The Naperville Junior Amateur Golf Championship returned for another summer at Naperbrook Golf Course. The single-day tournament held on July 6 saw over 80 golfers aged 9-17 hit the links in pursuit of low scores while competing against some of the area’s best.
Fun on the links for a wide range of players
“We see a lot of kids that come through our park district programs that end up playing in this. Then our high school kids from all the Naperville schools, Plainfield schools, all around the area. So we see these kids coming up through the ranks, working on some of our park district junior programs and then end up here playing in this tournament,” said Joel Wallin.
The field splits into eight flights: with girls ages 9-10 playing four holes, and boys ages 9-10 playing six holes. Boys and girls ages 11-13 golf nine holes, while the 14-to 17-year-old boys and girls tee off for the traditional 18. The tournament gives the youngest players their first taste of competition on the links in a fun environment.
Getting preped for the high school season
Meanwhile, high school golfers like Neuqua Valley’s Suchen Liu and Keely Gildemeister are able to prep for the upcoming High School season.
“I’ve been working a lot at my home course, Springbrook, especially on chipping. I knew coming out here that I had a good chance if I could just make my approach shots really good, and I’m hoping to carry that into the high school season,” said Keeley Gildemeister.
Liu and Gildemeister would finish first and second, respectively, in the girls 16-17 flight, with teammate Elina Haines taking the 14-15 flight with a round of 83.
“We played so many times, but the back nine was kinda rough, and the weather is getting hotter and hotter, but we kept it up and did fine,” said Suchen Liu.
Other area high schoolers making their mark included Chase Buettner from Plainfield East, who won the boys 16-17 flight with a round of 74, ahead of Logan Shapiro from Naperville Central. Landon Hale from Naperville Central edged out Arnav Nanda from Waubonsie Valley with a 77 in the 14-15 boys flight. With another tournament in the books, the Naperville Park District is excited to see more young golfers continue to develop their enjoyment for the sport at their local courses.
“We love to support the community, and we love the fact that they come back to Naperbrook and play out here,” said Wallin.
2026 Top 5 finishers
A Flight Boys 16-17 (18 holes)
1st Chase Buettner 74
2nd Logan Shapiro 75
3rd Max Schnake 76
4th Owen Mack 77
5th Andrew Reider 77
B Flight Girls 16-17 (18 holes)
1st Suchen Liu 85
2nd Keeley Gildemeister 91
3rd Stella Bender 98
4th Leila Ishikawa 100
5th Brooke Ellinghaus 101
C Flight Boys 14-15 (18 holes)
1st Landon Hale 77
2nd Arnav Nanda 77
3rd Nolan Wang 78
4th Liam McCoy 79
5th Elijah Ruff 79
D Flight Girls 14-15 (18 holes)
1st Elina Haines 83
2nd Allison Andrews 96
3rd Mahi Syngol 96
4th Norah George 103
5th Olivia Sheffler 108
E Flight Boys 11-13 (9 holes)
1st Julian Perez 43
2nd Paxton Scarpino 45
3rd Oliver Mack 45
4th Hoonie Lee 49
5th Gunnar Weissenhofer 50
F Flight Girls 11-13 (9 holes)
1st Avya Nanda 48
2nd Kelly Hantak 51
3rd Sofia Vannnatta 52
4th Ava Andrews 52
5th Elyse Brown 54
G Flight Boys 9-10 (6 holes)
1st Elijah Dunne 29
2nd Lincoln Pecoraro 29
3rd Ben Kellogg 31
4th Jacob Lee 31
5th Will Travis 31
H Flight Girls 9-10 (4 holes)
1st Katherine Connell 32
2nd Audrey Andrews 34
3rd Maddie Ahn 39
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