The inaugural Lewis Cup, conducted by the Northern Ohio Golf Association and played at the North and South courses of Westfield Country Club, has its first winning team.
The Senior Team defeated the Amateur Team by a total of 15-9 after Saturday’s Four-Ball and Foursomes matches followed by Sunday’s 12 Single Matches.
On Saturday, the Seniors won the Four-Ball matches 5-1. In Foursomes (alternate shot), the Amateur team bounced back to tie the Seniors, making the Saturday total score 8-4 heading into Sunday.
NOGA Senior Player of the Year Monty Guest captained the Senior Team, while the NOGA Player of the Year Jeff Blechschmidt was the captain of the Amateur Team.
Opening the Singles Matches on the links-style North Course at Westfield Country Club, the two captains faced off against each other, with Guest getting the better of Blechschmidt, 3 & 2.
The remainder of the two sides battled it out on a cold, cloudy blustery day, finishing with 7 points for the Seniors to 5 points for the Amateurs. Adding that total to their Day 1 advantage led to a fairly sizable win for the Senior Team.
Regardless of the margin of victory, after the success of the weekend the Lewis Cup will be back next season.
“This was an awesome event,” Blechschmidt said. “It was an honor to be a captain and I hope to play for many more years to come. I hope next year our Amateur Team will come out firing strong. It’s a great venue here at Westfield and NOGA did a great job. I look forward to next year.”
“I am really happy to be playing in the Inaugural Lewis Cup,” Guest said. “Bob (Lewis) was a great guy and did a lot for golf and I hope this continues for a lot of years. I think this has the potential to be a great event for a long time, so I am really happy to be here.”
“Our team did a great job and everyone played well,” Guest added. “I was a little surprised we won the singles today but everyone pulled through and did great. The Seniors, we have all known each other a long time. It’s just a lot of fun to play.”
The Senior Team had an outsized advantage in “competitive strength”: 10 of the Top-12 ranked NOGA Senior Player of the Year members played on the team, with the 14th and 17th ranked players filling out the squad. On the Amateur Team, only 5 of the Top-12 NOGA POY players competed, with invites required to the 17, 18, 23, 24, 25, 40 and 43rd ranked players to get to 12 members.
— story by Justin Golba & Allen Freeman
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio Golf Association
2021 Lewis Cup Matches – Amateurs vs Seniors
Westfield Country Club North & South Courses
Sat, Oct. 16 – Sun, Oct. 17, 2021
SUNDAY SINGLES MATCHES:
Monty Guest SR def. Blechschmidt AM , 3 & 2
Allen Freeman SR def. Kevin Rowe AM, 2 up
Brian Sparrow SR def. Andy Carr AM, 4 & 3
Mark Gaudagni SR def. Andrew Zgrabik AM, 3 & 2
Scott Saari SR tied Brian Polick AM
Mike Cassell SR def. Barry Cohn AM, 4 & 3
Tom Skidmore SR def. Brian Beebe AM, 7 & 6
Robert Schustrich AM def. Tom Baugh SR, 7 & 5
Zach Glassman AM tied Jim Durr SR
Brian Smith AM def. Mark Borlin SR, 7 & 6
Shaun Kloetzer AM def. Bob Weaver SR, 1 up
SUNDAY SCORE:
SENIOR TEAM: 7 points, AMATEUR TEAM: 5 points
SATURDAY SCORES:
Four-Ball: SENIOR TEAM: 5, AMATEUR TEAM 1
Foursomes: SENIOR TEAM: 3, AMATEUR TEAM 3
FINAL 2021 LEWIS CUP SCORE:
SENIOR TEAM 15 points, AMATEUR TEAM 9 points.
