Illinois State Amateur Championship

The Illinois State Amateur Championship will take place July 19-21, 2022 at Westmoreland Country Club in Wilmette, Illinois. Many prominent professionals and amateurs have played at Westmoreland Country Club including Bobby Jones, Chick Evans, Frances Ouiment, Walter Hagan and Jock Hutchison.

The 2021 event was won in a four hole playoff by Ethan Farnam of Crystal Lake. This was the second consecutive victory for Farnam in the Illinois State Amateur Championship.

The Illinois State Amateur Championship is conducted by the Chicago District Golf Association and is the most prestigious amateur golf tournament in the state of Illinois. The event was first played in 1931 at Quincy Country Club and was initially conducted as match play until 1963. the event is now a 72-hole stroke play competition contested over three days.

Since the Championship was first conducted at stroke play, 46 different golfers have hoisted the Louis L. Emmerson trophy, several of which are current or former members of the PGA Tour. Crystal Lake native and Saint Mary’s College golfer Ethan Farnam held on to capture the 2019 title at Cantigny Golf. The event was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19.

Any Illinois resident with an official USGA Handicap Index of 7.4 or below was eligible to sign up for one of eight qualifiers conducted throughout the entirety of Illinois. In total, 104 individuals advanced from these qualifiers, with the remaining 28 spots going to players who were exempt due to past performances in the State Am and other CDGA-administered tournaments.

Past champions include:
• Jim Frisina Sr. (1942, ‘47, ‘54, ‘56, ‘58 champ)
o 13x U.S. Amateur qualifier
• Gary Hallberg (1978 and ‘79 champ)
o 3x PGA Tour winner
• Joel Hirsch (1988 and ‘89 champ)
o 2x Senior British Amateur winner
• Jerry Haas (1982 and ‘84 champ)
o 8 professional victories
• Mark Hensby (1994 champ)
o 6 professional victories
• D.A. Points (1995, ‘98 and ‘99 champ)
o 3x PGA Tour winner
• Luke Guthrie (2009 champ)
o 2x Korn Ferry Tour winner
• Vince India (2010 champ)
o Korn Ferry Tour professional
• Tee-K Kelly (2013 and ‘15 champ)
o 1 PGA Tour Latinoamérica win
• Nick Hardy (2016 champ)
o 3x U.S. Open participant
• Patrick Flavin (2017 champ)
o 1 PGA Tour Latinoamérica win
• Jordan Hahn (2018 champ)
o Made PGA Tour debut at the 2021 Valspar Championship