It was a night of the “double-dips” as 21 players competed at Quail Hollow Golf Club’s Devlin Course this Thursday in the Greater Cleveland Skins Game. 2008 Champion Steve Blackburn Jr. of Willowick moved to the top of this year’s leaderboard with a four birdie night, capturing a skin and a pin shot with a … READ MORE >
Eddie Neer of Lyndhurst jumped straight to the top of the Greater Cleveland Skins Game leaderboard with a birdie at the difficult par-4 15th hole at Fowlers Mill on Thursday. Neer’s birdie was the only skin of the night and sent him home with $299 in his pocket. Birdies were scarce under the beautiful blue … READ MORE >
18 players made it out for a rainy start to Week 3 of the Greater Cleveland Skins Game at Thunder Hill GC last Thursday. The sun came out midway through the round and it was nothing but sunny skies for Steve Blackburne Jr., Rob Schustrich, and Dave Sotka, as they each captured a skin worth … READ MORE >
Mother Nature won Week 2 of the Greater Cleveland Skins Game.
Only seven players competed in the rain on Thursday at Powderhorn, and there was little to show for it as all skins were tied out: birdies on the par-4 second hole, the par-5 fourth hole, and the par-4 seventh hole.
Pin shot winners were Mark Foss from Mayfield Heights, hitting an 8 iron to the 155 yard fifth hole to 10 feet, and Eddie Neer of Lyndhurst hitting the tough 200 yard 8th hole. Pin shot winners took home $24.50 each.
Allen Freeman of Brecksville jumped out to the early lead in the 2009 Greater Cleveland Skins Game race for the Thompson Cup, posting five birdies in nine holes and netting two skins.
Freeman’s winning birdies came at the par-4 second and the par-5 eighth at Fowler’s Mill, while birdies at 3, 5 and 9 knocked out some potential skins.
Also jumping directly into the points race with skins were Joe Tasca of Concord with a solid birdie right out of the gate at the par-4 first hole, and Paul Kish of Painesville Township with a great birdie on the signature hole at Fowler’s, the difficult par-4 fourth. Each skin was worth $103.50.
2008 Greater Cleveland Skins Game champion Steve Blackburn Jr. dipped his fingers into the pot right off the bat as well, grabbing the first pin shot of the season at the 170-yard par-3 third hole with a shot to two feet. Skins Game Director John Niedzielek nabbed the other pin shot, hitting it to 12 feet on the par-3 seventh. Each pin shot was good for $63.
Players competing in the Greater Cleveland Skins Game this season have an added incentive to play well: a chance to earn an exemption directly into the Greater Cleveland Amateur Championship.
John Niedzialek, Director of the Greater Cleveland Skins Game, has announced that the tournament directors from Cleveland Metroparks Golf have granted five direct exemptions into the Greater Cleveland Amateur Championship via the skins game’s mid-season points list.
The top five players in the standings after the July 5th skins game will gain exempt status into the Cleveland Amateur proper and will not have to play in the local qualifying tournaments. Niedzialek says this is a win- win situation, as it will give top players another opportunity to play in what has become one of the premier amateur golf events in Northeast Ohio while giving the Greater Cleveland Skins Game added visibility.
