Around Town: Eric Klutke qualifies for Drive, Chip and Putt national finals

Eric Klutke won the Drive, Chip and Putt regional Sept. 19 at Medinah Country Club and qualified for the national finals in April at Augusta National in Augusta, Georgia.

Klutke, a sixth-grader at Bernotas Middle School in Crystal Lake, advanced through local and sub-regional qualifiers to compete at regionals. He has been playing golf since he was 3 years old and has competed at the U.S. Kids Golf World Championship since he was 6.

Drive, Chip and Putt is a joint initiative founded in 2013 by the Masters Tournament, United States Golf Association and The PGA of America, aimed at growing the game by focusing on the three fundamental skills used in golf.

Klutke had been to Medinah as a spectator at the Ryder Cup in 2012, but never had played there.

“I was nervous," Klutke said. “It was a big deal."

Scoring is based on the total score of each of three balls based on distance in driving and distance from hole in chipping and putting. Chipping is from 10 to 15 yards away from a hole and putting is one ball each from 6, 15 and 30 feet.

Klutke was ahead after the driving portion of the competition with 48 points. He said he was driving in the 230-yard range. His closest competitor, Evan Brzyski from Michigan, had 40.

The order was reversed after chipping with Brzyski scoring 45 and Klutke a 32, to put Klutke down, 85-80.

The competition is all about consistency with each of the three balls counting toward your score, not just the best.

“I just didn’t hit the one good,” Klutke said of his chips.

Putting was the final skill.

“I had the best putt,” Klutke said. “I beat [Brzyski] in putting.”

That gave them both a 140 total score.

“We weren’t sure at first how they did [tiebreakers], so we were nervous,” Klutke said.

Luckily for Klutke, putting was the first tiebreaker, which gave him the regional championship.

Next up is nationals at Augusta, which will be contested the Sunday before the Masters Tournament and broadcast on The Golf Channel.

“Augusta,” Klutke said when asked if he was more excited about nationals or going to Augusta National. “It’s pretty cool and awesome.”

And he has a pretty specific goal while he is there.

“Get Arnold Palmer’s autograph,” Klutke said.

• Rob Smith is a sports writer for the Northwest Herald. Write to him at rsmith@shawmedia.com.