Athlete of the Week: 10 questions with Liam Kelly, New Trier golf

Liam Kelly just finished his senior year with the Trevians by finishing fifth at the IHSA Class 3A championships. It is Kelly’s third top-five finish after placing first in 2024 and third in 2025.

1. Do you have any preround or preshot rituals?

The preshot ritual is pretty simple for me. I stand behind the ball and visualize the trajectory of the shot I’m about to hit. .. I just like to visualize the path of the ball. Before the round, I play one game of “Brawl Stars”with friends.

2. What do you hope to do after high school?

Right now, I’m going through recruiting with different programs. I’m definitely looking to play in college. I’m just trying to find the place that will let me improve my game the most. You go to college for a good degree, and I am looking for that, but I want to go somewhere that can make me the best golfer I can be.

3. Outside of professional golfer, what would be your dream job?

Something in business maybe, but I love the game of golf so much. It’s given me so many things …. I just want to find a job that would allow me to continue playing the game of golf.

4. What are your earliest memories of golf?

Easily ones with my dad. We lived in the city until moved when 3 years old and he gave me my first set of plastic clubs. I remember going to the local par 3 in Winnetka or even going to the local park where I would bang around a golf ball — moments like that.

5. What is your most memorable shot or moment on a golf course?

Looking back, I’ve played a lot of tournament where I’ve had memorable shots. One that sticks out to me was a couple years ago at the Notah Begay (III Junior Golf) regional at Purdue. I was in a playoff for the last spot and had an 8-foot double-breaker putt and holed it. It was my first time in a playoff, and something I’ve always carried with is that confidence when I have one I have to make.

6. What is your favorite course to play?

I’d probably have to go with Shoreacres (Lake Bluff). I’ve played it three times and it gets better every time I play it. It is so much fun and the architecture is so. cool. I could never get sick of playing there.

7. What’s your favorite club in your bag?

Putter. …. I recently got a new one and paid a bit of extra caddy money to get green paint on it. It looks really cool and I have a lot of confidence in it. It never lets me down. (Why green?) New Trier and I was born in March and am Irish. There are a lot of green things that represent me. I really like the color.

8. If you’re in Walgreens with a couple of bucks, what are you buying?

I love Arnold Palmers and probably go through four or five cans a day. I also love sunflower seeds — the dill pickle (flavor) from Bigs. That’s a great buy. And I really like Kit-Kats, so probably throw that in as well.

9. What is something people don’t know about you?

Something kind of random is I’m double-jointed in my pinky. I can it all the way back. It’s kind of weird.

10. How would you summarize your senior season?

We were a senior-heavy team — eight seniors out of 12 guys. And those eight seniors I’ve known for the last three years. Just the amount of chemistry and how much experience this team had with each other — it’s the closest team relationship-wise that I’ve been on. We all enjoyed the company and all had the same goal: to win state. …. Being able to practice every day with those guys was a pleasure. … The team bonding is something I’ll never forget and felt like a group of guys who will stay in touch and guys who were friends, not just teammates.

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