PEORIA – Weston Walker turned to bigger and better things in 2021.
And that’s just his shoe size.
Walker, who was a freshman IHSA Class 1A State Golf Master in 2019, has grown 10 inches in the past 18 months and gained about 30 pounds last winter, triggering a journey through three sets of golf clubs and endlessly changing shoe sizes.
But the former Peoria Christian student and athlete has stayed on track when it comes to his game, education plan, and business.
Yeah, the high school junior has a business now.
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“I started a business about 18 months ago and bought and resold popular items like swimming pools, heaters, and so on,” said Walker. “Since then, I’ve grown into my own group researching popular items and helping people sell on Amazon.”
Walker has a preliminary website for his company – called P Town Profits – and will be posting an updated version online shortly.
Walker, Journal Star’s Golfer of the Year after his title season, is the grandson of legendary Peoria basketball coach Chuck Westendorf.
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Walker dropped out of playing in the IHSA for Peoria Christian last season when the pandemic hit and many students were exposed to online learning.
Instead, he attended an elite golf academy in Downer’s Grove – the TPS Players Service. And he attended a private online high school called Laurel Springs School. That gave him the flexibility to play in American Junior Golf Association and Illinois Junior Golf Association tournaments across the country.
Also this season he decided to go this way.
“I made my decision and looked at what could be another weird year because of the pandemic,” Walker said. “This has been a difficult decision and I was considering returning to Peoria Christian. But I am continuing my online high school (with) Laurel Springs.
“With all of the golf training I do in Chicago and the business I started, the flexibility of the online school works better for me. The hardest part is not being part of the Peoria Christian team and my friends. “
Walker played at the DA Points Junior Open in July and finished in 20th place. He retired from the Randy Wise Junior Open in Michigan last week and needed more time to recover from a torn wrist ligament. He plans to spend the winter at TPS school and run his business.
P Town Profits is a monthly membership service powered by the Discord social media platform that allows Walker to identify arbitrage articles that he can turn over for profit on Amazon.com.
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Walker anticipates toys will be a hot item for the upcoming holiday season as they are an annual product in demand and supply is now declining due to the impact of COVID-19 on production.
You can join his team through the website or send an email to [email protected].
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star’s sports columnist covering Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. Reach him at 686-3206 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.