Ghim Claims Cup At State Junior Amateur Golf Championship

After shooting a Wednesday at the Illinois State Junior Amateur Championship at Makray Memorial Golf Club in Barrington, Doug Ghim of Buffalo Grove said it wouldn’t mean much if he didn’t bring home a trophy.

“Now it means something,” Ghim said with a smile Thursday after besting 155 of the state’s best junior players to win the Slovitt Cup, the Illinois Junior Golf Association’s top prize.

The title didn’t come easy for the 15-year-old. He started the final round tied for first place with Ian Mankoff of Lake Forest and one stroke ahead of Brian Bullington of Frankfort. But after bogeying the first two holes and watching Bullington birdie the fourth, Ghim was quickly in second place. He fell two strokes behind after another bogey on No. 6, putting him three-over-par on the day, a start which contrasted sharply with his record-setting second round, when he finished six under par.

“I couldn’t help but think it was going to be much harder today,” Ghim said. “I knew it was going to be a grind.”

Ghim bounced back with a birdie on No. 8 and he and Bullington were tied after 11 holes. Mankoff, meanwhile, bogeyed holes nine and 10 and double-bogeyed 11, dropping him out of contention.

Ghim and Bullington remained tied until 15, when a great second shot by Bullington that finished within two feet of the pin led to a birdie of the par-4 hole.

But with the championship nearly within his grasp, Bullington started to unravel on the following hole, when his two-foot putt for par rimmed out, bringing him back into a tie with Ghim, who was starting to play like he had a day earlier.

“I considered that I got all my bad holes out of the way early, so I didn’t really have to worry about them,” he explained.

Ghim didn’t appear at all nervous about the tight battle he was in.

“I’ve been in this situation before,” he said.

It showed.

Bullington may have been still thinking about his missed putt on 16 when he sailed his tee shot well left of the green on the par-3 17th, putting it three feet out of bounds at the edge of a bog. He wound up with a double bogey.

Ghim, meanwhile, made the putt of the day with a 30-footer for birdie, producing a huge three-stroke swing in his favor.

“That … really gave me the advantage,” he said in the understatement of the day.

Bullington recovered nicely to birdie 18, making things interesting, but Ghim avoided disaster and a potential playoff by parring the hole.

“It’s a great honor to win this prestigious event,” he said.

Ghim finished with a three-day total of 215, two strokes over par.