National Amateur Championship Aspirations for St. Charles Resident

The moment of truth for Blake Biddle came in the second round of the 81st Illinois State Amateur Championship.

Beginning on the 10th hole in second-round play at Glen Oak Country Club in Glen Ellyn last Wednesday, he was in danger of missing the cut as he neared the turn at the brutally difficult 17th and 18th holes.

Faced with par putts of a combined 65 feet, the St. Charles resident proceeded to drain both of them in dramatic fashion.

“I don’t remember him ever making putts that long, especially for par,” said Ben Souders, whom Biddle described as “my full-time caddie.” “He has always been a good putter.”

Converting five putts of over 25 feet on the afternoon, Biddle, nursing a ginger back, would fire an even-par 71.

Combined with his 3-over 74 during opening-round action on Tuesday, Biddle made the 36-hole cut by three shots.

“Putting has always been one of my best strengths,” Biddle said of his improbably holed bombs. 

Biddle would make a dramatic move during the grinding and mentally exacting final day on Thursday.

The competition was a 36-hole final day competition.

“I’m used to it,” said Biddle, who finished a successful freshman campaign at the University Nevada-Las Vegas last spring. “Most of the college tournaments are a 36-hole Monday (format).”

Biddle is more than used to the spotlight.

Traversing the country to play in tournaments before he even entered high school, Biddle was a four-year stalwart at Wheaton Academy in West Chicago.

“I would have to say that Blake was the most driven player I have ever coached,” Wheaton Academy coach Bob Broman said. “Obviously he was a tremendous player. Blake made practice fun for the other boys. He was a very outgoing person.”

Biddle was a two-time all-state performer for the Warriors, who won the Class 2A state title in 2009.

Biddle set the course record at venerable St. Andrews Golf & Country Club with a 63 during his junior year; he also holds the Wheaton Academy nine-hole record with a blistering 29 at Pheasant Run.

“His desire to get better is what set him apart,” Broman said.

Biddle ended his state amateur in grand fashion.

Authoring eight combined birdies during the final two rounds, Biddle shot a collective 1-under 141 to close the three-day, 72-hole tournament with a 286 total. With his red-number total on the final day, Biddle finished tied for sixth with his 2-over 216 aggregate score.

“(The) morning (round) could have been really good,” said Biddle. “It’s just a mental grind (playing two rounds in one day). The afternoon round I got off to a terrible start.”

The United State Golf Association is the governing body for the  sport in the nation, and Biddle has already had a taste of its most storied tournaments—with one more yet to come.

Last May during sectional qualifying play at St. Charles Country Club, Biddle was the odd man out of three-man playoff for the final two slots to the national championship at Congressional Country Club in suburban Washington, D.C.

“That course just suits my eye,” Biddle said of the layout in his hometown.

An alternate to the national Open Championship, Biddle received all the perks of the 156 qualifiers.

“It was a great experience,” Blake’s father, Bob, said.

Before returning to the southwest desert, Biddle has one more tournament to play.

The 19-year old will venture to suburban Milwaukee for the U.S. Amateur championship at Erin Hills Golf Course in late August

“It’s a links course,” Biddle said of the layout. “I have played links courses before, like Whistling Straights (the host for the 2004 and 2010 PGA Championships that lies along Lake Michigan in Wisconsin).”

The tournament, which combines stroke and match play to determine the champion, is the most prestigious non-professional championship in the land.

“I want to make it to match play and see what happens,” Biddle said. “I don’t know much about (the course). I’ve always felt that (a) links (course) fits my game. It’s the purest form of golf.”

St. Charles residents Jordan Wetsch, Jon Woods and Rich Balla also played in the state amateur last week. 

None of them made the cut.

Wetsch did come back strong, firing a second-round 72 to offset a disastrous first round.

"I just wanted to finish strong," the incoming University of Wisconsin freshman and recent St. Charles East graduate said.