The First Tee Quad-Cities Amateur Tour: Newsroom

DeWitte eyeing QC Am title, First Tee season crown
By Tom Johnston, The Rock Island Argus/ Moline Dispatch
Thursday, May 29, 2003

With a two-shot lead heading into Saturday's third and final round of the 2003 Quad City Amateur golf tournament, the event is Jonas DeWitte's to lose.

But you talk to the youngster and it's not just this tournament that he has his sights set on as he plays his second year on the Q-C's top organized amateur tour -- what is now known as The First Tee of the Quad Cities Amateur Tour.

"Mike Jump's already won two tournaments. You win five tournaments on this thing and you've pretty much got it sewn up,'' said DeWitte, referring to the season-long points race and the exemption into the PGA Tour's John Deere Classic Sept. 8-14. "I've got seven left and I'm shooting to win five of them.''

The kid definitely doesn't lack confidence. He's also proving that he doesn't lack game.

"Jonas is a good player,'' said Brian Soucinek, the Tour's two-time defending season points champ who is in a threesome five shots back of DeWitte and just three behind Mike Martin.

But DeWitte also has some skeletons to clean out of his golf closet. When he won the IHSA Class A state boys individual title in his senior season at Rockridge High School in the fall of 2000, he had to clear the air over his reputation for occasional inaccurate scorekeeping. To his credit, he stepped up and confronted the issue then.

He was right when he said two years ago that it was a reputation that would be hard to shake. Even now, nearly three years later, you can still hear the whispers and see the expressions when his scores are posted. But playing with the local veterans and those who know the game, DeWitte's being kept on his toes as his education in the game continues.

That became apparent at the inaugural First Tee event earlier this month. At the Palmer Hills Amateur, twice he had problems with rules infractions as he was playing in the final group and in the hunt for title. The first came when his caddie stood over him with an umbrella protecting him from the rain (illegal when it's done as a stroke is made) and the second when he switched ball brands in the middle of his round after a shot found a hazard.

"There are a couple of rules out there that I'm still not aware of,'' said DeWitte. "I knew it, but I didn't know it, when my caddie was holding the umbrella over me. I know your caddie can't stand behind you when you putt and I had to step back from a couple of putts and said 'you have to move.' That was an honest mistake there.''

To his credit, DeWitte knows that he still has a long way to go before he can make that next step up the golf ladder. In addition to success on the First Tee Tour, he's planning lessons early in June at Chicago's Cog Hill with Dr. Jim Suttie, who is thought of as one of the top professionals in the country.

Showing he has the desire to work on his game, DeWitte cold-called Suttie to set up the lessons.

In addition to getting his swing worked on, DeWitte is also hoping Suttie, a former college coach now based out of Florida, may be able to point him in the right direction for the final three years of his college eligibility. DeWitte plans on moving to Florida after the local golf season.

But before that move, or any other victories on the First Tee Tour, DeWitte is anxious for the opportunity to wrap up the Am title in the final 18 holes at Emeis Golf Course in Davenport.

"I'm really looking to hopefully play my best … and if my best is good enough to win, so be it,'' he said. "Going into Saturday at Emeis, I'm even more confident; I really like Emeis; I always played there when I was a kid. You get it going there with the putter and you can go 64 or 65 easy.''

Going low is what the chasers hope they can do as they put some pressure on the 36-hole leader.

"Jonas is a real good player, so you know you’re going to have to play really well.'' said Soucinek, lamenting a number of missed opportunities in his first two rounds, including seven bogeys last Sunday at Glynns Creek. "You know what you have to do. Jonas is pretty steady and I think it's a course that will suit him well. There’s only one thing to do if you’re behind and that's go out and make as many birdies as you can.''

And hope that's enough to make a move on a kid with a steely resolve and plenty still left to prove with his golf game.

Tom Johnston welcomes your comments at tbone@qconline.com or 757-4969.