| Midwest Golf House | Contact: Casey Richards |
| 11855 Archer Avenue | (630) 685-2324 |
| Lemont, IL 60439 | crichards@cdga.org |
| Contact: Tim Merrick | |
| (630) 685-2302 | |
| tmerrick@cdga.org | |
| Contact: Jacob Bomeli | |
| (630) 685-2345 | |
| jbomeli@cdga.org |
| For Immediate Release | June 3, 2026 |
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| PIAR PENS NAME IN ILLINOIS STATE WOMEN’S AM HISTORY, WINS 93RD ITERATION IN PLAYOFF AT ELGIN | |
| Wednesday, June 3, 2026 - ELGIN, Ill. - Golf has taken Gracie Piar (East Alton) all over the country. From Marquette Catholic High School in Alton, where she was an IHSA State Champion in 2021, to Cal State Northridge in the Los Angeles Metropolitan area. From qualifying for the 2024 U.S. Women’s Amateur in Stillwater, Minnesota, to missing the cut at the championship proper at Southern Hills in Tulsa, Oklahoma. And each year, Piar has made the four-hour-plus drive from Southern Illinois to the Chicagoland area to compete in the Illinois State Women’s Amateur Championship. Since the event moved to its current stroke-play format in 2024, she’s finished T-10th and 4th, respectively. This year, she again trekked north, to Elgin Country Club’s rolling fairways, but instead proved that persistence can pay off as she prevailed in a three-hole aggregate playoff with Lisa Copeland (Naperville) to capture the event’s 93rd edition. The tandem finished Wednesday’s final round +2 overall, after Piar carded a 3-under 70 and Copeland notched an even-par 73. “Awesome,” said Piar, 22, with a smile when asked how the win felt. “I’ve been coming up to Chicago for a long time for the Illinois State [Women’s] Am, and I’ve come close a few years, but never pulled it off. So, it’s awesome. It’s a great feeling.” Copeland, an incoming freshman at the University of Illinois, held a three-shot cushion at +2 entering Wednesday’s finale, with the other members of her pairing, Piar and Audrey Tir (Winnetka), both sitting at +5. Piar made her first move with a red figure at the par-4 third, while Copeland’s bogey dropped her lead to one. Copeland would recoup the lost shot with a birdie on No. 6, before relinquishing it again with a bogey on No. 7. The par–5 8th is where things got interesting. After hitting her second shot into a fairway bunker to the right, Copeland managed to blast her approach into the bottom of the cup, smashing the flagstick en route to an eagle 3. With her third shot resting just over the green, Piar provided an answer of her own, chipping in for a birdie 4 to keep pace with the leader. “Lisa is a great player, as you can tell,” said Piar of the pivotal moment. “After she eagled, it gave me a little motivation to do something good.” Sitting one shot back at the turn, Piar utilized that motivation even further. Birdies on Nos. 11 and 14 provided a one-shot lead before a dropped shot on the precarious par-3 16th brought Copeland and Piar level yet again. A few groups ahead, Alexis Myers (Northbrook) held the clubhouse lead after firing a scintillating 5-under 68 to sit at +3 overall. Despite driving it right of the fairway on the 18th, and with Copeland on the green in two, Piar powered her approach to 15 feet, and both players two-putted to force the playoff. Having graduated from Cal State Northridge just a few weeks ago, and with her vast experience in collegiate and amateur events, Piar’s nerves were, well, non-existent. Even with a State title she has yearned for within her reach. “I don’t really get nervous,” Piar said. “I get more excited. After I made the two-footer on the 18th hole, I was ready to go to the playoff. The pair matched pars on the 16th before the championship turned on No. 17. After a wayward tee shot, Copeland’s approach came up short of the false front, and a bogey opened the door for Piar, whose steady two-putt par gave her a one-shot advantage heading to the final hole. With the honor on No. 18, Piar found the left rough and was unable to reach the green in regulation. Copeland answered with a well-struck fairway metal from the center of the fairway, but her approach failed to hold the back of the green. Faced with a difficult hole location on Elgin’s finisher, Copeland was unable to get up and down and eventually carded a bogey. Piar’s two-putt bogey was enough to close out a hard-fought victory and secure the title, and a hearty embrace with her caddie, and father, Jarrod. “He’s taught me everything I know,” she said of her father. “He always caddies for me. I’m so glad we could pull it off. We work so well together. It was just awesome.” After finally breaking through to the winner’s circle, Piar will soon set her eyes on the professional ranks. She will return to California in September for Q-School, hoping to turn her golf game into a career. But before then, she will head South for one more trip. With the win, Piar receives an automatic exemption into the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship, with this year’s event slated for Aug. 4-9 at The Honours Course in Ooltewah, Tennessee. What’s a few more miles for a second chance at a USGA title…right? The 2026 slate of CDGA-administered Championships will set its sights on the Association’s oldest event, the CDGA Amateur Championship. The 106th edition will head | |
| Chicago District Golf Association The Chicago District Golf Association (CDGA) is authorized by the United States Golf Association (USGA) as the governing body for amateur golf in our region. The CDGA is a membership organization consisting of more than 119,000 individual golfers and 400 clubs in Illinois and parts of Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Golfers receive member offers, a Handicap Index® from the USGA® and competitive playing opportunities, while clubs receive Course Rating™ and Slope Rating™ measuring services, turfgrass diagnostics and educational seminars. The CDGA also creates opportunities for everyone to experience the benefits of the game through therapeutic and recreational Sunshine Programs, with an emphasis on serving individuals with disabilities, youth and veterans. For more information visit CDGA.org. | |
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