This story first appeared in the Fall 2024 edition of Northern Ohio Golfer Magazine, the official print publication of the Northern Ohio Golf Association. NOGA members who provide a mailing address in GHIN receive a copy mailed to their home twice per year. Not yet a NOGA member? Join for 2025 now!
From Toledo to Youngstown and Cleveland to Canton, the Northern Ohio region is blessed with a significant number of top-flight golf tournaments, both amateur and professional. Some of these events are run by well-managed organizations like the Northern Ohio Golf Association and the Northern Ohio PGA, while knowledgeable tournament directors guide others through a tie to a local golf course or simply the love of the game.
Let’s take a look at the results from these top-flight golf tournaments from Northern Ohio in 2024, as many worthy champions are deserving of the recognition.
Northern Ohio Golf Association
In 2024, the Northern Ohio Golf Association conducted 10 Scratch Series events, 11 Net Series events, six Women’s Championships (five under the WOSGA banner), nine USGA Qualifiers, six Match Play Championships, plus the Northeast Ohio Amateur, the Interclub Team Championship, the Tournament of Champions, the Lewis Cup, and the Ohio Adaptive Open. In total, 1,682 golfers competed in these tournaments.
NOGA Great Lakes Auto Scratch Series
Four-Ball #1: Griffin Todd + Garrett Frank won with a 64 at Youngstown CC, as Scott Winckowski + Mike Belacic won the Senior Division with a matching 7-under par total.
Stroke Play #1: Ryan Wirtz and Doug Hauenstein posted the only two scores under par to win their respective divisions at Sand Ridge, with both players shooting 71.
Northeast Ohio Amateur Championship: North Canton’s Vaughn Snyder shot a third-round 65 to finish with an 8-under par total to top Stow’s Kyle Buzaki by one shot in a back nine birdie fest at Windmill Lakes. Bolivar’s Kurt Peterson won Senior Division by five shots with a Monday 65 of his own. Klaira Paramore won the Women’s title, and Fiona Connor took the Senior NEOWA.
Foursomes: Brian Smith + Ryan Stefanski claimed the alternate shot victory at Pine Hills with a 1-under par 71; Mark Borlin + Allen Freeman topped the Seniors at 73.
Stroke Play #2: Howard Clendenin shot 68 to win at Weymouth Country Club, as Rob Schustrich topped the Senior Division with a 71.
Four-Ball #2: Rick Deichert + Brandon Lambert won the Championship Division by 3 shots, while Tom Skidmore + Tom Baugh bested the Seniors by one at at Belmont CC.
Stroke Play #3: Kyle Buzaki shot 69 to win the Championship Division, while Mark Borlin finished at 71 to top the Seniorsat Glenmoor.
Stroke Play #4: Matthew Fuller claimed victory in the Championship Division, as Rob Schustrich and Allen Freeman tied at the top of the Senior Division at Catawba Island Club.
Tour Championship: Fairlawn’s Howard Clendenin shot 67 at Firestone South to win the Championship Division by six, while Aurora’s Tom Laubacher topped the Senior Division by two.
Match Play Championships: In the Scratch Individual match play finals, Brian Smith topped the reigning titleholder, Ian Hardesty, by a convincing 5&4 margin. In the Senior edition, Mike Belacic took down Rob Schustrich by the same score. In the Scratch Four-Ball championship match, Chris Okeson + Michael Klaric III went down two early but made a comeback run to top Jeff Meagrow + John Bernatovicz, 2-up. In the Senior Four-Ball, Bob Spino + Mark Thomas jumped out to an early 3-up lead in the first four holes then weathered the storm from Mark Borlin + Allen Freeman to win 1-up.
Interclub Team Championship: It felt like a brisk fall day in mid-August at Congress Lake, as 16 four-player teams representing clubs from across the region competed in a 3-best-scores-of-4 aggregate stroke play format to determine a champion. Tippecanoe Country Club in Canfield claimed a five-stroke victory, as three Tippy players finished in an individual tie for first place at even par 71. Brandon Pluchinsky, Joey Cilone, John Doughton, and Griffin Todd claimed the club’s 11th overall Interclub title, the first since 2011.
Tournament of Champions: Brian Smith won the Championship Division by one shot over Chris Horne, Chris Okeson and Matt Paterini at The Country Club, as Howard Clendenin ran away with the Senior Division by four.
Lewis Cup: The team points were split evenly at 6 to 6 after Saturday’s play at Westfield Country Club, putting the focus squarely on the Sunday singles matches. Tom Laubacher earned a key halve against Vaughn Snyder to start the day. From there, the leaderboard bounced back-and-forth, with Ams and Seniors winning matches convincingly on either side to keep the team totals tight: Tom Bell, Kyle Buzaki, Tyler Ankrom, and Howard Clendenin put up points for the Ams, while Tom Baugh, Dean Cutlip, and Allen Freeman replied for the Seniors. When Senior Captain Rob Schustrich cruised past Amateur Captain Brian Smith, the Seniors looked like they had a shot to take back the title. But Andrew Malkus took down two-time Senior Player of the Year Mark Borlin, and past Player of the Year Ben Hogan took out Scott Winckowski in the final group to allow the Amateur Team to retain the Lewis Cup for the third consecutive year.
NOGA Sikich Net Series:
Four-Ball #1: Paul Gibbons + Mike Gary combined for a round of net 63 and land the top match play seed.
Old Pal Four-Ball #1: Eric Schaaf + Brady Schroeder posted a net better ball score of 66 to win at Stone Oak Country Club
Stroke Play #1: Joe Di Biase posted a net 66 to win by one at Mayfield Country Club.
R.A. Stranahan Stroke Play #2: Aaron Ereditario and Derek Dickerson shared the title at Sylvania CC and Steve McAdoo took the Seniors, as weather shortened the event to nine holes.
Jan Taylor Mixed Couples: Brian Klefos + Christine Carroll won the Net Division at Plum Brook, while Ty Kovach + Tina Vanasdal took the Gross.
2-Player Scramble #1: Joseph Di Biase + Jason Kohler won the Championship and Scott Zielinski + Scott Hollowell bested the Seniors at Silver Lake.
Four-Ball #3: Brian Klefos + Christine Carroll won the Championship Division with a 62 at Portage CC, as four groups tied with 64 in the Senior Division.
4-Player Shamble: Duane Llyod, Michael Sands, Bill Schoenherr, and John Elias claimed the top spot in both the Net and Gross Divisions at Maumee Bay.
Stableford: Ben Aveni won the Senior Division, as Joseph Horvath and Mike Kobelak tied at the top of the Championship Division.
2-Player Scramble #2: Doug + Alex Fifner tied Adam Stiwald + Colin Coughlin in the Championship at Lake Forest, with a four-way tie in the Senior Division.
USGA Qualifying & Championship Performances
U.S. Open Local Qualifying – Cleveland: Kent State University Alumni Ian Holt led the way with a 66 at Weymouth CC, as Ayden Richmond, Braden Herstich, Cole Corder, Conor Mead, CM Mixon, and Dylan Van Fossen advanced.
U.S. Open Local Qualifying – Toledo: Joshua Gibson put up a 6-under par 65 at Highland Meadows to earn medalist honors, as Palmer Yenrick, Michael Balcar, Cam Kellett, Jake Kneen, Joseph Juszczyk, and Tyler Goecke advanced.
U.S. Amateur Local Qualifying: Breckin Taylor, Noah Kent and Adam Horn all post 4-under par 67 to lead the twelve qualifiers from Shaker Heights CC. Ajay Morris, Ali Khan, Tyler Groomes, Chris Pollak, Yuqi Liu, Julian Menser, John Angelo, Kyle Smith, and Connor Gdovin also advanced.
U.S. Women’s Amateur Local Qualifying: Celina Yeo and Rayee Feng earned the two spots at the Westfield North Course.
U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying: Cincinati’s Robert Gerwin II was the medalist at Sand Ridge, with North Canton’s Jeff Mallette and Indiana’s Joe Hillman qualifying via playoff.
U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying: Nolan Marks shot 5-under 67 to earn the Medalist honors at Oberlin CC, as Josh Clay earned the second spot in a playoff over Ben Hogan.
U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Qualifying: Olivia Hochschwender led the way by three strokes at Portage Country Club, as Sabrina Coffman also qualified for Brae Burn CC.
U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying: Ian Weinberg + Conner Pratt earned medalist honors at Avon Oaks, while Brody Simms + Andrew Kaye claim the other Qualifying spot.
Women’s U.S. Amateur Four-Ball Qualifying: Jodie Han + Meadow Tian were medalists by 4 shots, and Audrey + Elizabeth Ryu won a playoff to qualify.
USGA Championships National Performance Spotlight:
26-year-old Sabrina Coffman of Toledo, a former Cleveland State golfer, shared medalist honors at Brae Burn CC in the U.S. Women’s Mid-Amateur Championship.
Amateur Brad Steven of Concord earned a spot in the U.S. Senior Open at Newport CC in Rhode Island after shooting a 68 in qualifying at Worthington Hills CC in Columbus.
Canal Fulton PGA TOUR player Justin Lower finished at 10-under par at OSU Scarlet to earn a spot in the U.S. Open at Pinehurst #2.
Canton’s Suzi Spotleson finished T7 in stroke play qualifying at the U.S. Senior Women’s Amateur at Broadmoor Golf Club in Seattle, WA, and made it to the Round of 32 before elimination.
Cleveland’s Andrew Bailey finished T17 at U.S. Mid-Am qualifying at Kinloch GC in Virginia, losing in 19 holes in the Round of 64.
North Canton’s Jeff Mallette finished T35 in stroke play qualifying at the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship at The Honors Course in Ooltewah, TN, losing his Round of 64 match 2&1.
Regional Amateur Championships
Cleveland Amateur: Lakewood’s Lucas Liberatore shot a 1-under par 70 on Sunday at the challenging Sleepy Hollow GC in Brecksville to win by three shots over Westlake’s Brett Kaufman with a 2-over par 215 total.
Senior Cleveland Am: Brian Smith of Amherst birdied the first playoff hole to win the title after Huron’s Shayne Fischer rallied to tie him at 5-under par. Stow’s Mark Borlin won the 60+ Division, while Mike Brady won the 70+.
Women’s Cleveland Am: Toledo’s Sabrina Coffman shot a 2-under par 70 at Manakiki to take the title; Wendy Shick won the Senior Division with 79.
Summit County Am: Shaker Heights’ Chris Okeson added his name to the Summit County Am trophy for a second time, shooting 5-under par 66 on Sunday to win by one shot over Zachary Huscusson of Canal Fulton, after Saturday rains shortened the event to 18 holes.
Senior Summit County Am: Dave Trier, Allen Freeman, Dean Cutlip, and Jeff Semple all had a chance to win the tournament outright on the final hole, but Trier ended up beating Freeman in a one-hole playoff to win the title.
Stark County Am: Stow’s Kyle Buzaki raced out to the lead with a Saturday 67 then finished at 3-under par total for a two shot victory over Fairlawn’s Shaun Kloetzer. Howard Clendenin topped the 50+ Seniors by four shots, Rick Bryson bested the 60+ Seniors by four as well, Rick Merrow won the 70+ Senior title, Akron’s Emily Liptak led the Women by three shooting 74-73, and Canton’s Denise Callahan topped the Women 50+ by three shots.
Ohio Amateur: Shaker Heights’ Andrew Bailey won back-to-back Ohio Am titles, shooting a 19-under par total at Sylvania CC (67–70–66–66=269) to win by one while tying the tournament scoring record.
Northern Ohio PGA Series and State Opens
Ohio Open: Drew Salyers of Howard shot a final round 68 for 10-under par 54-hole total at Westfield CC to top pros Jake Scott, Paul Wackerly, and amateur Andrew Bailey by one shot.
Ohio Senior Open: After a first-round rainout shortened the event to 18-holes, amateur Bobby Spino of New Franklin ran out with a front nine 31, finished at 3-under par 68, and won by one stroke over North Canton am Jeff Mallette and McDermott pro Harold Wallace. Pat Delaney of Springfield won the Super Senior title by one, shooting 68.
Habitec Toledo Open: Michigan’s Grant Haefner shot 66-65 to overcome a 3-stroke deficit to win by two at Highland Meadows; Mike Stone finished even par to top the Seniors.
Pro – 1 Am Scratch: The Shaker Heights Country Club team of Jordan Paolini + amateur Ryan Brawley fired 62 at Mayfield CC to win by two shots over GolfTEC’s Nick Paez + Chris Walsh.
Professional Championship: Strongsville’s Jim Troy shot a final-round 71 to cruise to a 9-shot victory, winning his third title in the event.
Senior Professional Championship: Steve Parker added a 2-under par 70 to his opening bogey-free 69 for a three-shot victory at Westbrook CC in Mansfield.
Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship: Dover’s Blake Sattler earned a comeback victory over Michael Balcar at The Country Club, as Gary Rusnak putted lights-out to top the Seniors.
Denny Shute Match Play: Adam Lewicki (Member), Tom Atchison (Senior), and Sean McGuire (Associate) won their respective divisions at Portage CC.
Tigertown Open: Pittsburgh professional Mike Van Sickle and Akron amateur Ryan Gutowski shared the title, with both players shooting 7-under par 65 to win their respective divisions. Tim Ailes of Lewis Center won the Senior Pro division shooting 67, and Fairlawn’s Howard Clendenin topped the Senior Amateur division with a sizzling round of 9-under par 63.
Ohio Adaptive Open
John Trenchik of Toledo won the Men’s Overall Championship, shooting 75-76 at Seneca GC in Broadview Heights to win by one shot over Chris Roberts and Kyle Erickson. Sophia Howard from Hudsonville, MI won the Women’s title handily by 12.
