NOPGA FACES AN UPHILL TASK ENTERING 16 SINGLES MATCHES
COLUMBUS — A slow start in the first two rounds of the 27th Ohio Cup at Worthington Hills Country Club has left the members of the Northern Ohio PGA facing an uphill challenge heading into Wednesday’s 16 singles matches against the Southern Ohio PGA.
The NOPGA trails 11-5 heading into the singles matches and faces a tall order if it intends to regain the Cup it has won 16 times in the previous 26 matches played at alternate sites between Northern and Southern Ohio.
Each side consists of five two-man teams in the Championship Division and three twosomes in the Senior Division.
The NOPGA managed just two victories and one tie in each of the first two rounds, giving their Southern Ohio PGA hosts a huge cushion as it plays for its third straight victory in the series.
The SOPGA built a 5.5 to 2.5 lead during the morning Fourball (best ball) competition, winning five of the eight matches and tying in another under perfect weather conditions.
Four of the SOPGA twosomes posted a combined 24 birdies compared to the 17 recorded by the NOPGA’s top four twosomes.
Jim Troy, teaching professional at The Golf Dome, and Nick Gustin, head professional at Erie Shores Golf Course, were the leading point-getters for the NOPGA, earning 1.5 points each.
Troy rolled in a birdie putt on the final hole of the final match of the morning’s Foursomes (best ball) to salvage a half-point with playing partner Gustin against Ben Kern and Andy Montgomery.
Troy then teamed up with Optimus Golf owner Mark Sierak to beat Mike Auterson and Doug Wade, 2-and-1 in the Fourball (alternate shot) round.
Gustin paired with Westwood Country Club head professional Mark Scott Jr. to gain a tie with Kern and Montgomery.
The Championship Division team of Randy Dietz (Windmill Golf Center) and Cory Kumpf (head professional at Brookside Country Club) and the Senior Division team of Tom Atchison and Gary Trivisonno (both PGA Life Members) won the NOPGA’s two matches in the morning.
Former Portage Country Club head professional Steve Parker and playing partner Rob Moss, head professional at the Pepper Pike Club, were the other afternoon winners with a 3-and-1 victory of Dave Bahr and Tim Krapfel.
Six members of the SOPGA team – Bob Sowards, Dan Gage, Kyler Booher, Rick Denny, Sam Arnold and Mike Thomas — produced two points each.
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Team NOPGA
Jim Troy
Randy Dietz
Jaysen Hansen
Cory Kumpf
Adam Lewicki
Mark Scott Jr.
Nick Gustin
Mark Sierak
Nick Paez
Jason Carbone
Gary Rusnak
Tony Adcock
Tom Atchison
Gary Trivisonno
Rob Moss
Steve Parker
Team SOPGA
Michael Auterson
Doug Wade
Chris Muse
Joe Moore
Kyler Booher
Richard Denny
Chase Wilson
Jeff Olson
Ben Kern
Andy Montgomery
Bob Sowards
Dan Gage
Tim Krapfel
Dave Bahr
Sam Arnold
Mike Thomas
Fourball Results
Auterson/Wade Wins 4&3 Scott Jr./Sierak
Sowards/Gage Wins 4&3 Rusnak/Adcock
Dietz/Kumpf Wins 2&1 Muse/Moore
Atchison/Trivisonno Wins 2 up Krapfel/Bahr
Booher/Denny Wins 3&2 Hansen/Lewicki
Arnold/Thomas Wins 4&3 Moss/Parker
Troy/Gustin Tie Wilson/Olson
Kern/Montgomery Wins 4&3 Carbone/Paez
Foursomes Results
Sowards/Gage Wins 2&1 Rusnak/Adcock
Sierak/Troy Wins 2&1 Auterson/Wade
Olson/Wilson Wins 3&2 Dietz/Kumpf
Scott Jr./Gustin Tie Kern/Montgomery
Moss/Parker Wins 3&1 Bahr/Krapfel
Arnold/Thomas Wins 3&2 Atchison/Trivisonno
Booher/Denny Wins 2&1 Hansen/Lewicki
Muse/Moore Wins 4&2 Carbone/Paez
Day 1 Totals
SOPGA leads 11-5
MORE TO THE STORY: 2023 Ohio Cup Day 1
Making good putts leads to birdies and birdies usually lead to points.
Both scenarios fit the team from the Northern Ohio Section of the PGA.
To say the opening two rounds of the 27th Ohio Cup at Worthington Hills Country Club did not go the way captain Gary Robison had hoped would be similar to guessing how Edward Smith felt when captaining the Titanic.
The NOPGA team, seeking to end a rare two-year losing streak to their Southern Ohio PGA counterparts, is not sunk yet but it must do a complete turn-around in Wednesday’s 16 singles matches to improve on its overall 16-10 lead in the series.
It performed below its capabilities and trails, 11-5, heading into Wednesday’s competition.
“I’d say we have quite a bit of work to do,” Robison said, after his team managed just four victories and two ties in the 16 Fourball (best ball) and Foursomes (alternate shot) matches played under perfect conditions on Tuesday. “I thought we were in pretty good shape there for a while in the afternoon and thought we might end up 5-3. But it kind of flipped on us and in this game it flips that way pretty quick and when it stops going the wrong way it’s hard to stop.”
After falling behind, 5.5 to 2.5 in the morning the NOPGA showed early life in the alternate shot competition. At one point it had the lead in four matches and two were tied and it appeared perhaps a swing in momentum was in the offing.
It didn’t happen.
The afternoon session ended the same way as the morning session, with the SOPGA earning 5.5 points to the NOPGA’s 2.5.
The SOPGA team of Olson and Wilson – a former Ohio Open champion – had the biggest turnaround in the afternoon. Dietz and Kumpf were 3-up at one point but Olson and Wilson birdied four straight holes to go from 3-down to one-up en route to a 3-and-2 win.
The good news is that 16 singles matches remain Wednesday, beginning at 8:30 a.m.
“It’s all individuals at this point,” Robison said. “Don’t know what we’re gonna do about tomorrow but we have some guys who are playing very well but as a team we really haven’t made very many putts, the whole time around and that’s the name of this game.”
Failing to convert birdie putts seemed to spread throughout the entire team like a virus spreads through a grade school classroom.
Jim Troy, teaching professional at The Golf Dome, and Nick Gustin, head professional at Erie Shores Golf Course, were the leading point-getters for the NOPGA, earning 1.5 points each.
Troy rolled in a birdie putt on the final hole of the final match of the morning’s Foursomes (best ball) competition to salvage a half-point with playing partner Gustin against Ben Kern and Andy Montgomery.
Troy then teamed up with Optimus Golf co-owner Mark Sierak to beat Mike Auterson and Doug Wade, 2-and-1 in the Fourball (alternate shot) round.
Gustin paired with Westwood Country Club head professional Mark Scott Jr. to gain a tie with Kern — who once beat Rory McIlroy by one shot in the PGA Championship — and Montgomery, who survived a bee sting on his finger after stepping on a buried next on the seventh tee.
The Regular Division team of Randy Dietz (Windmill Golf Center) and Cory Kumpf (director of golf at Brookside Country Club) and the Senior Division team of Tom Atchison and Gary Trivisonno (both PGA Life Members) won the NOPGA”s two matches in the morning.
Portage Country Club teaching professional Steve Parker and playing partner Rob Moss, head professional at the Pepper Pike Club, were the other afternoon winners with a 3-and-1 victory of Dave Bahr and Tim Krapfel.
Six members of the SOPGA team – Bob Sowards, Dan Gage, Kyler Booher, Rick Denny, Sam Arnold and Mike Thomas — produced two points each.
