Naperville Golfers Reach Sweet 16 at Chick Evans Tournament

A field of 192 golfers started the Chick Evans Junior Amateur Championship at Itasca Country Club this week, but only the top 32 qualified for weekend match play. Among them are a pair of Naperville teens -- Alec Meyer and Bing Singhsumalee.

Singhsumalee, 14, finished sixth in the two rounds of girls’ stroke play qualifying Thursday and Friday with a 36-hole total of 150, eight strokes over par.

“Everything was good except my putting,” she said after shooting a 76 Friday. “I couldn’t make any birdies.”

Making even routine shots was difficult at times because the course was heavily saturated by recent rains, leaving standing water in places and turning some sand traps into water hazards.

“It was pretty sloppy,” Singhsumalee said. “Some holes are really bad. But I think the course did a really good job of trying to hold up the water because the rain was really bad.”

Singhsumalee didn’t come into the tournament with any expectations.

“My only goal was to have fun because I’ve never played in this tournament before,” she said. “I don’t like coming into tournaments with expectations because then I end up playing worse.”

Singhsumalee was scheduled to take on Heather Ciskowski of Barrington in her first match Saturday. Singhsumalee is no stranger to match play, having participated previously in the World Youth Team Challenge in Bolingbrook, coordinated by her father, Pete Singhsumalee.

“But I’ve never played individual match play,” she noted. “That’ll be new.”

Meyer earns No. 7 seed

Meyer, 17, finished the stroke play portion of the tournament with identical scores (74) on each day, though the rounds were completely different. He birdied the ninth hole on Thursday and made par on every other hole on the front nine, but had three bogeys on the back nine. Friday, starting on the 10th tee, he birdied the 12th and 16th holes and made par on every other hole on the back nine, but had four bogeys and a double bogey on the front nine.

“I struggled a little bit on my back nine, but the front nine here,” he acknowledged, but said he was satisfied overall with the opening two days.

“I was happy with the way I played most of it,” he said.
Just like Singhsumalee, Meyer had to contend with less-than-ideal course conditions.

“It was a little wet,“ he said. “It’s tough to say it was in great condition, but they did a pretty good job of making it work.”
Meyer, who will be a senior at Waubonsie Valley this fall, was slated to face off against Trent Wallace of Joliet in his first match Saturday.