Hinsdale Central junior Michael Jorski won the Class 3A individual state golf championship Oct. 9-10, firing a record-setting 8-under-par 136 at The Den at Fox Creek in Bloomington.
Jorski's two-round total broke the previous Class 3A state-final record of 137, shared by St. Viator's Joe Carlson in 2008 and Glenbrook North's Jason Gordon in 2021, according to Hinsdale Magazine. He beat Evanston's Lester Low, the 2025 state champion, by one shot for the title.
"It's awesome that I can call myself a state champion," Jorski said.
Over 36 holes, Jorski piled up 10 birdies against just two bogeys. His first round caught fire with five birdies in an eight-hole stretch from the ninth through the 16th holes. Jorski said he took advantage of the par 5s and rolled in key putts on what he called an unforgiving course.
Jorski trailed Low by a shot entering the final round, then shot 3-under on Oct. 10 to overtake him, Shaw Local reported.
Low finished at 137 after a double bogey on No. 14 in the second round cost him a chance to repeat, according to the Evanston RoundTable. New Trier's Liam Kelly, the 2024 champion, finished tied for fifth.
Hinsdale Central head coach Serge Penksik called the field one of the strongest he has seen. He said the win was especially significant given the level of competition, with both Low and Kelly in the draw.
"This was a pretty big one for us," Penksik told The Hinsdalean, calling Jorski an incredible player.
After Jorski finished his second round, he waited to see if anyone would catch him. Low nearly did.
"I tried to encourage him not to look at what Lester was doing, even though he was looking at what Lester was doing," Penksik said. Low almost made a hole-in-one on the second-to-last hole, Penksik added.
The win caps a steady climb for Jorski. He placed seventh at state as a freshman on Hinsdale Central's team-championship squad, then took fifth as a sophomore. He finished second at regionals and tied for third at sectionals in 2025, then tied for second at both regionals and sectionals in 2026 before breaking through at state.
Jorski becomes the third Hinsdale Central individual state golf champion, joining Kenneth Li in 2014 and Brendan O'Reilly in 2016. Three earlier champions won under the school's former name, Hinsdale Township: Henry Heinly in 1945, Geoffrey Ames in 1953 and Jim Cheney in 1963. The program has also won 11 team state championships.
"He was not the favorite to win it," Penksik said. He described Jorski as playing at a different level in the way he reads a course and plots his way around it.
As a team, Hinsdale Central placed fifth with a score of 600. Evanston won the team title at 581. Penksik said Jorski has already indicated he plans to break his own record next year.
