Jake, who will be 21 in 10 days, is a junior on the University of Dayton golf team. He finished third in the recent Metro at Heatherwoode Golf Club.
The Gilkison brothers first made news when they sparked the Springboro High School golf team to some high finishes in the Ohio High School Division I championship.
Now that they will both be off to college, a third member of the family is preparing to give the Springboro golf program a boost. He is 15-year-old Jordan Gilkison, who will be a freshman at SHS this year. He came within one stroke of making the cut in the Metro when he had rounds of 74 and 75.
“He was by far the smallest person in the tournament,” said Steve Jurick, executive director of the Miami Valley Golf Association. “He would have made the cut if he hadn’t bogeyed the 15th hole and double-bogeyed the 16th (in the second round.)”
Compared to his older brothers, Jordan is a little guy, but he stands tall when he’s on the golf course.
Last Sunday he was the overall winner in the 14-15 age group of the PGA’s Drive, Pitch & Putt Sub-Regional qualifier at the TPC at River’s Bend.
Hitting three drives of approximately 230 yards into the fairway while a few others were hitting it farther and missing the fairway at least once, he finished first in driving.
“As he grows, he’ll get a lot more distance,” brother Josh predicted.
Jordan finished second in chipping and first in putting as he earned a spot in the Regional competition Sept. 16 at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
The goal is to participate in the national final at the Augusta National Golf Club during Masters week in 2018.
Josh Gilkison got some good news recently.
He received an invitation to play in the Under Armour/Jordan Spieth AJGA Championship this week in Dallas.
Gilkison is one of three Ohioans in the field. The others are: Jack Herceg of Dublin and Jack Kozlowski of Columbus.
The 54-hole event will be played Tuesday through Thursday at Trinity Forest Golf Club, which has a Scottish-style course designed by Ben Crenshaw and Bill Coore.
Chip Shots
Moraine Country Club will host the annual Mercedes-Benz Dealer Regional Championship on Monday. It’s a two-person net better ball in which the best individual score per hole counts as the team score.
One third of the entry fee goes to the Norma J. Ross Youth Foundation. The winning duo advances to the Western Section championship at Torrey Pines Golf Course in LaJolla, Calif.
A Southern Ohio PGA Open also will be held Monday. It’s at Four Bridges Country Club in Liberty Township.
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