Brandywine Country Club pro Steve Stone fired a final-round five-under par 67 on Friday to win the 2019 Northern Ohio Senior PGA Professional Championship at Oberlin Golf Club.
Stone, of Perrysburg, finished the 36-hole event at 8-under 136 for a come-from-behind, one-shot victory over defending champion Gary Robison to earn a trip to the 31st Senior PGA Professional Championship, to be held October 3-6 at the Omni Barton Creek Resort and Spa in Austin, Texas.
Robison, the director of golf at Canton’s Brookside Country Club, also qualified and will be joined by Lima’s Steve Mulcahy and Chardon’s Tony Milam, a two-time winner of this event, as the top-four finishers advancing to Texas.
Stone, 50, entered the final round three shots behind Robison, who was seeking an unprecedented sixth Section title. The former standout from Ohio State, made the turn at even-par but scorched the back-nine with a five-under 32, highlighted by an eagle-3 on the 468-yard 15th hole.
“After that I just wanted to hold on and make three pars,” said Stone, who did exactly that.
Prior to his game-changing eagle, Stone started the back nine with consecutive birdies on the 11th and 12th holes while Robison made par.
It was an emotional victory for Stone, who earned all-Big Ten honors during his senior season at OSU. He has battled wrist and hip injuries for the last two years. At one point he feared the hip problems would prevent him from continuing his playing career.
“It starts to make you wonder,” he said. “I was afraid that I would never be able to play (competitively) again. So, this is very special for me. I couldn’t be happier. I played well and held off a very strong field.”
The four NOPGA qualifiers will be part of a 264-player field in The Senior PGA Professional Championship, which features a purse of $300,000.
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio PGA
2019 NOPGA Senior PGA Professional Championship
Oberlin Golf Club, Oberlin, OH
Thur/Fri, Aug 8-9, 2019
Qualifiers for the 31st Senior PGA Professional Championship:
1 Steve Stone Brandywine CC 69-67–136 -8 $1,400.00
2 Gary Robison Brookside 66-71–137 -7 $1,200.00
3 Steve Mulcahy Shawnee CC 71-67–138 -6 $900.00
4 Tony Milam North Coast Jr Tour 69-72–141 -3 $700.00
5 Jon Jones Youngstown 70-72–142 -2 $550.00
T6 Rob Moss Pepper Pike Club 73-70–143 -1 $416.67
T6 Sean Kenily Union CC 68-75–143 -1 $416.67
T6 Craig Goldsberry Bent Tree GC 72-71–143 -1 $416.67
9 Scott Pollack 1899 Golf, CLE East 73-71–144 E $250.00
T10 Gary Trivisonno PGA Of America Life Member 74-72–146 +2 $175.00
T10 Dan Sutton Heather Downs CC 72-74–146 +2 $175.00
T12 Charles Goodwin FoxCreek Golf and Racquet Club 75-72–147 +3
T12 Eric Morgan Plum Brook CC 73-74–147 +3
T12 Tom Waitrovich Lakewood 71-76–147 +3
T15 Mike Rankin Westbrook CC 75-73–148 +4
T15 Tom Atchison Salem GC 72-76–148 +4
T17 Jim Logue Brookside 75-74–149 +5
T17 Mitchell Camp Club Walden 74-75–149 +5
T19 Jack McKelvey The Country Club 78-72–150 +6
T19 Tony Adcock Seven Hills CC 72-78–150 +6
21 Mark Smith Highland Meadows GC 79-74–153 +9
22 Joseph Borawski Brookside 78-77–155 +11
23 Steve Parker Portage 82-76–158 +14
24 Doug Lemons Ohio Junior Golf Academy 80-81–161 +17
T25 Bob Barto West Pines Golf Range 81-83–164 +20
T25 Clifford Purtilo Oberlin 77-87–164 +20
T27 Charlie Wood Mayfield Sand Ridge Club 85-80–165 +21
T27 Andy Santor Mill Creek GC 80-85–165 +21
