Massillon’s Vaughn Snyder made four birdies, a lone bogey, and a slew of pars at Good Park Golf Course in Akron on Sunday to fend off a host of challengers and earn a come-back win at the 2021 Summit County Amateur Championship.
A former Ohio State Buckeye golfer who won the Ohio Amateur in 2008 and the Ohio Open in 2009, Snyder had never captured the Summit County Amateur title. The closest he had come was a playoff loss in 2008 to Dave Pulk.
But this year, he dodged the efforts of a handful of players who did their best to keep the trophy off his shelf.
Snyder shot a first round 71, which put six players in front of him at the start of Sunday. But his Sunday 68 was at least two shots better than every other player he was chasing, giving him the title.
Playing in the group along side Snyder, Brian Smith of Amherst had one hand on that trophy with one hole to play. Smith, the NOGA Player of the Year multiple times, reeled off four birdies in six holes on his inward nine, overtaking Snyder by one shot heading toward the final tee box.
Good Park plays the nines in reverse order for Summit County Am Sunday, so Smith had the honors on the finishing 212-yard par-3 ninth hole. A par would likely seal the deal. But Smith hit a block right that caught the big tree on the right, sending it backward with no clear route to the green. Smith tried to punch it through the tree but caught branches, dropping the ball down short of the right-hand bunker. From a junk lie, his pitch ran onto the back fringe, where he would have a bogey putt to try to salvage a tie with Snyder, who made a solid two-putt par. Unfortunately, the swooping breaker didn’t find the hole and Smith’s double-bogey 5 at the last was costly.
Massillon’s Josh Clay also had a great chance to overtake Snyder. Sitting at 2-under par for the championship with two holes to play, Clay had a 7-foot birdie putt at the penultimate hole to tie Snyder. But the putt spun around three-quarters of the cup before staying above ground.
Clay did his best at the long par-3 ninth finale to tie with an unlikely birdie, knocking his tee shot to about 25 feet. But his birdie effort finished just right of the hole, and he tapped in to finish one shot back of Snyder.
Hoban high school player Solomon Petrie and former Cleveland Am champ Brian Krusoe, a Northfield native who is a Korn Ferry Tour tournament director in North Carolina, both had roller-coaster Sunday rounds: Krusoe made five birdies and five bogeys in shooting an even par 71; Petrie made four birdies against three bogeys in carding a 70. Both players made birdie-2 at the par-3 ninth hole to finish in a tie for second place, one shot behind Snyder. (Krusoe’s birdie at nine was much more valuable, however, as he won a skin with his deuce; Petrie did not enter the skins game because of high school eligibility concerns, and no other player in the field made a birdie there.)
First round leader Adam Frey of Hudson put up a solid fight for the championship, following up his Saturday 68 with a Sunday 73. His putt for birdie at the ninth on Sunday from 15 feet made it right up to the front edge of the hole and stopped, keeping him one shot out of the four player logjam that was second place.
(Tip of the cap to past Summit County Amateur champion Rick Bryson, who at age 64 was in the chase all the way to the end and finished the tournament at even par 142 in a tie for seventh place.)
Just two weeks ago, Snyder won the Stark County Amateur Championship at Ohio Prestwick and Skyland Pines. Today, he captured the Summit County Am at Good Park. Can he defend his Cleveland Am title next week at Manakiki and sweep the late summer Big-3? Stay tuned…
PHOTO GALLERY: 2021 Summit County Am Final Round >
FINAL RESULTS:
2021 Summit County Amateur Championship
Good Park Golf Course, Akron, Ohio
Saturday, August 7 – Sunday, August 8, 2021
1st Vaughn Snyder 71 – 68 = 139 $750
T-2 Clay, Josh 69 – 71 = 140 $575
T-2 Krusoe, Brian 69 – 71 = 140 $575
T-2 Petrie, Solomon 70 – 70 = 140 $575
T-2 Smith, Brian 70 – 70 = 140 $575
6th Frey, Adam 68 – 73 = 141 $450
T-7 Bryson, Rick 71 – 71 = 142 $412.50
T-7 Klaric III, Michael 71 – 71 = 142 $412.50
T-9 Peterson, Kurt 70 – 73 = 143 $362.50
T-9 Scarbrough, Caden 75 – 68 = 143 $362.50
T-11 Anagnost, Niko 73 – 71 = 144 $312.50
T-11 Mullen, Matt 72 – 72 = 144 $312.50
T-13 Kloetzer, Shaun 73 – 72 = 145 $250
T-13 Smith, Braden 77 – 68 = 145 $250
T-13 Trzebuckowski, Justin 75 – 70 = 145 $250
T-16 Borisa, A.J. 70 – 76 = 146 $158
T-16 Hennighan, Bob 76 – 70 = 146 $158
T-16 Laib, David 74 – 72 = 146 $158
T-16 Oates, David 71 – 75 = 146 $158
T-16 Spino, Bob 74 – 72 = 146 $158
T-16 Trier, David 74 – 72 = 146 $158
T-22 Clendenin, Howard 71 – 76 = 147 $125
T-22 Simpson, Mike 75 – 72 = 147 $125
T-22 Wakeling, Rob 71 – 76 = 147 $125
T-25 Ankrom, Tyler 75 – 73 = 148 $112.50
T-25 Barber, Doug 73 – 75 = 148 $112.50
T-25 Lieser, Jonathan 77 – 71 = 148 $112.50
T-25 Radis, Bud 73 – 75 = 148 $112.50
T-29 Blackburn, Steve 75 – 74 = 149 $100
T-29 Buzaki, Kyle 73 – 76 = 149 $100
T-29 Crewse, Aaron 76 – 73 = 149 $100
T-29 DeCheco, Max 74 – 75 = 149 $100
T-29 Fryman, John 73 – 76 = 149 $100
Out of the Money:
Chuparkoff, Ken 76 – 74 = 150
Cutlip, Dean 74 – 76 = 150
Glista, Nathan 74 – 76 = 150
Filo, Adam 78 – 73 = 151
Jatich, Brandon 77 – 74 = 151
Milavickas, Alex 75 – 76 = 151
Stefanski, Ryan 74 – 77 = 151
Yacovazzi, Anthony 79 – 72 = 151
Freeman, Allen 78 – 74 = 152
Sotka, David 77 – 75 = 152
Jacobs, Maurice 74 – 79 = 153
Drukenbrod, Zach 79 – 75 = 154
Grunstein, Justin 80 – 74 = 154
Heavner, Tim 81 – 73 = 154
Okeson, Chris 78 – 76 = 154
Steffan, Patrick 78 – 76 = 154
Wenger, Jeff 73 – 81 = 154
Witmer, Mike 79 – 75 = 154
Wonkovich, Eric 77 – 77 = 154
Harmon, Bobby 82 – 73 = 155
Kreps, Cade 77 – 78 = 155
McCaffrey, Michael 76 – 79 = 155
Watson, Max 80 – 75 = 155
Angelo, John 80 – 76 = 156
Ellison, Will 78 – 78 = 156
Jacob, Kyle 78 – 78 = 156
Belden, Bob 78 – 79 = 157
Christman, Cole 82 – 75 = 157
Polick, Brian 76 – 81 = 157
Spalding, Stephen 81 – 76 = 157
Garrett, Rick 80 – 78 = 158
Gorham, Josh 80 – 78 = 158
Thomas, Mark 81 – 77 = 158
Warren, Matt 83 – 75 = 158
Agarenzo, Mychal 79 – 80 = 159
Cona, Garrett 74 – 85 = 159
Gray, Alexis 80 – 79 = 159
Rockich, Joe 79 – 80 = 159
Watkins, Tyler 84 – 75 = 159
Basinger, Jeff 77 – 83 = 160
Bojc, Phil 82 – 78 = 160
Fleming, Doug 81 – 79 = 160
Hostetler, Ryan 79 – 81 = 160
Hughes, Keith 80 – 80 = 160
Loomis, Rob 83 – 77 = 160
Moran, Xander 82 – 78 = 160
Toth, John 78 – 82 = 160
Walker, Chris 85 – 75 = 160
Zachardy, Jason 81 – 79 = 160
Carr, Nick 78 – 83 = 161
Lukacs, Kasen 83 – 78 = 161
Goldsmith, Brandon 85 – 77 = 162
Krill, Dennis 84 – 78 = 162
LaVallo, Corey 84 – 78 = 162
Spalding, A.J. 83 – 79 = 162
Barbas, Jeff 81 – 82 = 163
Gore, Anthony 84 – 79 = 163
Mirelli, Jeff 81 – 82 = 163
Adcock, Alec 83 – 81 = 164
Hoffman, Bryan 80 – 84 = 164
Micale, Alex 80 – 84 = 164
Rice, Cody 84 – 80 = 164
Stretar, Luke 81 – 83 = 164
Karic, Zoran 81 – 84 = 165
Lansinger, Benjamin 84 – 81 = 165
Ciccarello, Mark 80 – 86 = 166
Hung, Jeffrey 89 – 77 = 166
Duncan, Dustin 86 – 81 = 167
Kardish, Austin 83 – 84 = 167
Buehler, Dustin 89 – 79 = 168
DiMeo, Sam 83 – 85 = 168
Timmerman, Dustin 86 – 82 = 168
Wilson Jr., Steve 85 – 84 = 169
Kolkovich, Elliot 90 – 80 = 170
Congin, Gary 84 – 87 = 171
Mars, Trent 84 – 87 = 171
Wilson Sr., Steve 86 – 85 = 171
Hinchliffe, Tim 85 – 87 = 172
Distelhorst, Dan 86 – 87 = 173
Hruby, Zach 85 – 88 = 173
Patton, William 89 – 84 = 173
Granata, Angelo 88 – 90 = 178
Rush, Eric 90 – 90 = 180
Slater, Brandon 90 – 90 = 180
D’Andrea, Dante 94 – 87 = 181
Bolyard, Shawn 99 – 95 = 194
Oliver, Nelson 110 – 98 = 208
SKINS:
SATURDAY SKINS: $570 ea
Josh Clay, Eagle-3, Hole #2
Joe Rockick, Eagle-2, Hole #12
SUNDAY SKINS: $570 ea
Brian Krusoe, Birdie-2, Hole #9
Ryan Hostetler, Eagle-3, Hole #14
