Golf: Tournament to honor Pavelonis to be held in July

Kevin Hefner has devoted his life to the game of golf.

The Harrisburg native is an Outside Sales Representative for Calloway Golf and currently resides in Springfield.

Part of Hefner's love and devotion to the game came from his time playing junior and high school golf for former Harrisburg High School golf coach Bob Pavelonis.

Bob's wife, Miki passed away recently and knowing how instrumental the two were to junior golf, in not just Harrisburg, but southern Illinois, Hefner came up with a way to give back to a sport that has been so beneficial to him.

Hefner has established the Harrisburg Junior Classic, which will be played Tuesday, July 18 at Shawnee Hills Country Club, starting at 8 a.m.

The tournament, which is for boys and girls 12-18, will be a sanctioned Southern Illinois Golf Association (SIGA) Event for points.

All players who participate will also get six Callway golf balls.

"Bob was very instrumental for my start in golf," Hefner said. "I called him many years ago expressing interest in wanting to play golf. I wasn't a very big kid in those days, but I felt golf was a sport I could participate in well past high school. I ended up being about to play for coach Pavelonis my freshman and senior year."

Hefner graduated from Harrisburg in 1977 and knowing how important the Pavelonis family was to his start, he knew he needed to do something in Miki's honor after her passing in May after a battle with breast cancer.

"I just wanted to do something in her honor. Miki's conducted junior tournaments there in the 70's and 80's and she, along with her husband Bob, helped build junior golf in Southern Illinois for many years."

Michael Dann covers prep and college sports for the Harrisburg Register, Eldorado Journal & The Gallatin County Democrat. Follow him on Twitter: @spydieshooter.