has been a volunteer for the Stephen Gallacher Foundation since 2018. Adam carried a team-leading scoring average of 70.67 through 21 rounds as a senior and earned his first collegiate victory at The Clerico (67-70-70 -3), helping the Wildcats win by eight shots.
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The 2024 July issue of Chicago District Golfer magazine won the International Network of Golf’s (ING) annual Media Award in the Publication Category on Jan. 22 at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. In addition, two Chicago District Golfer writers, Teddy Greenstein and Ed Sherman, received Outstanding Achiever recognition for articles that appeared in the July issue.
The Rock Island Arsenal Golf Course in Rock Island, Illinois has reopened nine of its 18 holes after a seven-year hiatus. The public is invited to play the course.
Pekin Country Club, a facility located south of Peoria, has been sold to brothers Jay and Shaun Schlosser. As a youngster, PGA Tour veteran D.A. Points of Pekin honed his golf skills at Pekin CC.
Two former Northwestern players, David Lipsky, 36, and Dylan Wu, 28, teamed up to finish T-4 at the Zurich Classic in New Orleans, April 27, the PGA Tour’s only regular-season team event. They shot 25-under par, two strokes behind the winners, and each took home a paycheck of $347,588. They were not teammates at Northwestern.
Illinois finished runner up to UCLA at the Big Ten Championship at Baltimore Country Club, April 27. Illini freshman Jake Birdwell, playing in his first tournament of the season, finished T-3. A year after winning the conference championship, Northwestern finished 12th.
Tickets for LIV Golf Chicago 2025, Aug. 8-10 at Bolingbrook Golf Club in Bolingbrook, are on sale at LIVGolf.com. Jon Rahm is the defending champion.
Jay Sigel, one of the world’s best amateurs in the post-World War II era, passed away in April. He was 81. Sigel won the U.S. Amateur at North Shore Country Club in 1984. —Barry Cronin