TIMES OPTIMIST JUNIOR TOURNAMENT

Will Gogolak was a member at White Hawk Country Club, ironically enough, until he got a job there cleaning clubs and washing carts.

"Since they let me play for free now, I stopped being a member," Gogolak said.

Ah, the perks of working at a golf course. Especially one that's in your backyard.

When Gogolak says he lives at White Hawk, it's not hyperbole, or a thinly-veiled reference to the amount of time he spends at the course. White Hawk, in fact, is the name of Gogolak's neighborhood.

Since his family moved to the developing subdivision in 1998, Gogolak has never been more than a few paces from Red Hawk's first hole.

Prime real estate for anyone, let alone an avid golfer. Andrean's first-team all-conference golfer as a sophomore last season, Gogolak has taken full advantage of his convenient locale.

Especially now that his brother, John, Andrean's former No. 1 (and unofficially Will's No. 1 playing partner since the day his aunt bought him a bag of clubs when he was 6), has graduated.

"That's why I picked up with Steve heavily," Gogolak said.

That would be White Hawk's director of golf, Steve Smead, the man Gogolak has been taking lessons from for about two years. The past year, Smead has focused on Gogolak's swing, maintaining the stroke that helped him shoot a season-best score when Andrean won sectionals his freshman season.

"It's still not the best it's ever been, but it's getting close," said Gogolak, who hits the White Hawk driving range at least once a day and tries to play two rounds a week during the summer.

"Close" was good enough to qualify for the Times Illiana Amateur in the A Flight earlier this month, a tournament he thinks helped prepare him for today's Times Optimist Junior tournament at Scherwood.

"That was a really good feel for what this is going to be because it's probably going to be the same competition as far as kids go," said Gogolak, who was paired with Aberdeen teammate Nate Svihlik during the Times Illiana finals.

Gogolak is a veteran of the Times Optimist tournament. By his count, he has played the event the past six years. In this his seventh appearance, he'll be looking for his third championship in his age group.