Soon-to-Be Pro Patel Eyes State Amateur Championship

Ravi Patel knows what it takes to win the Illinois State Amateur Championship.

In 2007, just after graduating from , Patel became the youngest golfer in Illinois history to win the event, finishing 11 strokes under par. This year, Patel is poised for another run at the title after a solid opening round Tuesday at Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn.

Patel, who went on to golf at Northwestern, fired a 1-under-par 70 over 18 holes to tie for first among all golfers with morning tee times. In the afternoon, Chris Brant of Edwardsville and Theo Lederhausen of Hinsdale both posted scores of 69.

Despite his low score, Patel was not entirely pleased with his round.

“Actually, I didn’t hit it very well today,” he said. “I struggled off the tee quite a bit. But, that being said, I hung in there.”

Starting on the 10th tee, Patel got off to an inauspicious start with a bogey on the short, 129-yard, par-3 11th hole. He finished 1-over par for his first nine, but a pair of birdies on the back nine allowed him to finish the day under par.

A strong, gusty breeze throughout the day helped prevent scores from going lower.

“I played the practice round yesterday and it was really calm,” Patel said. “Today, it was significantly more windy. That definitely made it more difficult.”

Patel was scheduled to begin his second round in the tournament at 12:40 p.m. Wednesday. He said he’s hoping to putt better than he did Tuesday.

“I missed a few putts from like nine feet in,” he noted. “They were all right to left, just in my wheelhouse. … That was really frustrating. I think if I could’ve posted like three or four under [par] I would have been pretty pleased, but I’m still happy.”

Back to school

At Neuqua Valley, Patel was the golf team MVP as a freshman and advanced to the state tournament. A problem with IHSA rules led him to not play at the high school level the next three years, though he won victories in several summer junior golf tournaments.

Although Patel graduated from Northwestern this spring, he’s not done with school. This fall, he’ll participate in the PGA qualifying school, known as Q School. Many golfers will enter, but few will survive the demanding stages of the competition to earn a PGA Tour card, which exempts them from having to qualify for most PGA tournaments.

With dreams of a pro golf career on the line, Q School can be mentally, as well as physically, demanding. In the reality television era, the PGA hasn’t exactly gone out of its way to squelch the “Survivor”-type aspects of the competition.

“I used to have this book, ‘Tales from Q School,’ by John Feinstein,” Patel recalled. “I read like the first couple chapters. It’s entertaining for someone who’s not actually trying to go through it, but I’d rather not get caught up in the hype.”

Instead, Patel hopes to just focus on playing the best golf he can, as he did in the PGA’s Illinois Open two weeks ago, when he finished as the top amateur in the field and sixth overall.

“I went into the tournament actually feeling like I had a chance of winning it,” Patel said. “The way I played, too, I could have won; it’s just the putts were not falling. I still played really well and I was rolling it well, it just wasn’t falling. … I still hung in there and got a good finish. It was an important week, too, because this is my last amateur event before I turn professional, and to kind of get this momentum going is a good thing.”

UPDATE: Patel carded an even-par 71 Wednesday to drop into a tie for fourth place, four strokes behind Todd Mitchell of Bloomington. Mitchell, a two-time winner of the event, fired a 4-under par 67 Wednesday to go two strokes ahead of Brad Hopfinger of Lake Forest. Brant is in third place, three strokes off the pace.