LEMONT, Ill. – Last Monday, the Illinois Junior Golf Association had the great privilege of co-hosting an event with PGA TOUR Professional Kevin Streelman at Cantigny Golf. Junior golfers and their families gathered to hear about Kevin’s journey from his days playing junior golf with the IJGA to where he is now as a two-time winner on the PGA TOUR.

The day started out on the driving range at Cantigny where Kevin talked about his journey before answering questions from the juniors in attendance. He answered questions such as what he does during his warm-up routine, what his favorite driving range is – TPS Sawgrass (The Players) or Augusta National, the toughest challenge he has ever encountered and about his favorite trophy, among others.

At the end of the question and answer session on the range, Kevin began warming up before heading onto the course to play a few holes. At this time, Kevin was informed that he got to participate in one of his favorite range games of all time – hit the picker. The Robert R. McCormick Foundation announced that they would donate $250 to the IJGA’s Golf Marathon Fund, which supports junior golfers who demonstrate financial need, each time that Kevin hit the picker.

After hitting the picker 10 times, which resulted in a $2,500 donation from the McCormick Foundation, Kevin generously announced that he would be matching the donation. With that announcement, Kevin and the eight lucky raffle winners headed over to the first tee for the on-course demonstration.

“It is so great to see players like Kevin give back to organizations who helped build their game to the level it is at today,” said IJGA Executive Director Jordan Abdel-Haq. “As if giving his time to spend a day with junior golfers in Illinois was not enough, Kevin generously matched the donation made by the McCormick Foundation to the IJGA Golf Marathon Fund, which helps give opportunities to junior golfers whose families demonstrate a need for financial assistance.”

Four holes were played, the eight raffle winners were able to play two holes, while the IJGA Sportsmanship Award winners caddied for Kevin. Throughout the four holes, Kevin talked about his mental approach for each kind of shot he played and showed the crowd how he goes about reading his putts on the green, and even demonstrated a favorite putting drill of PGA Tour superstar Jordan Spieth.

After breaking for lunch (Four additional raffle winners got the chance to have a private lunch with Kevin), the juniors grabbed their clubs to participate in a short game competition against Kevin. There were 11 different short game challenges which required the participants to pitch, chip and putt their way to victory. Stations included activities such as chipping over a bunker, making a 15 foot putt, or beating Kevin’s attempt on a 50 foot putt.

As the juniors took their turns taking part in the challenges, Kevin stepped aside to take pictures with and sign autographs for all of the juniors. Kevin, who is in town this week for the John Deere Classic, will tee off at TPC Deere Run on Thursday at 1:50 P.M.

 

To view more pictures from this incredible event, click here.