New father, new head pro becomes rare Rockford golfer to reach PGA Tour Major championship

Jeff Kellen dreamed of making the PGA Tour when he finished third in the Men’s City as a junior at Rockford Lutheran, one of the best finishes ever by a high school player. He dreamed of being a pro golfer when he was a three-time All-Missouri Valley Conference pick at Illinois State, finishing one stroke out of first place as a senior.

But he never made it. He didn’t even make it to the top minor league tour. Not even after he became one of the few pro golfers in history to birdie every hole on the back nine, shooting a 27 in the second round of the Summergrove Classic near Atlanta on the Hopkins Tour a decade ago.

Now, though, all his other dreams were coming true. He and his wife of eight years had their first child in November. He also got his first job as a head PGA pro, at North Shore Country Club in Glenview that same month. His life had never been better.

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“It’s been a year full of blessings,” Kellen said.

And, now, the same is true of his golf life. Kellen joined Guilford grad Brad Benjamin (2010 Masters, 2011 U.S. Open) and Byron grad Chris French (2023 PGA Championship) as the only Rockford golfers to qualify for one of golf’s four Major tournaments in the last 45 years.

“It’s the realization of a dream,” Kellen said. “I always wanted to play on the PGA Tour and have a chance to play in events like this.”

Kellen gave up on being a pro golfer in 2017 to become a golf teacher instead when Ed Slattery hired him to be his top assistant at Mauh-Nah-Tee-See. In 2020, he moved on to Butler National, one of Illinois’ most exclusive clubs, as its top assistant pro.

“We were just lucky to have him for three years,” Slattery said. “This is wonderful. I am really happy for him. I can’t wait to see how he does.”

Kellen’s career as a teaching pro rose quickly.

“I love it,” he said. “The childhood dream of playing golf was born out of my love for the game. To be able to transition that into the business of golf on the club side is wonderful. It’s not the same thing day after day after day. Every day presents its own opportunities and challenges. I get to share my passion for the game. That makes it a lot of fun.”

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It doesn’t allow him to play that much golf, though. On the other hand, the PGA has its own series of tournaments for its teaching pros. Kellen has played in 10 or 12 of those every year, never earning more than $5,545 in any one of them. But the big carrot is the PGA sends the top 20 players from its tournament for PGA professionals all around the country to the PGA Championship. That’s how French, the head pro at Aldeen, made it last year. And that’s how Kellen got in this year, tying for eighth there to qualify for the PGA Championship, which runs May 16-19 at Valhalla in Louisville, Kentucky.

“I was well aware that I was capable of qualifying,” Kellen said. “Seeing Chris do it was super exciting. He and I are friends. I know where my game stacked up against his. It made it more real and showed me it was something that should be a goal, something that should be achievable.”

Kellen began closing on his dream hard when he shot a  68, tied for the low round of the day, in the second round in Frisco, Texas. That put him tied for fifth, four strokes off the lead. But he skied to an 80 in a windy round 3, dropping to 29th.

That is when his dream life helped him keep his golf dreams alive. Rather than get down, Kellen was returned to his rental house and was uplifted by his son, Remi, and his wife, Sierra, who played soccer on Lutheran’s 2006 state championship team.

“Years past, I would have been dejected and down,” Kellen said. “Those other life things made it easier to keep in perspective. I just figured I’d play tomorrow and see what happens.”

What happened was Kellen was on the exact cut number with four holes to play. They had leaderboards on each of the last six holes, so Kellen — and his dad, who caddied for him — knew exactly where he stood. He birdied 15 to get three shots clear of the line. A bogey on 16 dropped it back to two. He needed to make a six-foot par putt on 17 to retain that two-shot edge.

“That putt on 17 for par was the one moment that if i made that putt I knew I was probably good,” Kellen said. “It was a slightly uphill right edge putt. The wind was blowing 35 miles per hour left to right. I aimed it right inside the edge and hit it firm. I wasn’t going to let the wind blow it out of the hole. I hit it dead center.

“That was my theme for that whole round. I hadn’t practiced much, so I made the decision that come hell or high water on that round, I was going to make a good aggressive swing all day and let the chips fall where they may. The worst thing you can do in this game is take guided swings. You should let it rip and see what happens.

“I tell my juniors when they get nervous to swing hard. When you try to baby things or be delicate, it’s far more difficult than swinging as hard as you can.”

Jeff Kellen’s life has become more complicated these last few months. The biggest golf tournament of his life looms ahead. His everyday life has more responsibilities, too. As a father. And keeping golfers happy at a top country club.

“Life is way busier. More obligations. More things to keep your hands on. Managing a team. All that stuff,” Kellen said. “But it’s been wonderful. We’ve got a great team here. North Shore Country Club is a wonderful place to be.

“It’s been a year of a lot of great things. We feel very lucky.”

This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Rockford Lutheran grad Jeff Kellen qualifies for PGA Championship