Massillon native and Cleveland State golfer Gunnar McCollins started his Stark County Amateur Championship Sunday six shots off the torrid pace of local phenom Kyle Smith, a recent Green High School graduate who frequently plays the tournament host Ohio Prestwick Country Club.
Smith had shot a sizzling 7-under par 65 on Saturday, making McCollins’ first round 1-under par 71 look pedestrian.
To catch up in the 89th edition of the Stark County Amateur, McCollins would need to play under-par golf and hope that Smith came back to the field a bit.
By the end of the first nine holes on Sunday, both had happened.
A front nine score of 2-under par 34 for McCollins against a 40 for Smith brought the pair level for the tournament with nine holes remaining to play. The leaders ran the back nine at Ohio Prestwick neck-and-neck, both sitting at 1-under par after eight holes on the inward half. They came to the finishing hole still tied for the tournament.
McCollins was in the driver’s seat after both players had hit two shots at the water-surrounded par-5 last. Smith was behind some trees on the left about 65 yards from the green, and McCollins sat in the middle of the fairway just 15 yards short of the green. The best Smith could do was a low runner to pin-high right of the green, which he accomplished. McCollins had a chance to slam the door, but his pitch from in front of the green went a bit long and ran off the back edge.
With a big crowd looking on, Smith lofted his birdie chip toward the hole and left himself six feet for par. Then McCollins missed his birdie putt from the fringe that could have closed out Smith.
But Smith couldn’t get his six-foot par putt to drop:
McCollins tapped in for par to post a 3-under par 69 on Sunday and a two-day total of 4-under par 140, a solid showing. Smith went 65-76 for a 3-under par 141, and a second place finish.
North Canton’s Caden Scarbrough duplicated his first round 71 on Sunday and finished solo third at 142. Stow’s Kyle Buzaki, who shot 67 on Saturday at Prestwick and has played a summer’s worth of great golf, shot a Sunday 76 to finish in fourth.
Canton’s Dave Oates has enjoyed his new foray into Senior tournament golf, having recently turned age 50. He won the Senior Am division of the Tigertown Open in Massillon last week, and followed that victory with another in the 50-59 Division of the Stark County Am.
Oates shot a first round 68, but on Sunday turned his first nine in a disappointing 39. He recovered and shot a 2-under par 34 on the second nine to finish with a 73 and 3-under par 141 total. He won by three shots over Bart Williams.
Aurora’s Tom Laubacher had to go extra holes to earn the Senior 60-69 Division championship. Laubacher looked to be in cruise control on his way toward victory until an oddity on the par-3 15th, when his ball looked like it was down in a deep lie but was actually sitting on top of an overgrown sprinkler head. The ball went flying off the strike which led to a double-bogey and a 76.
Akron’s Rick Bryson, who had a great Sunday comeback with a 1-under par 71, matched Laubacher with a tournament total of 147, so it was on to a playoff. But a par on the first playoff hole by Laubacher secured the title, as Bryson made a bogey on the 18th at Prestwick.
Akron’s Rick Merrow earned a two shot victory in the Senior 70+ Division over Brecksville’s Steven Bedell. Merrow displayed some consistently solid ball-striking, and made just enough putts to get the job done.
Prize payouts shown in the results below are paid in the form of gift certificates to Foxy Golf in Canton, a primary sponsor of the Stark County Am. Prize amounts will be available for player use at Foxy Golf by the middle of next week.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2023 Stark County Amateur RD2 >
FINAL RESULTS:
2023 Stark County Amateur Championship
Ohio Prestwick Country Club, Uniontown, Ohio
Sat / Sun, July 22-23, 2023
Championship Division
Gunnar McCollins 71 – 69 = 140 $800.00
Kyle Smith 65 – 76 = 141 $500.00
Caden Scarbrough 71 – 71 = 142 $640.00
Kyle Buzaki 67 – 76 = 143 $525.00
Cam Horning 78 – 69 = 147 $450.00
Kyle Freudeman 72 – 76 = 148 $342.00
Alex Micale 75 – 73 = 148 $342.00
Dillon Pendergast 74 – 74 = 148 $342.00
Aaron Crewse 76 – 73 = 149 $250.00
Justin Trzebuckowski 74 – 76 = 150 $225.00
Michael Simpson 71 – 80 = 151 $187.50
Matthew Stephen 76 – 75 = 151 $187.50
Cole Christman 72 – 81 = 153 $150.00
Dylan Dunn 77 – 77 = 154 $100.00
Joshua Prok 82 – 72 = 154 $100.00
Jake Sylak 73 – 81 = 154 $100.00
Kyle Jones 77 – 79 = 156
Jonathon Knapp 74 – 82 = 156
Joshua Clay 81 – 76 = 157
Brian Beebe 79 – 79 = 158
Bryce Hood 76 – 82 = 158
Jordan Kish 73 – 85 = 158
Dustin Buehler 80 – 79 = 159
Mark Morkros 80 – 79 = 159
Drew Shultz 81 – 78 = 159
Griffin Hrabak 78 – 82 = 160
Hunter Lowder 78 – 82 = 160
Raffaele Scassa 77 – 83 = 160
Adam Filo 86 – 75 = 161
Dominic Gambone 79 – 82 = 161
Brock Jenkins 78 – 83 = 161
Mark Schneider 76 – 85 = 161
Ted Hoover 82 – 81 = 163
Tyler Wierzbicki 76 – 87 = 163
Shawn Mills 80 – 84 = 164
Phil Bojc 79 – 86 = 165
Zachary Sieverts 78 – 87 = 165
Rob Loomis 82 – 87 = 169
Cayden Testa 85 – 86 = 171
Ty Van Bulck 85 – 88 = 173
Dylan Maninga 82 – 92 = 174
Greyson Phister 86 – 90 = 176
Alex Pincoe 92 – 93 = 185
J P Patton 94 – 99 = 193
Ryan Grim 96 – 98 = 194
Brandon Jatich 71 – NC
Vaughn Snyder 72 – NC
Max DeCheco 81 – NC
Adam Arman 92 – NC
Landon Wilson NC
CHAMPIONSHIP SKINS: $57 ea
Van Bulck – #8
Clay – #10
Mokros – #11
Mills – #13
Bojc – #18
RD2 PAYOUT:
Prok 72 $135.00
Crewse 73 $100.00
Clay 76 $25.00
Trzebuckowski 76 $25.00
Senior 50-59 Division
Dave Oates 68 – 73 = 141 $550.00
Bart Williams 70 – 74 = 144 $500.00
Kurt Peterson 71 – 76 = 147 $425.00
Scott Hawkins 72 – 77 = 149 $325.00
David Trier 73 – 76 = 149 $325.00
Bobby Spino 76 – 75 = 151 $250.00
Tony Pariano 79 – 73 = 152 $200.00
Dan Marr 73 – 80 = 153 $150.00
Ty Kovach 77 – 77 = 154 $105.00
Chris Minear 72 – 82 = 154 $105.00
Rob Button 76 – 79 = 155
Mark Guadagni 76 – 79 = 155
Chris Carney 75 – 81 = 156
Nolan Jatich 75 – 81 = 156
Greg Stearn 79 – 77 = 156
Matt Sutter 78 – 78 = 156
Dean Cutlip 79 – 78 = 157
Steve Feist 79 – 80 = 159
Jim Kish 76 – 83 = 159
Dave Allton 87 – 73 = 160
Ron Chapman 79 – 82 = 161
Scott Loudon 78 – 83 = 161
John Toth 76 – 85 = 161
Doug Fleming 77 – 86 = 163
Robert Wadsworth 78 – 86 = 164
Charles Wierzbicki 80 – 84 = 164
Chuck Mayle 85 – 88 = 173
Brian Sovak 90 – NC
50-59 SKINS: $75 ea
Pariano – #1
Peterson #3
Kovach – #8
Allton #9
Trier #10
RD2 PAYOUT:
Allton 73 $105.00
Oates 73 $105.00
Pariano 73 $105.00
Williams 74 $50.00
Senior 60-69 Division
Tom Laubacher 71 – 76 = 147 $600.00 (won playoff)
Rick Bryson 76 – 71 = 147 $500.00
Bruno Chirumbolo 74 – 74 = 148 $375.00
Dave Peck 79 – 72 = 151 $275.00
Nick Lambos 77 – 75 = 152 $175.00
Doug Lockwood 71 – 81 = 152 $175.00
Larry Lahnan 74 – 79 = 153 $40.00
Jeff Semple 77 – 76 = 153 $40.00
Tim Heavner 74 – 82 = 156
Fred Miller 74 – 82 = 156
Dave Freudeman 78 – 79 = 157
Mark Thomas 80 – 79 = 159
Tim DeMuesy 80 – 80 = 160
Geoffrey Burge 78 – 82 = 160
Lou Boarman 79 – 83 = 162
Mike Crawford 79 – 83 = 162
Russ Swartz 80 – 83 = 163
Keith Pluto 82 – 85 = 167
Sam Spino 93 – WD
60-69 & 70+ SKINS COMBINED: $84 ea
Bryson – #2
Heavner – #3
Demusey – #6
Merrow – #15
Semple – #18
RD2 PAYOUT:
Bryson 71 $125.00
Peck 72 $80.00
Chirumbolo 74 $50.00
Senior 70+ Division
Rick Merrow 76 – 77 = 153 $425.00
Steven Bedell 81 – 74 = 155 $325.00
Randy Young 77 – 80 = 157 $250.00
Jim Cea 77 – 81 = 158 $75.00
Bruce Dean 81 – 77 = 158 $75.00
Jeff Luken 75 – 84 = 159
Tom Stack 79 – 82 = 161
Steven Steinhilber 81 – 87 = 168
Doug Van Nostran 85 – 84 = 169
Scott Smart 88 – 82 = 170
Dave Goff 87 – 89 = 176
RD2 PAYOUT:
Bedell 74 $100.00
Dean 77 $32.50
Merrow 77 $32.50
