The 91st edition of the Portage County Amateur Championship did not fail to impress as golfers battled it out with low scores as the event concluded at Sugar Bush Golf Club in Garrettsville.
Champions in each division were Bud Radis of Aurora in the County Division for golfers residing in Portage County, Rick Areddy of Silver Lake leading golfers that reside outside of Portage County and Alexis Gray of Aurora taking first place in the Women’s Division.
COUNTY DIVISION
At the end of the first round, 18-holes at Windmill Lakes in Ravenna, Bud Radis of Aurora and Jarrod Page of Streetsboro were tied at one-over-par 73s.
Radis, a previous champion of both the Amateur and the Junior Amateur and alumnus of the University of Miami varsity golf team, was in a familiar spot, always hunting for medalist honors.
Page, Kent State varsity golf alumnus and former director of golf at Kent State University Golf Course, regained his amateur status and played in his first Portage County Amateur to find himself in a tie at the top of the leaderboard.
Lurking just one-stroke behind the leaders, Ben Lansinger of Mogadore, Player of the Year in the Portage Trail Conference and now a member of the Malone University varsity golf team, was in the final championship pairing teeing off at Sugar Bush.
Radis was too good for the field on Tuesday.
Firing an identical 71 at Sugar Bush, one-under-par, Radis had five birdies including finishing his 18-hole round with two of the under-par holes to top a charging Lansinger by one stroke.
Lansinger tied Radis on the final day but couldn’t overcome the one-stroke deficit from his 74, four-over-par, at Windmill.
Page fought his way to a 75 at Sugar Bush, only having one bad hole, a triple bogey on the back nine, but that was enough just take him out of the first place tie to land in third place.
Rounding out the top five was Evan Ferrara of Kent, defending champion of the County Division, scoring a total 149, just five strokes off the medalist, and Jeremy Knight, former standout varsity golfer for Streetsboro shot a solid 74 for his final round to climb the leaderboard for fifth place.
Several golfers who also compete in the Senior Division, took to the fairways to test their skills against the youths in the Amateur Division. Highest finish was Randy Wilburn of Diamond who stepped into the top 10 with rounds of 83-77 for a 160 two-round total.
OPEN DIVISION
Unlike the golfers in the County Division, the battle was short-lived in the Open Division. Golfers in both divisions play the back tees at both courses, each more than 6500 yards.
Rick Areddy of Silver Lake grabbed the first-day lead and never looked back.
Areddy who often plays in the Amateur but has never won, remedied that situation carding back-to-back 71s for an even-par, 36-hole 142.
This was Areddy’s first tournament of the season although he has played a lot of golf at Silver Lake Country Club.
After the one-over-par round of 71 his first day at Windmill, Areddy stepped on the team at Sugar Bush to compete against eventual runner-up and 2020 defending champion Cole Christman of Canfield and Tyler Ankrom of Akron. At the turn, Christman and Ankrom were already in a deficit to Areddy by two and three strokes.
“He’s on fire,” said Cole Christman, the defending champion of the Open Division.
Areddy, after starting with a bogey on the first hole, added four birdies for the one-under-par 71 and the championship that found him five-strokes ahead of Christman and nine strokes better than Ankrom.
Christman, on the varsity roster for Youngstown State, and Ankrom, a member of the club team at Miami University fired final day rounds of 73 and 77 respectively to finish in the top three.
Scott Schroeder former Aurora standout, now of Cuyahoga Falls shot a 76 and Mike Furey of Twinsburg, an alumnus of John Carroll University’s varsity men’s golf team, carded a 77 to stave off the move up the leaderboard by Alex Lofton of Stow who shot a nice two-over-par 74 on the final day.
WOMEN
Alexis Gray, new to the Portage County Amateur, played golf for Solon High School and was on the varsity track team for the University of Cincinnati as a thrower.
Turning her athletic efforts to golf, Smith won the Women’s Division with rounds of 81 and 83 for a 164.
With the women playing from 6100 yards at both Windmill and Sugar Bush, Alexis topped Madolyn Kost of Kent (179) and Abigail Retherford of Ravenna (180).
Kost has been a member of the Kent Roosevelt Lady Riders team but is headed to Archbishop Hoban for her sophomore year.
Abigail Retherford (180) playing for the Ravenna varsity boys team, was a Record-Courier Best of Preps for 2020-2021.
Rounding out the division was Streetsboro alumnus Samantha Miller (219), and two Rootstown Rover girl golfers, Ava Huebner (231) and Audrey Francis (238)
NEXT UP FOR THE AMATEURS
After completing the 7th Kids Am, 14th Junior Am and 91st Portage County Amateur in eight days, the Amateurs next welcome the 51st Senior Amateur the final full weekend of August to Windmill Lakes Golf Club and Sugar Bush Golf Club.
Registration is available by calling Windmill Lakes Golf Club or contacting tournament director Susan Jenior at golffam2@gmail.com.
FINAL RESULTS:
91st Portage County Amateur
Windmill Lakes Golf Club, Ravenna | Par 70
Sugar Bush Golf Course, Garrettsville | Par 72
Saturday, July 25 – Sunday, July 26, 2021
WOMEN
Alexis Gray, Aurora 81-83 164
Madolyn Kost, Kent 87-92 179
Abigail Retherford, Ravenna 86-94 180
Samantha Miller, Streetsboro 111-108 219
Ava Huebner, Rootstown 117-114 231
Audrey Francis, Rootstown 128-110 238
COUNTY DIVISION
Bud Radis, Aurora 73-71 144
Ben Lansinger, Mogadore 74-71 145
Jarrod Page, Streetsboro 73-75 148
Evan Ferrara, Kent 75-74 149
Jeremy Knight, Streetsboro 80-74 154
Chris Sloe, Aurora 80-77 157
Randy Wilburn Diamond 83-77 160
Dove Fall, Windham 82-78 160
Anthony Marozzi, Rootstown 82-80 162
Mason Bartholomy, Rootstown 80-83 163
Evan Lerner, Aurora 84-80 164
Ed Marsinek, Ravenna 82-82 164
Matthew Carter, Kent 80-84 164
Cole Hostetler, Rootstown 82-86 168
Garrison Rose, Garrettsville 85-86 171
Ben Jenior, Rootstown 83-88 171
Laszlo May, Rootstown 89-84 173
Spencer Crone, Ravenna 93-81 174
Chad Brazill, Streetsboro 86-89 175
Jason Seith, Ravenna 87-91 178
Evan Dalziel, Kent 85-93 178
Aaron Snyder, Garrettsville 92-87 179
Toren Roubic, Windham 90-91 181
Joe Knight, Streetsboro 93-107 200
Eric Ernsberger, Diamond 103-98 201
OPEN
Rick Areddy, Silver Lake 71-71 142
Cole Christman, Canfield 74-73 147
Tyler Ankrom, Akron 74-77 151
Scott Schroeder, Cuyahoga Falls 76-76 152
Mike Furey, Twinsburg 76-77 153
Alex Lofton, Stow 80-74 154
Dustin Duncan, Stow 76-78 154
Dustin Timmerman, Independence 80-75 155
Brian Smith, Oberlin 80-76 156
Ben Cowan Orange Village 77-79 156
Kyle Jacob, Medina 79-78 157
Chris Nurse, Lake Milton 78-79 157
Corey Hines, Leavittsburg 81-77 158
Will Ellison, Cuyahoga Falls 79-81 160
Mark Brower, Cuyahoga Falls 79-81 160
Andrew Zgrabik, Brecksville 77-83 160
Reece Ziegler, Bucyrus 80-81 161
Corey Lavalo, Akron 82-84 166
John Buucciarelli, Munroe Falls 85-83 168
Dan Boyd, Cleveland 92-85 177
