DeKALB – Eleven-year-old Madasyn Pettersen is one of the top junior golfers for her age in the country. On Tuesday, she beat 42 of Illinois' best amateur golfers to qualify for the championship round of the the Illinois Women's Golf Association's Amateur Championships.
Petersen was the youngest in the field – by four years.
Her accomplishments seem as impressive as her pure, fully-grown golf swing – that is, until they're compared to her long-term goals.
The Rockford native says with conviction that she wants to someday rank No. 1 on the LPGA Tour, and maybe even be the first woman to win an event on the PGA Tour.
Making it to Friday's final round of the tournament at Kishwaukee Country Club wasn't unrealistic in her mind.
So what if she just finished the fifth grade?
After squeaking into the championship flight with an 85 in stroke play, Pettersen played five-time champion Kerry Postillion. Even though she said she felt fully capable of competing against her opponent, she struggled to keep pace and was down four after the front nine. She managed to stay alive by winning the 14th hole, but the youngest golfer in the field lost to the 47-year-old Postillion on the 15th,
5 and 3.
Still, qualifying for the top 32 was no small feat for Pettersen. She performed well enough to not only qualify, but earn the respect of her opponents.
"I wouldn't touch her swing. She'll grow right into that and be great," Postillion said, though she said gave Pettersen advice about the mental aspects of golf.
"She impressed me. Very good golf swing. She'll be very good when she gets older."
Pettersen, her own worst critic, could only smile and respond politely.
"Today was a really bad day for me," she said. "But it was nice for her to say that."
Madasyn has grown up fast throughout her young life. She learned to read at 2 1/2 years and was tying her own shoes by 3. Not long after she turned 4, she swung her first golf club, and at 5 she won her first tournament.
"It was just something she could kind of do," said her dad and caddy, Mike Pettersen.
When she was 7, she finished in sixth place in her age division in the World Junior Golf Championships, and has failed to make the final cut at the event only once in the past four years. Last year, she finished 11th in the tournament.
At age 11, she's a serious golfer with clear, if lofty, goals.
With the growing pains of playing her second round in less than a day, it wasn't difficult to see the frustration on Pettersen's face Wednesday when she didn't execute the shots she wanted to.
"Noooo," she yelled with a groan after most of her drives.
"Nothing's really going my way," she said with a slight smile after the front nine.
That's something Pettersen hopes to change next time.
Even aside from her sweet stroke, Postillion thinks the youngster has what it takes to keep improving.
"She loves it so much. You can tell. She has so much fire in her," Postillion said. "She has the love of the game. That's what's important."
Atterbury moves on: Defending champion and top seed Brittany Atterbury won both of her matches to advance to today's quarterfinal. She'll face off against the No. 9 seed, Alyssa Gaudio, with a tee time set for 8 a.m.
Connie Ellett, a junior at Hampshire High, is the championships lowest remaining seed (27) after she won her two matches. She'll face the No. 14 seed, Nora Lucas.
The other two quarterfinals pit No. 2 Kaitlyn Wampler vs. No. 7 Margaret Gilley and the 12 and 13 seeds facing off in Kaela Klune and Samantha Postillion.
Wampler barely survived the round of 16, needing 22 holes to defeat Laura Carson. Gilley, meanwhile, has won her two matches easily, defeating Tori Stock, 7 and 5, and Jennifer Niemiec, 4 and 3.
The winners advance to the semifinals, which are set to begin at noon.
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