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Jake Cesare couldn’t wait any longer. Friday morning, the 17-year-old showed up at Westfield High School in Indiana for his first day of senior year. He was a day late.
Cesare had other things on his plate when the gates opened Thursday at Westfield. After two rounds of the Golfweek Hoosier Amateur, Cesare was two shots off the lead in a field largely comprised of Division I players at Indiana University’s Pfau Course. He won with a final-round 5-under-par 66.
At 6 under par through 54 holes, no one else was up to par. Ben Cors, a senior from the University of Dayton, finished second at 1 under par. Three players, two of whom are also on Division I rosters, finished tied for second.
Results: Golfweek Hoosier Amateur
Cesare didn’t mourn the loss of pomp and circumstance of the comeback. Shortly after wolfing down a cheeseburger and fries to celebrate his victory, he said: “I’m happy. I definitely made the right decision to come and play this tournament and miss the first day.”
Cesare found out about the schedule about a week ago when his father told him he would be in Bloomington instead of Westfield when school started.
“I thought, ‘Great, I missed the first day,'” he said.
Just as the start of senior year marks a transition point for most people, Cesare’s win at the Hoosier Amateur marks one for him. Cesare, who turns 18 on Aug. 17, last won a golf tournament in the fall of 2023. It was an Indiana Golf Foundation Fall Series event at Coyote Crossing Golf Club in West Lafayette — in other words, a junior golf tournament.
The Hoosier Amateur was Cesare’s first amateur victory. He recognized a few names on the field, but it was largely a new crowd.
Asked how he felt after 54 holes, Cesare said he felt he had all the talent needed.
“I know I’m just as good,” he said. “I just feel like I have to string together three good solid rounds.”
Cesare, who works on his swing with Brad Fellers at Prairie View Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana, is confident off the tee and good with the driver. He has accuracy and distance, and in the final round, his putter was hot. He needed only 26 putts in total, including 10 in one shot.
Cesare’s final-round score of 66 was one stroke better than his lowest competitive score, which he shot in 2020 as a qualifier for the Notah Begay Junior Golf National Championship. Cesare had just one double bogey all week. He hit his tee shot across the fairway on the par-4 11th hole in the second round, but he redeemed himself with a birdie in the final round.
Cesare’s 6-under par total set a new 54-hole record for the Hoosier Amateur. Last year, Nick Piesen won at 5-under par just weeks before starting his freshman season at Indiana.
“I felt like I was the underdog this week,” Cesare said. “I had no pressure, I had nothing to lose.”
His Hoosier Amateur title could well break that outsider status, especially since he will be ranked in the World Amateur Golf Rankings after this tournament.
The Pfaus will hear from him, too. Last spring, Cesare verbally committed to play for Indiana University. He will join his older brother Alec on the roster next year after Alec transfers from Ball State to begin his sophomore season. Indiana is the Cesares’ family school. Jake and Alec’s parents both attended there, too.
“It’ll be fun to play with Alec,” he said. “I spent two years in high school playing golf with him and it was a lot of fun. I hope it’ll be the same in college.”
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Jake Cesare wins Golfweek Hoosier Amateur, dominates Division I, then returns to 12th grade
