Jerry Vidovic, First on the Wall
Jerry Vidovic - A USGA national champion from Blue Island, a teenager in the 1974 Western Open eight minutes ahead of Arnold Palmer, and still missing from the Illinois Golf Hall of Fame.
8:56 a.m. — Jerry Vidovic · 10th tee 9:04 a.m. — Arnold Palmer · Latrobe, Pa. 1974 — 71st Western Open · Butler National
1974: Eight Minutes Behind Arnold Palmer
Jerry Vidovic played the 71st Western Open at Butler National Golf Club in Oak Brook, Illinois. Tom Watson won the championship that week — his first PGA Tour victory.
Jerry teed off at 8:56 a.m. from the tenth tee. Arnold Palmer, of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, followed eight minutes later, at 9:04 a.m. — the group directly behind. Palmer was in the field that week and finished tied for fifth. Watson closed at 287.
In Illinois it has long been said that, going into this 1974 start, Jerry was the youngest player of his generation to qualify and compete in a PGA Tour event. He was a teenager from Blue Island, with an Arnold Palmer–designed putter in his hands, and Palmer walking up between holes to stand with him on the next tee. The association lasted for decades, including later visits at Bay Hill Arnold, along with his college teammate, D.A. Weibring, 2004 U.S. Senior Open champion Peter Jacobsen, and myself.
Butler National Golf Club, Oak Brook — site of the 71st Western Open, 1974.
The Pairing Sheet
The original sheet is autographed by Arnold Palmer. These are the times it records: Vidovic at 8:56, Palmer at 9:04, off the tenth.
Western Golf Association — 71st Western Open Butler National Golf Club · Oak Brook, Illinois · June 27–30, 1974 Thursday · First Round · Tee No. 10 · 8-minute interval
| Time | Player · Hometown |
|---|---|
| 8:56 | Jerry Vidovic — Blue Island, Illinois |
| 9:04 | Arnold Palmer — Latrobe, Pennsylvania |
Back-to-back groups off the tenth tee, eight minutes apart. Original pairing sheet held by the family, autographed by Arnold Palmer.
1977: The Week That Still Stands
From 3,732 entries, Jerry Vidovic of Blue Island co-medaled at 142 and went on to win the 1977 United States Amateur Public Links Championship at Brown Deer Park Golf Course in Milwaukee. In the 36-hole final he defeated Jeff Kern, 4 and 2.
Days before the first tee, the hosels on his own irons cracked. He built a set from his father's trunk. Among those Wilson Staff clubs was a 7-iron he called his "bionic club." He went three up after the morning eighteen, then opened the afternoon with ten consecutive pars.
He is still the only Illinois golfer to win the USGA's fourth-oldest championship — the national title created for players who learned the game on public courses.
1970: The Father at Cog Hill
Seven years before the Public Links, the same championship came to Cog Hill No. 4 — Dubsdread. Thirteen-year-old Jerry worked as a forecaddie. He watched his father — insurance salesman, World War II Navy veteran, seven-time Cog Hill Men's Club Champion — help Chicago claim the team title.
"It all seemed so exciting," Jerry later told Golf Digest. "Seeing him have that success, it sort of lit everything up for me."
Cog Hill — where a son watched a father win, then went and won himself.
Illinois State: Already in a Hall of Fame
Jerry Vidovic played golf at Illinois State University. He is a member of the Illinois State Athletics Percy Family Hall of Fame.
- Team captain, three seasons
- MVP as a sophomore, junior, and senior
- Seven intercollegiate individual titles
- Three NCAA Championship appearances
- All-America, 1977–78
That mid-1970s side included D.A. Weibring (five PGA Tour wins, 1987 Western Open champion, Illinois Golf Hall of Fame 2001) and Gary Ostrega (1974 U.S. Amateur quarterfinalist). In 2008 the three of them stood in the same U.S. Senior Open field at The Broadmoor.
Later: United States Senior Opens
Colorado, 2008. Qualified with a 71 at Crestmont. First round at The Broadmoor: 73. The Denver Post printed his name in the field.
Omaha path, 2013. USGA sectional at Ruth Lake Country Club, Hinsdale: Jerry Vidovic, Blue Island, 69.
Home: Coming Back to Meadows
When Meadows Golf Club opened in Blue Island in the early 1990s, he came home to help start it.
"That's the fun part. I'm the head pro. I'm the general manager. I spent two years as the superintendent. I don't mind being the bartender because I get to meet more people that way. I like wearing all the hats."
A USGA champion who kept a municipal eighteen open so the next thirteen-year-old forecaddie would have a place to learn the game.
Illinois Company
Three USGA national champions. Two already in the state Hall of Fame.
How does a state golf association leave off the list a man who stands in that company?
Chick Evans — 1916 U.S. Open. Two U.S. Amateurs. Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, 1989.
Carol Mann — 1965 U.S. Women's Open. 38 LPGA wins. Illinois Golf Hall of Fame, 2019.
Jerry Vidovic — 1977 U.S. Amateur Public Links.