REPEAT, REDEMPTION, HOME COOKING, AND A CHIP-IN FOR MOM: TALES FROM THE NOPGA PROFESSIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
You can probably find at least 54 stories in a 54-hole professional golf tournament.
Some are so prevalent they hit you like an errant shot to the head. Others are more subtle, but just as compelling.
Here are some stories from the 71st playing of the Northern Ohio PGA’s Professional Championship that ended on a perfect Wednesday on the North Course of Westfield Country Club.
NOTHING REDUNDANT ABOUT THIS REPEATER
Jim Troy is regarded by many as the best player, tee to green, in the Section. He validated those opinions on Wednesday when he became the first repeat winner of this event since Rob Moss’s five-year winning streak from 2010-2014 with a dynamic performance when nothing less than a dynamic performance would suffice.
Troy, who recently became an PGA Assistant Golf Professional at Windmill Golf Center after several years with the Honma Golf Co., fired a final-round even-par 70 to win by two shots with a 54-hole score of 5-under 205.
Troy, a native of Illinois, won the event last year at Beechmont with a score of 1-under par 212.
His title was in question until the final two holes when the 41-year-old shrugged off back-to-back bogeys on the 14th and 15th holes – which left him at 3-under and cost him sole possession of the lead — with back-to-back birdies on the 498-yard 17th and the 604-yard 18th, which proved to be one of the toughest holes on the course with a 5.24 stroke average.
“Even with the bogeys I kept telling myself to take it easy here, we’re still in this, everything is fine,” Troy said. “I felt like the last three holes were an advantage to me because two of them were par-5s and 17 was a long par-4. I just kind of hung with that mentality.”
It worked. He made a routine par on the 577-yard 16th and then hit what he called his best drive of the day on the 498-yard 17th.
“I left myself 177 in, which is like a perfect 7-iron,” he said. “So, I’m like, this is the opportunity for me, right here. This is it. So, I’m like I can take dead aim and I’m just gonna flush this 7-iron. And, I did.”
His ball came to rest eight feet from the hole, with a testy – but makeable — right-to-left putt.
“I had a putt that I really liked the look of,” he continued. “All I had to do was aim two balls out to the right and hit it. I didn’t have to hit it hard, just stroke it.”
Looks aren’t always deceiving, and Troy rolled it in. The putt was center-cut, resulting with the definitive and delightful rattle of ball meeting hole.
Playing in the last group of the day Troy, who attended Q-School for six years, now was at 4-under with two players in the clubhouse at 3-under. All that was required was a routine par on the final.
“I think you have to believe in what you can do, and I’ve always been aggressive,” he said. “I’ve got to be aggressive. I think if you get too cautious it can lead to some bad results.”
Two splendid shots leading to the 18th green left him 81 yards to the hole.
“That was kind of a tweener yardage for me,’ he said. “I certainly did not want to go over the green. So, instead of hitting the 56-degree I decided to hit a full lob wedge. If I hit it over the pin and it spun back to 10, or even 20 feet, so be it. I had some (wiggle) room.”
Coming in from the left his shot landed a little past pin high, bounced to about 10 feet away and then spun back to 12 inches. Game. Set. Match.
“It was the best wedge I hit all day, all week, really,” he said.
The victory earned Troy $3,000 and a sixth trip to the 56th PGA Professional Championship, which will be played in New Mexico in April.
WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH…
Through most of the day Randy Dietz looked out of the race. He lost two strokes to par through the first five holes and had gone from 3-under to 1-under.
But Dietz, a PGA Teaching Professional at Windmill Golf Center, kept plugging away and it eventually paid off. The 43-year-old parred the final four holes on the front, picked up a birdie on the 10th and added three more birdies over his final five holes to continue his improved play as of late. He finished in a tie for second place, two shots behind Troy, with an even-par round of 70 and a 54-hole total of 3-under 207.
That makes five consecutive rounds of 70 or better, a victory in a stroke-play event at Shaker Heights and now a runner-up finish on one of the Section’s major events since Dietz returned from a self-imposed four-week layoff in an attempt to end what had been a dismal season.
Dietz, 43, posted his best finish in this event and is an automatic qualifier to New Mexico. He went 19 holes bogey-free during the first two rounds and played the par-5s in an event-leading 5-under.
YEAH, THE BOY CAN PLAY AND PLAY AND PLAY
All week the Westfield members kept telling people that Darin de Lelys, the club’s top PGA Assistant Golf Professional, was capable of winning, even at 24-years-old.
de Lelys, the young man with his long, blond locks flowing from underneath his Mizuno hat, came very close to winning with rounds of 70-65-72 and a 54-hole total of 3-under 207 and a tie for second place. The Florida native, in his fifth year at Westfield, also qualified for the national event in New Mexico. He began the day as a tri-leader at 5-under and went 15 holes without making a bogey during rounds two and three.
Bogeys on the difficult 424-yard ninth and the equally as tough 408-yard 12th – which coughed up just seven birdies against a combined 44 bogeys or doubles for the week – dropped him to 3-under for the tournament. He finished strong, however, with six consecutive pars and finished the tournament with 47 pars on 54 holes.
Hey, maybe those Westfield members know what they’re talking about.
A CHIP-IN IN A PLAYOFF CAN CREATE A BUNCH OF MEMORIES
After shooting a final-round 71 for a three-day total of 2-under 208, Beechmont PGA Head Professional Jaysen Hansen found himself as part of a four-man playoff for the fourth and final qualifying spot.
Hansen, the 2020 champion and a two-time Section Player-of-the-Year, ended the drama in dramatic fashion when he chipped in for birdie from about 30 yards on the North’s 498-yard 17th to earn the final spot and clinch his 10th appearance in the PGA Professional Championship, which will be held in New Mexico in the spring.
The shot also produced a stunning ending for Hansen, who reeled off 16 consecutive pars after suffering his only bogey of the day on the 452-yard second hole.
“It was pretty emotional,” he said.
The National PGA Professional Championship will be held in an Albuquerque suburb. Hansen’s mother, Karren, lives in Albuquerque so it will be a mother-and-son reunion.
“I go see her every Christmas,” said Hansen, who had rounds of 68-69-71 for a 2-under 208 and had 41 pars on the 54 holes. “This year she is coming to Ohio and I’ll go see her in the spring.”
Hansen, who now has three top-four finishes in this event in the last six years, currently stands in second place to Jim Troy in the Rolex Player-of-the-Year rankings.
“Obviously, I didn’t hit a very good drive and I couldn’t see where my ball was,” he said. “I had been chipping very well all week and when I finally saw where I was I had a half-way decent lie. I knew I needed to land it about five paces on the green and let it run out. I hit it right where I wanted. Fortunately, it found the cup.”
For Hansen, it was all’s well that ends well.
Hansen likely will have his own gallery in New Mexico, as his mother’s two sisters and brother also live in Albuquerque. His mom is a graduate of New Mexico State.
NOW THE WAIT BEGINS FOR THE ALTERNATES
The NOPGA also has four alternates in line for a trip to New Mexico if a qualifier cannot make it.
The four alternates are Gary Rusnak (1899 Golf, CLE-East), Jason Carbone (Canterbury Golf Club), Rob Moss (Pepper Pike Club) and two-time champion Gary Trivisonno (PGA Life Member).
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio PGA
2022 NOPGA Professional Championship
Westfield Country Club North Course, Westfield, Ohio
Mon – Wed, August 22 – 24, 2022
QUALIFIED
1 Jim Troy Windmill Golf Center 71-64-70–205 -5 $3,000.00
T2 Randy Dietz Windmill Golf Center 67-70-70–207 -3 $1,875.00
T2 Darin de Lelys Westfield Group Country Club 70-65-72–207 -3 $1,875.00
T4 Jaysen Hansen Beechmont Country Club 68-69-71–208 -2 $1,062.50
ALTERNATES
T4 Gary Rusnak 1899 Golf, CLE East 69-69-70–208 -2 $1,062.50
T4 Jason Carbone Canterbury Golf Club 68-67-73–208 -2 $1,062.50
T4 Rob Moss Pepper Pike Club 70-66-72–208 -2 $1,062.50
8 Gary Trivisonno PGA Of America Life Member 69-68-73–210 E $800.00
T9 Nick Paez GolfTEC – Cleveland West 69-71-71–211 +1 $700.00
T9 Nick Gustin Erie Shores Golf Course 71-67-73–211 +1 $700.00
T11 Milton Carswell Stone Oak Country Club 71-72-69–212 +2 $575.00
T11 Jon Jones Youngstown Country Club 68-73-71–212 +2 $575.00
T11 Cory Kumpf Brookside Country Club 71-70-71–212 +2 $575.00
14 Tony Adcock Seven Hills Country Club 69-74-70–213 +3 $525.00
T15 Greg Smith Westbrook Country Club 69-73-72–214 +4 $475.00
T15 Mark Evans The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club – Mayfield 70-71-73–214 +4 $475.00
T15 Mark Bixler Kirtland Country Club 72-68-74–214 +4 $475.00
18 Mike Stone Belmont Country Club 71-72-72–215 +5 $425.00
T19 Mark Scott Jr. Brookside Country Club 71-75-70–216 +6 $387.50
T19 Jordan Schroeder Findlay Country Club 72-73-71–216 +6 $387.50
21 William McKinley Sharon Golf Club 69-77-71–217 +7 $350.00
22 Jason Nussbaum Congress Lake Club 71-70-77–218 +8 $325.00
23 Mark Sierak Barrington Golf Club 72-74-74–220 +10 $300.00
T24 Joe Meglen StoneWater Golf Club 73-72-76–221 +11 $262.50
T24 Mitch Camp Club Walden 72-72-77–221 +11 $262.50
T26 Jordan Paolini Shaker Heights Country Club 73-72-79–224 +14 $212.50
T26 Brett Coluccio Fore Golfers Indoor Golf Center 72-72-80–224 +14 $212.50
MISSED CUT
MC Mary Suitca Tannenhauf Golf Club 75-72-0–147 +7
MC Tom Atchison PGA Of America Life Member 71-76-0–147 +7
MC Joshua Coad Mount Vernon Country Club 71-76-0–147 +7
MC Daniel Terry Chippewa Golf Club 70-77-0–147 +7
MC Jared Toom GolfTEC-Stonebrook 74-73-0–147 +7
MC Drew Pierson The Clubhouse 74-74-0–148 +8
MC Tom Waitrovich PGA Of America Life Member 73-75-0–148 +8
MC David Morgan Eagle Creek Golf Club 76-72-0–148 +8
MC Justin Pollock The Toledo Country Club 74-74-0–148 +8
MC Kevin Sullivan GolfTEC – Brecksville 72-77-0–149 +9
MC Mike Rankin Westbrook Country Club 73-76-0–149 +9
MC Tim Perin Lakewood Country Club 74-75-0–149 +9
MC Rob Smyser Fox Meadow Country Club 78-71-0–149 +9
MC Andy Silverman Canterbury Golf Club 75-75-0–150 +10
MC Adam Lewicki Portage Country Club 75-75-0–150 +10
MC Tony Milam North Coast Junior Tour 76-74-0–150 +10
MC Adam Stinogle Westwood Country Club 75-75-0–150 +10
MC Trent Maxwell Windmill Golf Center 73-78-0–151 +11
MC Michael Quinteros Inverness Club 76-75-0–151 +11
MC Collin McEndree Club Walden 77-74-0–151 +11
MC Matthew Creech The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club – Sand Ridge 78-73-0–151 +11
MC Scott Pollack 1899 Golf, CLE East 76-75-0–151 +11
MC Bryan Zurawski Zurawski Enterprises Inc 79-73-0–152 +12
MC Shawn Tompkins Chagrin Valley Country Club 74-78-0–152 +12
MC Eric Morgan Plum Brook Country Club 76-77-0–153 +13
MC Kevin Moskevich Westfield Group Country Club 77-78-0–155 +15
MC Chad Kitzmiller Westfield Group Country Club 78-79-0–157 +17
MC Joshua Diemer Chagrin Valley Country Club 80-78-0–158 +18
MC Justin Long Windmill Lakes Golf Club 79-79-0–158 +18
MC Chris Knevel Westwood Country Club 82-78-0–160 +20
WD Andy Santor Trumbull Country Club 82-0-0–82 +12
