June 30, 2026
By Jeff Schoening,
Tournament Director Emeritus
All three leagues and six of the seven match-play tournaments are underway for Jackson Park Men’s Golf Club in 2026. The club’s final match-play tournament, Non-Championship Gross Summer, begins June 29.
The Saturday league is run by Dan Fabela, who also manages Venmo. Attendance is up compared to last year, averaging 79 players as of May 31
in stroke-play events. Returning this year is our policy of emphasizing the importance of Field Days and the two-day Jackson Classic by offering larger payouts for those events. The club share and first-place payouts for Field Days and the Jackson Classic (held June 20 and 21) will be around 35 percent and $120, and for the other tournaments will be around 25 percent and $100.
The Tuesday league is run by Karl Meier, with Walt Dickhoff managing Venmo. It kicked off March 17. Attendance is up this year, averaging 47 players for the first nine events through May. Tee times are reserved from 9 a.m. to about 10:45 a.m., plus about a dozen players often make their own tee times before 9 a.m. The league features a Tuesday Championship held over July 7 and 14 and a Tuesday Cup, a season-long event akin to the FedEx Cup and ending in September. The 32 players with the most points qualify to compete for the Cup in the second event in September; the 16 players with the most points after that then qualify for the third September event; and eight players qualify to compete for the Cup in the final event. New this year was the Tuesday Triple, played over three Tuesdays in May, with a gold- tee division and a blue-tee division. Players in the blue-tee division played blue tees the first week, white tees the second and gold tees the third. Players in the gold-tee division play gold first, then white, and end with gold.
The Wednesday league is run by Brian Asplund, who also manages Venmo. This league began play April 29. This is a popular league, with tee
sheets filling quickly. To get on the waitlist for a specific Wednesday, send Brian an email (brian.d.asplund at gmail.com). When registered players withdraw, he will add waitlisted players to the tee sheet. Attendance is averaging 52 players as of the end of May, less than last year because the number of tee times was reduced so players could finish in daylight. With longer days, the number of tee times will increase.
Match Play
Click here for the Match Play page on the club website, a page well worth bookmarking as it includes brackets, results and other information for each of the seven competitions.
Gross match play began May 25, run by Cecil Grant. There is a 16-player bracket. Kyle Miller is the 2024 and 2025 champ, although he is not in the field this year.
Net match play was delayed until May 12, and is run by Patrick Wilson. With 37 players signed up, the four brackets have many first-round byes. The first round ended May 25. Brian Larson is the 2025 champ.
Four-Ball Net is run by John McDermott. There are 48 players (24 teams) playing in two brackets. The first round ended June 7. Ken Smith and James Wang are the 2025 champs.
Non-Championship Gross Spring began on April 27, run by Cecil Grant. There are 19 players with four brackets. The first round ended May 25. Cecil will also run Non-Championship Gross Summer.
Senior Gross began May 25, run by Jack Whelan. There is a 14-player bracket. Mark Ohrenschall is the 2025 champ.
Legends Net began May 25, run by Jack Whelan. There is a 15-player bracket. Reed Johnson is the 2023, 2024, and 2025 champ in this event for members 70 and older.
Match-play participation is down for a second straight year. Net and Four-Ball Net have lower participation this year, with 85 players total versus 128 in 2024. Legends Net and Senior Gross are near capacity at 15 and 14, respectively. Final match-play attendance numbers will be known once Non-Championship Gross Summer registration closes on June 16. That tournament accepts unlimited numbers of players, who are flighted according to handicap. The brackets generally have an eight-player maximum.
Here are tournament statistics through May 2026
2026 Statistics Sat. & MP Tuesday Wednesday Total
Tournament Rounds 541 472 265 1,278
No. of Payouts 237 318 140 695
Pct. Of Players Paid 43.81% 67.37% 52.83% 54.38%
Player Purse Fee $12,392 $8,534 $2,120 $23,046
Club Contribution $4,543 $3,221 $880 $8,644
Club Percentage 26.83% 27.40% 29.33% 27.28%
Total Payout $16,935 $11,755 $3,000 $31,690
Honey Pot $2,870 $3,012 $1,220 $7,102
Jackson Park Sum $55,401 $31,541 $12,275 $99,217
Notes:
Tournament Rounds are calculated by the number of people signing up for each tournament, with the two-day Jackson Classic entry count being doubled.
Jackson Park Sum is the sum of all payouts plus estimated greens fees paid to Jackson Park. Honey pots are not included, nor are warm-up buckets, cart rentals or food/beverage purchases.