The Western Novice was already thought of one of the vital grueling assessments in beginner golf.
Ian Gilligan needed to endure way over common.
A rising senior from Reno, Nevada, Gilligan was slated to face off in opposition to his College of Florida teammate Jack Turner in an 18-hole last Saturday afternoon at Moraine Nation Membership in Dayton, Ohio. Solely that wasn’t sufficient; Gilligan and Turner battled for 11 sudden-death playoff holes earlier than Gilligan seize the Western title in a file 29-hole thriller.
Gilligan and Turner had been two of three present Florida gamers to advance to the semifinals. Gilligan beat Parker Bell in 19 holes whereas Turner dispatched high-schooler Henry Guan by the identical end result. Gilligan’s highway to the title additionally embrace 2-and-1 wins over Blades Brown, the reigning medalist at each the U.S. Novice and U.S. Junior, and Walker Cupper Ben James of Virginia.
Gilligan’s win continued a robust summer season for the Gators, as incoming freshman Parker Sands gained the Western Junior and 2025 commit Trevor Gutschewski captured the U.S. Junior final weekend at Oakland Hills.
The victory additionally might propel Gilligan into the highest 10 of the World Novice Golf Rating for the primary time. Gilligan entered the week ranked No. 14 and on the backs of a T-40 end in his PGA Tour debut, on the Barracuda Championship. Gilligan additionally reached the quarterfinals of this summer season’s North and South Novice.
It’s been a gradual climb up the beginner ranks for Gilligan, who starred for 2 years at Lengthy Seashore State, reaching No. 1 within the nationwide school rankings as a sophomore, earlier than transferring to Florida previous to final season, which was highlighted by Gilligan’s fifth profession school win, on the Southern Highlands Collegiate.
Whereas Gilligan’s Western triumph marks his greatest on the course, it pales compared to what he’s conquered off it. When he was 15 years previous, Gilligan was identified with stage-4 ALK-negative giant cell lymphoma, a uncommon most cancers often present in aged folks and never even two dozen youngsters on the time. Detailed on this GolfChannel.com profile from November 2022, Gilligan spent over 50 days within the hospital (10 of these within the ICU) and misplaced about 40 kilos. However after seven months of therapies, which included chemotherapy, Gilligan was ringing the bell, having crushed most cancers.
And so, 11 additional holes – and 154 complete for the championship? These had been nothing.
