Over 100 golfers teed off on Monday for the yearly Naperville Junior Amateur golf championships at Naperbrook Golf Course. The course has hosted this tournament for over twenty years, featuring local kids ranging from age 9-17 hitting the links.
“It’s great that we see a lot of kids through the Park District programs who are playing in this. Many kids who are in high school are playing on their high school golf teams, so it’s great to see these kids coming out since they were five or six years old. Now they’re in high school and some of them are getting ready to graduate,” said Naperbrook Golf Course Head Golf Professional Joel Wallin.
“It’s a lot of fun to get back in the tournament setting and play some more golf and be part of more matches and competition,” said Naperville North golfer Zade Grubich.
The event is split into flights, with 9-10 year old boys and girls golfing six holes, boys and girls age 11-13 golfing nine holes, and the 14-17 year olds playing the traditional 18 holes.
“We’re trying to grow the game, obviously, and the Park District has great programs that get kids involved, so it’s great to see the participation,” said Wallin.
Familiar faces teeing off at Naperbrook
The tournament features many area golfers prepping for the upcoming high school season. Golfers like Naperville Central’s Jackson Persin and Naperville Zade Grubich from Naperville North use this tournament to maintain their swing, so they are ready to go when the 2025 season tees off next month. Persin and Grubich both placed in the top five for the boys 16-17 group, with Grubish’s Naperville North teammate Aiden Xie winning the flight in a playoff.
Noah Redmond had the low score of the day with a 73 to win the boys 14-15 flight. Siya Sohal from Waubonsie Valley won the girls 14-15 flight with an 88.
“Just honestly, the pressure playing in the tournaments again, because I haven’t played a ton of golf this summer, so just having that pressure before the high school season will start,” said Naperville Central golfer Jackson Persin.
“It’s super important because just make sure you’re back in the swing of things, ready to play your best golf so you and your team can go out and have a good season together,” said Grubich.
Bright future for Naperville Junior Amateur tournament
After a great day on the course with fantastic scores, Naperbrook and the Park District are excited to keep the annual tradition going while witnessing the next generation of golfers.
“I think it’s just to continue the success because the quality of play gets better every year. These kids are starting younger and younger, and they just get better and better every year. It’s amazing to see some of these kids at 12, 13 years old shooting even par,” said Wallin.
2025 Top 5 finishers
A Flight Boys 16-17 (18 holes)
1st Aiden Xie 74- Won on 5th Playoff Hole
2nd Zade Grubich 74
3rd Tegan Clancy 74
4th Zack Skrzypiec 75
5th Jakcson Persin 75
C Flight Boys 14-15 (18 holes)
1st Noah Redmond 73
2nd Neil Patel 74
3rd Finus Douglas 74
4th Arnav Nanda 75
5th Geno Argubright 76
D Flight Girls 14-15 (18 holes)
1st Siya Sohal 88
2nd Elina Haines 95
3rd Anahita Driver 109
4th Brooke Ellinghouse 112
5th Alina Leonova 113
E Flight Boys 11-13 (9 holes)
1st Daniel Lulkiewicz 41
2nd Callen Foster 42
3rd Max Cullen 45
4th Dylan Shapiro 46
5th Ethan Oh 47
F Flight Girls 11-13 (9 holes)
1st Chloe Lee 36
2nd Vivienne Steger 41
3rd Mahi Syngol 42
4th Avya Nanda 45
5th Bonnie Reeb 55
G Flight Boys 9-10 (6 holes)
1st Hoonie Lee 27
2nd Lincoln Pecoraro 32
3rd Gunnar Weissenhofer 33
4th Arihaan Sohal 37
5th Christopher Dublinski 38
H Flight Girls 9-10 (6 holes)
1st Emma Chau 33
2nd Evelyn Crouch 40
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