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⚠️ Please Note: This article was published in 2024. Visit our Events Calendar to view current upcoming events.
Article by Elena Ferrarin
Communications Coordinator
Northbrook Park District
PGA Tour golfer Nick Hardy opens in new tab has a special attachment to the Northbrook Park District’s Anetsberger Golf Course, which holds his earliest memories of the sport.
Hardy grew up about a mile away from Anetsberger, where he honed his skills and resolved to become a professional player.
“I grew up playing at Anetsberger. My dad first took me there when I was 3 or 4,” said Hardy, who holds the course record at Anetsberger and has one PGA Tour win to his credit, the 2023 Zurich Classic with playing partner Davis Riley. “I have so many good memories of playing with my dad, playing with my buddies or my next-door neighbors. Every summer I’d ride my bike there, with my bag and my clubs on my back.”
Hardy will be back at Anetsberger for a special golf clinic on Sunday, September 8, aptly named “Nick Hardy Day” and organized by the Illinois Junior Golf Association opens in new tab. Hardy, an IJGA alumnus, said he has held golf clinics across the country, but never in his native Northbrook.
“This is a great way for me to give my time to youth golf in Illinois, and it’s going to be really special that it’s at a place where I grew up playing,” Hardy said. “It’s always great to come back and see familiar faces.”
Among them is Northbrook Park District Head Golf Professional John Billiter, who said the park district is excited to host this event with the Illinois Junior Golf Association. “It will be great to see Nick and his family at the place where his love for the game of golf began. This is a unique opportunity for young aspiring golfers to learn skills from a PGA Tour Professional and find motivation for the possibilities of their future.”
Hardy graduated from Glenbrook North High School opens in new tab and won the Big 10 Conference Championship individually in 2015 and 2018 while at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign opens in new tab. He also won the Illinois State Amateur Championship in record-breaking fashion in 2016.
He has qualified five times for the U.S. Open, with his best finish (T14th) in 2022.
Those who attend Nick Hardy Day on Sunday in Northbrook can expect to hear Hardy talk about his youth and his path toward achieving his goals of becoming a college golfer and professional player. He’ll also share golf tips, take questions from the audience and play a few holes.
IJGA Executive Director Matt Wennmaker said this is the first time the organization has set up a clinic with Nick Hardy.
“The IJGA is honored to work with Nick Hardy and Anetsberger Golf Course to give junior golfers an inside look at what it took Nick Hardy to get to where he is today,” Wennmaker said. “Junior golfers will get to hear from Nick about his junior, college and professional career while going through his bag on the course he spent so much time at growing up as a kid.”
The September 8 event at Anetsberger will be special also because attendees will have a chance to meet Hardy’s parents, Kim and John Hardy, who are joining him for a golf clinic for the first time. Young golfers who take part in programs from the nonprofit First Tee – Greater Chicago opens in new tab, for which Hardy serves as an ambassador, also will be in attendance.
Nick Hardy Day will take place from 9 to 11:30am on Sunday at Anetsberger Golf Course, 1750 Techny Road, Northbrook. The event welcomes all junior golfers, including members and nonmembers of the IJGA. The fee is $9. Registration is required at bluegolf.com opens in new tab.