2023 Quincy High School Hall of Fame inductee: Chris O’Connell

Editor’s Note: Quincy High School will hold its Hall of Fame induction ceremony at approximately 6:30 p.m. Saturday between games of the 52nd QHS Thanksgiving Tournament at Blue Devil Gym. Below is the biography used by the QHS Hall of Fame committee to honor one of this year’s inductees.

QUINCY — The last name alone makes you think of golf success in the Quincy community, but Chris O’Connell has added to his family’s legacy on the links in his own unique way.

Golf is his living and his passion.

A 1991 graduate of Quincy High School, O’Connell helped the Blue Devils win the 1990 Class AA state championship — making the golfers one of just two boys programs in school history to ever win a state title. The boys basketball program is the other.

O’Connell finished eighth individually at the Class AA state tournament in 1990, becoming one of 29 QHS golfers to have medaled at state all-time.

He was a two-time Western Big 6 Conference individual golf champion, shooting a 77 as a junior and a 75 as a senior. He also was Quincy’s lowest scorer at the WB6 championships as a sophomore, finishing second individually with a 72.

O’Connell also played basketball in high school and was a reserve guard on the 1990 QHS team that finished fourth at the Class AA state tournament.

O’Connell went on to become a four-year letterwinner and two-time team captain at the University of Notre Dame. He worked as a caddie on the PGA Tour, toting the bag for Peter Jacobsen, D.A. Weibring and Jay Haas, among others. He also played in four PGA Tour events.

O’Connell turned his attention to teaching thereafter, and he was honored by Golf Magazine as one of the 100 best golf teachers in America from 2013-22. He also was honored by Golf Digest as one of its Best Young Teachers 2010-13. Among the professional golfers O’Connell has worked with is PGA Tour standout Matt Kuchar.

O’Connell is currently vice president and co-founder of Plane Truth Golf, a business dedicated to training golf instructors and providing instruction to golfers worldwide through innovative teaching tools.

He and his wife, Sara, and their two daughters, Georgia and Emerson, live in the Dallas, Texas, area.