When the PGA Tour passed through Las Vegas last month for the Shriners Children’s Open at TPC Summerlin, a new kid stepped up to the tee and made a pretty good impression.
Blake Meyer, a freshman at Illinois State University, is a Shriners patient ambassador and was there as a guest of the tournament. Meyer, 19, has been a patient at Shriners since he was a little boy.
“I was born with a cleft lip and palate,” he said. “I ended up going to Shriners Hospital Chicago at about 8 years old.”
The Shriners Golf Pro-Am is played on Wednesday prior to the official start of the tournament on Thursday. It’s an opportunity for amateur golfers who are supporters of the Shriners Hospitals and their young patients to play with golf’s elite tour players.
Meyer is a Bloomington-Normal native who loves to play at Illinois State’s Weibring Golf Club. He also has an impressive Redbird family legacy. The Meyers were honored in August as the Legacy Family of the Year. His parents Tod ’94, M.S. ’98, and Laura ’89, who are avid golfers, were on the trip to Las Vegas. Older sister Claire ’23 is an alum and older brother Parker, a senior, is working toward that same goal.
About a 10-handicapper, Meyer played on the golf team all four years at Normal Community High School. In Las Vegas he had a couple of stellar moments.
Stationed at a 165-yard par-3, Meyer hit a tee shot for each of the 40-plus groups that passed through. He had to execute those shots in front of onlookers that included amateur players and tour pros. He hit 9-iron all day long and made birdie twice with his own ball, meaning he not only hit a good shot on to the green, but he also made the putt.
“Twice I hit it to two or three feet and made the birdie both times,” he said.
On one of those shots, the pro in the group was popular tour star Rickie Fowler. Meyer’s ball was closer to the hole than Fowler’s.
“Rickie congratulated me and talked to me about why I was there,” Meyer said. “Rickie is one of my favorite players. He’s the one I was most excited to see.”
The event is made even more special because Shriners invites its own ambassadors—those who have been treated as patients—to the tournament. Every Shriners Hospital in the country sent a patient ambassador to Las Vegas. Meyer had the honor of representing Shriners Children’s Chicago Hospital.
Like all ambassadors, Meyer’s duties included spending the weekend as a walking standard bearer, which means carrying a tall sign that shows the current scores of each player in the group. But Meyer was unique in that he also had the privilege of hitting some golf shots.
“I was one of five kids who got to play in the pro-am,” he said.
At Illinois State, Meyer was awarded the Alumni Association Scholarship, the Black Colleagues Association Scholarship, and the Civic Engagement Scholarship. A biochemistry major, he is on a pre-dental track. His career goals include eventually becoming an orthodontist, and he plans to stay connected to Shriners.
“As an orthodontist someday, I want to be a consultant for Shriners and help them,” he said. “I plan to have my own practice, but I want to help Shriners prepare kids for surgery and get them comfortable with braces, palate expanders, and all the stuff that an orthodontist does.”
Meyer has already done a lot of public speaking events for Shriners, and he’s open to doing anything he can to help out.
“Being a Shriners ambassador has been a cool experience, absolutely,” he said. “So, whatever they need, I just want to do what I can to raise awareness and money for Shriners.”
Highlights from the Las Vegas trip, besides hanging out with Fowler for a few minutes, included meeting tour player Tom Kim, who was going for a threepeat, and J.T. Poston, the eventual champion.
“J.T. posed for a photo with the Shriners ambassadors after he won,” Meyer said. “He was cool and a great guy.”
But the real thrill came with those good shots Meyer hit on Wednesday.
“The crowd’s applause and energy were unforgettable, and there were plenty of fist pumps all around,” he said. “It was truly an unforgettable experience, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity.”
