Results

The first year of the Illinois State Open as part of the AMA was a serious nail biter. Tom Loftus had a 3 stroke lead after 2 rounds with two round of 38 which ended up being the low round score of the tournament. Justin Gutche played solid and consistent all day and made an ace on Hole #18 in the 3rd round. Tom made a tough deuce putt to pulled tied with Justin. The two worked out a 3 hole aggregate sudden death playoff across 15, 16 & 18. Both scores all 2s and continued on playing sudden death deciding on 1,3 & 6 where both shot 2s. Justin took a 2 on #8 and Tom aced it to win the tournament in dramatic fashion on the last roll of the ball off a rebound shot into the cup. Video of the final putt is up on social media and the full sudden death video will be up soon.

Jeremy Inabinet tied the low round of the day in his final round to fall 1 stroke behind Tom and Justin for 3rd with a 119. Nate Blazier shot a 2nd round 38 which tied for low round and came in 4th with a 120. Nate was tied for the lead after 14 holes in the 3rd round. Mick Cullen was one stroke behind nate in 5th.

Max Cullen won the junior award for the tournament with a solid 139 and round of 45 to start the tournament, including a wild ace on the challenging hole #5.

Photos and videos to come soon.

Tournament Details

Annual 3-round strokeplay event held at Ball Fore Miniature Golf Course. This course (before it got the baseball theme on the turf) hosted the 2009 and 2012 mini golf US Open.

Practice/Course Opens: 7:30am

Rules/Pairings: 8:45am

Tournment Start: 9 am

Entry fee: $25

Trophies for top 3 plus a cash purse:

1st - $75

2nd - $50

3rd - $25

Unlike previous years, entry into the Masters is not one of the prizes.

Players can use their own putters and if you choose to use your own ball, know that if they go in the water, they will not float, and you could lose your ball. House balls that float will be made available to players

To register, you must set up an account with the Chicago Ridge Park District HERE first. Once you set up an account, go to the Programs page and you’ll find the “AMA Miniature Golf Tournament”

Photos from the 2024 tournament

Photos of all 18 holes from late July 2025

A video walkthrough and photos of the course in 2025 will be available in advance of the tournament

2024 Pro Division Winners: Pro - Justin Gutche (1st) & Derek Hartmann (2nd)