After tumultuous month, Kevin Cahill relishes action in Wisconsin State Amateur

OCONOMOWOC — Kevin Cahill arrives at the par-5, eighth hole and play is backed up. He's tired and wants to sit. More specifically, he wants to sit in the shade, a space occupied by a golf cart.

Luckily, the cart has an open seat.

As he walks over and takes that seat, the two golfers in the group playing behind him walk up to the tee. Cahill views them, wipes his brow and pops the question: “What are your ages?”

Ben Skogen, Cahill's playing partner, is 22. Matt Tolan is 18. Tyler Church is 20. Add their ages up and they equal 60.

“The golf ball doesn’t know how old I am," Cahill, 57, says from a chair outside the Oconomowoc Golf Club clubhouse-post round.

With three rounds complete at the 116th Wisconsin State Amateur Championship, Cahill, who wasn’t sure he’d be able to walk an 18-hole round when he arrived at the first tee on Monday, is six shots back of Tolan.

Thanks to a 5-under-par 65 on Wednesday, Tolan is 6-under for the tournament. Eddie Wajda (206) and Jacob Michel (207) are 4-under and a 3-under, respectively.

Cahill, who has bested all but 10 of the 156 competitors, has played well, said caddie Hannah Schultz. Before Monday, she'd never caddied for him.

Before a Thursday four weeks ago, the day in which he suffered an subarachnoid hemorrhage (bleeding between the brain and certain tissues), Cahill never knew he'd need a caddie.

Walking to his Jeep that day from the clubhouse at his home course of Merrill Hills, Cahill felt something in his head.

“It hurt, like ughhhh,” Cahill said Wednesday while grabbing his the sides of his face and pushing them together.

Cahill said he wasn’t scared because he’s “too stupid." The opinion did not prevent him for dialing his fiancée as he arrived at his car.

“I’m not the smartest guy in the world,” Cahill said. “I should’ve gone to the emergency room then.”

But he didn’t. He drove home with his fiancée on the other line.

The following morning, a trip to Waukesha Memorial Hospital and ensuing CAT scan resulted in nurses hooking him up with multiple IV’s. They told him he was being admitted. Hours later, he was transferred to the intensive care unit.

“I was like, ah, shoot, I’m going to get my brain operated on,” Cahill said. “There goes my golf season.”

Cahill walked out of the intensive care unit a day later. Nurses said he was the first person they’d ever seen do that.

Two weeks later, he returned to his doctor’s office for another CAT scan. Everything was clear. Doctors said the hemorrhage was an anomaly, according to Cahill, and he’d be fine much of the rest of his life.

That meant a return to golf, the sport he's played since his days as a youth at Kettle Moraine Golf Club.

Growing up, Cahill was better at tennis. By ages 12 and 13, though, he was tired of it and he wanted to quit. His brother (who played the racket sport professionally) and dad, said no, so he stuck with the sport.

Not only did he play in college at the University of Utah and Louisiana-Monroe, but he also played professionally for a brief period.

Cahill then moved back to Wisconsin and read the Journal Sentinel. He began to see scores of golf tournaments around the state, and by 2003, he thought he could shoot those scores.

“I knew if I was going to try to play in these things competitively, I might as well do it,” Cahill said. “I was going to screw up, embarrass myself, get humiliated — which I did. But that was all part of the learning curve.”

Last year, Cahill advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Senior Amateur at Old Warson Country Club in St. Louis. Up one with one to play, he ended up losing.

Cahill still thinks about the loss when he tees it up, and his club championship played two weeks ago — five days before his doctors told him he should. Admittedly, he struggled in the tournament, but the completed rounds gave him enough confidence play in this week’s event.

Still, as he arrived at the course, he wasn’t sure he'd finish. He also forgot he couldn't use a cart, so he got hooked up with Schultz, a Merrill Hills caddie who plays golf at Lewis University.

On Day 1, Cahill shot a 2-under 68. On day two, he shot a 2-over 72. By the eighth hole of Wednesday's round, he was 2-over, but then came the back nine and a birdie barrage.

Cahill hit the green from the rough on the par-4, 13th hole, but it rolled back off. He then chipped up, and smiled as he made a 15-foot par save. He'd found something with the putter on that green, which he put to use on the 14th, 15th and 16th.

Then came the 17th and another birdie try.

He brought the putter back and sent the ball toward the cup, which sat nearly 50 feet away. And as it fell into the earth, Cahill looked up and smiled once more. It marked his third birdie in five holes.

Steps away, behind the 18th tee, was a bench. Like the eighth hole, Cahill was tired, so he sat.

Laughing as he stood, he how understood. His round was not complete.

116th WISCONSIN STATE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP

Oconomowoc Golf Club

Par 70; 6,457 yards

204: Matt Tolan (67-72-65).

206: Eddie Wajda (69-68-69).

207: Jacob Michel (68-68-70).

208: Brian Murtagh (69-71-68), Phillip Johnson (66-71-71).

209: Peter Webb (71-71-67), Tyler Leach (69-71-69), Ben Skogen (66-73-70), Tyler Church (68-71-70), Samuel Anderson (69-69-71).

210: Jack Schultz, (69-73-68), Kevin Cahill (68-72-70).

211: Matthew Bachmann (73-72-66), Sam Madsen (74-69-68).

212: Nick Nelson (74-73-65), Charles Maleki (72-73-67), Christopher Colla (70-72-70), Zach Hentrich (69-72-71), Matthew McIntosh (70-71-71), Sam Weber (68-72-72).

213: Emmet Herb (70-74-69).

214: Andrew Morrison (70-75-69), Hunter Eichhorn (73-71-70).

215: Jimmy Albright (72-74-69), Garrett Jones (71-72-72).

216: Ricky Kuiper (70-74-72), Austin Kendziorski (71-72-73), Garrett Loomis (72-69-75).

217: Ryan Zikeli (74-74-69), Alex Yost (69-75-73).

218: Harrison Ott (70-79-69), Alexander Haas (74-72-72), Brock Hlinak (69-74-75).

219: Nick Cocalis (76-73-70), Bennett Knapek (73-75-71), Jim Walkley (75-72-72), Drew Schroeder (71-76-72), Craig Hodgson (69-77-73), Trevor Thomas (73-69-77).

220: Ryan Isaacson (74-74-72), Thomas Longbella (75-72-73), George Botts (76-71-73), Jack (John) Blair (73-73-74), Chip Summers (71-74-75), Joaquin Diaz (71-73-76).

221: Nate Thomson (74-75-72), Joe Weber (72-77-72).

222: Ryonen Faris (73-75-74), Brady Sarauer (74-75-73), Mike Greb (76-72-74), Alex Nannetti (74-73-75), Aaron Gavin (72-74-76), Steven Young (73-73-76), Todd Samarzia (74-71-77),

223: Adam Miller (75-74-74), Burke Barsamian (76-73-74), Benjamin Shafer (77-72-74), Ben Gilles (70-77-76), Matthew Davidson (70-77-76), Patrick Sicula (72-72-79).

224: Todd Westrich (73-76-75), Sam Galloway (76-73-75), George Kneiser (72-73-79), Rocky Sperka (74-70-80).

225: Matt Polivka (74-74-77), John Bechard (67-77-81).

227: Jason Zahradka (72-77-78), Daniel Ozga (77-72-78), Garrett Gosh (72-76-79).

229: Mike McDonald (72-75-82).

230: Adam Gustafson (78-70-82).