IN THE SPOTLIGHT
The soundtrack in the days of a young Nina Rutkowski was that of two golf clubs striking golf balls off range tees at Cog Hill Golf & Country Club in Lemont.
Over and over and over again.
Rutkowski was 3, and her parents, Tony and Kari, produced the monotonous “music” while taking lessons from professional instructor Lee Miller.
“That’s where my life as a golfer started for me, on a back range,” says Rutkowski, a senior and fourth-year varsity golfer at Loyola Academy. “I was told I rested, off to the side, on a blanket — probably on a classic-pink blanket — during my parents’ golf lessons.”
Her goal these days: shoot red numbers for the Ramblers. The Park Ridge resident finished runner-up at a pair of Mid America Junior Golf Tour (MAJGT) events this summer and shot a medalist round of 79 in Loyola Academy’s season-opening 339-345 defeat of visiting Prospect at Glencoe Golf Course on Aug. 12.
Rutkowski then paced the Ramblers to first place at the Rockford Invitational with a third-place showing on Aug. 14.
“My dad got me interested in golf and was my first instructor,” says Rutkowski, whose swing coach ended up being none other than Miller, who attended Tony and Kari’s wedding. “My dad was a pretty good teacher, very knowledgeable. He’s also a golf-gear geek who finds all things about golf interesting.”
When daughter defeated dad for the first time — back when Nina was in middle school, in a nine-hole round — the two celebrated the feat at a McDonald’s, located maybe a few par-5s from Park Ridge Country Club. Nina ordered a caramel sundae, and her proud father enjoyed an ice cream cone.
Nina Rutkowski treated future Ramblers teammate Margaret Hickey (LA Class of ’17) to quite a display of golf on the first day at the Chick Evans Junior Amateur in the summer of 2014. Rutkowski was an incoming freshman, Hickey a rising sophomore.
Rutkowski shot a 73 at Itasca Country Club.
“I was amazed the first time I watched her play a competitive round of golf,” recalls the Creighton University-bound Hickey. “Nina made a lot of long putts that day, and she was consistent, accurate.
“Right off the bat, you notice she has a really strong and flexible swing — one of the best swings I’ve ever seen,” adds Hickey, a Glencoe resident who won the Chick Evans Junior Amateur this summer with a 5-and-3 defeat of St. Charles’ Nicole Jordan on July 27. “She won’t let the pressure get to her [in 2017]. I’m expecting a strong season from her this fall — as a golfer and as a leader.”
Rutkowski, no surprise, was named co-captain [with Tatum Koehn] of this fall’s LA squad. Rutkowski finished in 13th place at the Class AA state tournament in each of her first two years on varsity, helping the team capture a runner-up trophy each season.
Her 156 (76-80) in ’15 was the team’s best two-day performance.
“A great player, a fun player to watch,” says Ramblers first-year head coach Carli McKenney (nee Gregorin), a Carmel Catholic graduate who, in 2003, played on the first University of Wisconsin women’s golf team to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. “Nina’s shots … right down the middle, every time, automatic. Ball striking is one of her strengths, right up there with her short game. She worked a lot on her short game during the winter, and it’s showing. Her game has come together nicely; she’s now more of a complete player.”
Rutkowski completed her first 18-hole round at the age of 7 and started playing junior tournaments four years later. She had tried soccer, softball, gymnastics, tennis, “pretty much every sport,” Rutkowski remembers. But the fun-loving, funny, approachable athlete eventually settled on a sport that demands a sound mental approach and sound approach shots.
The other sport with approach shots — tennis? Rutkowski, fond of action at the net, still plays that on occasion.
She reads books when she isn’t reading greens. The first Harry Potter book came out when she was two months old, and she got around to reading it in the third grade. The other seven books in the series? Rutkowski devoured all of them. She saw the eighth Harry Potter movie with a friend at a midnight showing, after dressing up as one of the characters.
Tony Rutkowski also taught Nina how to bake. Good luck to anyone who attempts to match the taste of Nina Rutkowski’s chocolate chip cookies.
“Chocolate chip cookies … I know that’s a classic thing to bake, but my chocolate chip cookies are so much better than anybody else’s,” Rutkowski insists. “I also enjoy making pancakes from scratch. I make those with chocolate chips or blueberries or Reese’s peanut butter chips.
“I’m a big peanut butter girl.”
With a sweet golf game. Rutkowski — a huge fan of pro golfers Paula Creamer (nicknamed “The Pick Panther”) and Jordan Spieth — shot 71 on the first two days of the MAJGT Championship at Geneva National Golf Club in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, on July 17-18. She then carded a 76 and lost a playoff to champion Emily Lauterbach, of Hartland, Wisconsin, on July 19. Nine days later she exited another golf club with a runner-up prize, this one after fashioning a 36-hole total of 157 at the MAJGT Classic at Prairie Landing in West Chicago.
“Have you heard about Paula?” Rutkowski says. “She just got named to replace injured Jessica Korda on the USA Solheim Cup team. I know Paula’s [Rolex] ranking isn’t great at 112, but I still consider her an outstanding player. What I like about Jordan Spieth … well, first of all, he’s good-looking. His putting — I admire that. He’s a very good putter. Putting well has a lot do with feel and confidence. I admire how confident and mentally strong Jordan is whenever he plays.”
People close to Rutkowski delight in more than just her golf game.
“Nina,” McKenney says, “is not just a really nice golfer who should have good options to play in college; she’s also a really nice kid. Teammates love being around her, love her easygoing nature.
“I know she’ll continue to embrace her role as a captain and serve as a positive role model for the team.”