Vaughn Snyder Wins Championship & Mid-Am; Kurt Peterson Bests Seniors; Klaira Paramore, Fiona Connor Top NEOWA
Canton’s Vaughn Snyder and Stow’s Kyle Buzaki put on a show on the back nine at Windmill Lakes Golf Club on Monday, slugging it out six shots clear of the rest of the field for the 94th Northeast Ohio Amateur Championship title.
Buzaki led the tournament after both the first and second rounds, shooting 5-under par 65 on Saturday and then backing it up with an even par 70 in windy conditions on Sunday. Snyder was two shots behind after each of the first two days, having posted 67-70.
Monday’s weather was chilly, gloomy, and misty. The temperature never reached 60 degrees, and the wind picked up as the day went on. Both Snyder and Buzaki opened with a bogey in the final round, but both players made birdie at the short par-4 third to earn it back. The pair traded birdies on four and five. Then, on the ninth hole, Snyder stuffed his second shot to eight feet, but Buzaki dumped in his birdie putt from 20 feet first. Snyder answered, and Buzaki maintained his two-shot lead at the turn.
Snyder left his birdie effort from 15 feet hanging over the lip on the tenth hole, and it felt like he was starting to gather momentum. That feeling was accurate: Snyder hit his second shot at the par-4 11th to four feet and converted the birdie; he hit his tee shot on the 208-yard par-3 12th to six feet and converted the birdie; and he hit his wedge on the par-4 13th hole to three feet and converted the birdie.
In that same span of holes, Buzaki made a solid two-putt par at the 11th, lipped out a chip for birdie at the 12th, then made a good two-putt from fifty feet on the 13th. Buzaki went from two shots ahead to one shot behind without dropping a shot.
On the 191-yard par-3 14th hole, Buzaki did make a mistake: he missed the green short right then didn’t get up and down, falling two shots behind Snyder. But he climbed back to within a shot after making birdie at the par-5 15th hole, finishing just over the back edge in two, while Snyder had to work hard from two different sets of trees just to make par.
But Buzaki couldn’t get his iron shots close on the two finishing holes, and neither of his long birdie efforts dropped. Snyder matched Buzaki with pars on the final two holes — although Snyder’s tee shot at the last hole dodged a tree in the right rough giving him a clear shot by just inches — which gave him the one stroke victory for the title.
“I don’t feel like I lost it,” said runner-up Buzaki after Monday’s play. “I had a two shot lead with nine holes to go and I shot even par the rest of the way. Vaughn just played really well, he made a lot of putts. But I played pretty well, too.”
The 37-year old Snyder adds a Northeast Ohio Amateur Championship title to his prior wins in the Ohio Amateur Championship (2008) and the Ohio Open Championship (2009), plus recent victories in the Cleveland Am (2020 & 2021), Summit County Am (2021), and Stark County Am (2021).
“In the middle of the round, I started hitting it real crisp,” said Snyder about his play starting at the ninth. “I had a couple good yardages where I was able to attack some flags, and I was fortunate enough to make the putts.”
Snyder, who played collegiately at Ohio State, summed up the strategy of just about every player in the field this week. “This was not like a lot of tournaments where you’re just trying to make a lot of birdies. I played away from a lot of pins, played to the center of the green quite a bit. My college coach, Coach Brown, would have been happy with me: he always told me the center of the green never moves.”
Nick Piesen of Strongsville finished in solo third place at 1-under par 209, the only other player besides Buzaki and Snyder to finish under par for the week. Nolan Haynes of Barberton, Yadhu Urs of Gahanna, and Mason Deal from Perrysburg — who shot 66 on Saturday — all tied for fourth place at even par 210.
Snyder also won the Mid-Amateur Division of the tournament for players over the age of 25, besting runner-up Howard Clendenin of Fairlawn by a whopping 12 shots.
Kurt Peterson Rolls to Senior Division Victory
The 2022 Senior Division winner of the Northeast Ohio Am has added that title to his resume again in 2024.
Bolivar’s Kurt Peterson started with a 69 on Saturday, fell back after a Sunday 77, then finished with a blistering 5-under par 65 on Monday to win by five shots.
“It was a good weekend, I played really well,” said Peterson. “I got a little sideways with the wind on Saturday, but other than that I’m very happy.”
Windham’s Rob Schustrich finished alone in second place, having shared the second round lead with two-time Senior Player of the Year Mark Borlin of Stow. But neither player could keep pace with Peterson’s hot final round.
When asked when he knew he was in control of the tournament’s lead, Peterson pointed to a key back nine par-three: the 13th. “I turned at 3-under par, and I was four back to start the day. So I figured at the turn I was close. Then I made birdie on the 13th, and again on 15 and 16. I never actually looked at the leaderboard, but I figured I was in pretty good shape if I could just get home from there.”
Klaira Paramore Wins NEOWA
Ashland’s Klaira Paramore bettered her score each of the three days at Windmill Lakes and won the fourth edition of the Northeast Ohio Women’s Amateur Championship. Paramore shot rounds of 80-78-75.
“I struggled with my ball striking this tournament, so short game was super important,” Paramore said after Monday’s round. “As the days went on, I was able to hit some more greens and made a couple of birdies on Monday, which really helped.”
Fiona Connor is Top Senior in NEOWA
Fiona Connor of University Heights was the model of consistency, shooting 83 each of the three days of the tournament to win the Senior Division of the NEOWA. But she clearly felt her performance could have been better.
“I was consistently inconsistent,” said Connor about her play. “I had some great drives, but a lot of scrambling and a lot of squandered opportunities. I would have rather shot 73 all three days, but I just made too many bogeys.”
PHOTO GALLERY: NOGA 2024 NEOA & NEOWA – DAY 3 >
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio Golf Association
2024 Northeast Ohio Amateur Championship
Windmill Lakes Golf Club, Ravenna
Saturday, June 8 – Monday, June 10, 2024
Golf Genius Hole-by-Hole Results >
Championship Division
1 Vaughn Snyder, Canton 67 – 70 – 65 = 202 $800.00
2 Kyle Buzaki, Stow 65 – 70 – 68 = 203 $600.00
3 Nick Piesen, Strongsville 72 – 66 – 71 = 209 $500.00
T4 Nolan Haynes, Barberton 72 – 69 – 69 = 210 $400.00
T4 Yadhu Urs, Gahanna 69 – 72 – 69 = 210 $400.00
T4 Mason Deal, Perrysburg 66 – 71 – 73 = 210 $400.00
7 Zander Gibson, Concord 68 – 72 – 72 = 212 $300.00
8 Thomas Bell, Bowling Green 73 – 70 – 70 = 213 $275.00
T9 Dylan Dunn, Stow 73 – 73 – 68 = 214 $225.00
T9 Howard Clendenin, Fairlawn 71 – 72 – 71 = 214 $225.00
T9 Carter Mishler, Millersburg 68 – 72 – 74 = 214 $225.00
T12 Michael porter, McDonald 70 – 74 – 72 = 216 $162.50
T12 Ben Cors, Wooster 73 – 68 – 75 = 216 $162.50
T14 Solomon Petrie, Akron 74 – 70 – 73 = 217 $112.50
T14 Ryan Chipps, Painesville 72 – 73 – 72 = 217 $112.50
T16 Connor Malicki, Avon 73 – 73 – 72 = 218
T16 Jeff Sawitke, Painesville 74 – 71 – 73 = 218
T16 Bence Kotel, Toledo 70 – 75 – 73 = 218
T16 Joshua Clay, North Canton 70 – 72 – 76 = 218
T20 Dillon Pendergast, Mogadore 71 – 76 – 72 = 219
T20 Leo Walling, Powell 69 – 78 – 72 = 219
T20 Ayden Richmond, Geneva 71 – 75 – 73 = 219
T20 Jack Lindgren, Maineville 72 – 71 – 76 = 219
T24 Mason Frazier, Wooster 73 – 74 – 73 = 220
T24 Ian Hardesty, Kent 69 – 75 – 76 = 220
26 Chasen Poole, Springfield 74 – 74 – 73 = 221
T27 Rocco Turner, Canfield 74 – 73 – 76 = 223
T27 Alexander Anderson, Hartville 72 – 74 – 77 = 223
29 Jack Gerborg, Avon 72 – 74 – 78 = 224
30 Max Crookston, Stow 79 – 69 – 77 = 225
31 Dean Upholzer, Strongsville 73 – 75 – 81 = 229
CUT Chris Okeson, Beachwood 69 – 80 = 149
CUT Tyler Andersen, Columbiana 76 – 73 = 149
CUT Zach Burton, Dublin 73 – 76 = 149
CUT Jarrod Kasunick, Massillon 77 – 72 = 149
CUT Brett Kaufman, Westlake 74 – 75 = 149
CUT David Swab, North Royalton 77 – 73 = 150
CUT Zach Glassman, Painesville 78 – 72 = 150
CUT Michael McCaffrey, Westlake 79 – 72 = 151
CUT Dominik Cosic, Painesville 75 – 76 = 151
CUT Greg Manuel, Rocky River 77 – 74 = 151
CUT Don Padgett, Akron 73 – 78 = 151
CUT Eric Wonkovich 75 – 76 = 151
CUT Mark Mokros, Canton 75 – 76 = 151
CUT Chase Forsyth, Poland 75 – 77 = 152
CUT Ben Hogan, Wellington 75 – 77 = 152
CUT Ben Skripac, Stow 74 – 79 = 153
CUT Rajveer Sethi, Beechwood 78 – 75 = 153
CUT Nathan Harms, Toledo 81 – 72 = 153
CUT Joseph Gonzalez, Millersburg 74 – 79 = 153
CUT David Hilditch, Avon 74 – 79 = 153
CUT Cole Hostetler, Ravenna 75 – 79 = 154
CUT Matthew Roth, Medina 78 – 76 = 154
CUT Jeff Blechschmidt, Cleveland 74 – 80 = 154
CUT Lucas Liberatore, Lakewood 73 – 81 = 154
CUT Doug Barber, Willoughby 72 – 82 = 154
CUT Troy Chapman, Lexington 78 – 77 = 155
CUT Brian Beebe, Uniontown 81 – 74 = 155
CUT Brian Smith, Amherst 78 – 77 = 155
CUT Kyle Salamon, Medina 77 – 79 = 156
CUT Tyler Ankrom, Akron 83 – 73 = 156
CUT Dustin Buehler, Akron 78 – 78 = 156
CUT Kevin Wheeler, Avon 78 – 78 = 156
CUT Andrew Grayson, Medina 76 – 80 = 156
CUT Nicholas Adams, Parma Heights 77 – 80 = 157
CUT Brian Tischler, Cleveland 77 – 80 = 157
CUT Rick Deichert, Cleveland 77 – 81 = 158
CUT Kamden Mowry, Ashland 78 – 80 = 158
CUT Michael Keefe, University Heights 76 – 83 = 159
CUT Matt Holloway, Akron 82 – 77 = 159
CUT Lucas Dietrich, Rocky River 78 – 82 = 160
CUT Jesse Fox, Aurora 78 – 82 = 160
CUT Andrew Malkus, Maple Heights 83 – 77 = 160
CUT Xander Moran, Kent 79 – 82 = 161
CUT Brett Eley, Wapakoneta 82 – 81 = 163
CUT Jeff Mihalick, Elyria 87 – 76 = 163
CUT Joey Collins, Elyria 81 – 85 = 166
CUT Rob Loomis, Akron 82 – 85 = 167
CUT Joseph Evans, Hartville 84 – 83 = 167
CUT Gavin Stutz, 84 – 84 = 168
CUT Matthew Gregory, Medina 85 – 87 = 172
CUT Zach Panek, Bay Village 88 – 86 = 174
Mid-Amateur Division
1 Vaughn Snyder, Canton 67 – 70 – 65 = 202 $500.00
2 Howard Clendenin, Fairlawn 71 – 72 – 71 = 214 $400.00
T3 Jeff Sawitke, Painesville 74 – 71 – 73 = 218 $275.00
T3 Joshua Clay, North Canton 70 – 72 – 76 = 218 $275.00
5 Chris Okeson, Beachwood 69 – 80 – 70 = 219 $200.00
T6 Zach Glassman, Painesville 78 – 72 – 70 = 220 $162.50
T6 Ian Hardesty, Kent 69 – 75 – 76 = 220 $162.50
8 Brett Kaufman, Westlake 74 – 75 – 73 = 222 $125.00
T9 Ben Hogan, Wellington 75 – 77 – 71 = 223
T9 Greg Manuel, Rocky River 77 – 74 – 72 = 223
T9 Eric Wonkovich, Lakewood 75 – 76 – 72 = 223
T9 Jarrod Kasunick, Massillon 77 – 72 – 74 = 223
13 Mark Mokros, Canton 75 – 76 – 73 = 224
T14 Devon Goldberg, Cuyahoga Falls 74 – 78 – 74 = 226
T14 Don Padgett, Akron 73 – 78 – 75 = 226
T14 Adam Mastone, Avon 76 – 73 – 77 = 226
CUT Joshua Olson, Hudson 77 – 76 = 153
CUT Joseph Gonzalez, Millersburg 74 – 79 = 153
CUT David Hilditch, 74 – 79 = 153
CUT Matthew Roth, Medina 78 – 76 = 154
CUT Jeff Blechschmidt, Cleveland 74 – 80 = 154
CUT Lucas Liberatore, Lakewood 73 – 81 = 154
CUT Doug Barber, Willoughby 72 – 82 = 154
CUT Brian Beebe, Uniontown 81 – 74 = 155
CUT Brian Smith, Amherst 78 – 77 = 155
CUT Josh Dankovich, Boardman 78 – 78 = 156
CUT Kevin Wheeler, Avon 78 – 78 = 156
CUT Andrew Grayson, Medina 76 – 80 = 156
CUT Nicholas Adams, Parma Heights 77 – 80 = 157
CUT Brian Tischler, Cleveland 77 – 80 = 157
CUT Rick Deichert, Cleveland 77 – 81 = 158
CUT Matt Holloway, Akron 82 – 77 = 159
CUT Jesse Fox, Aurora 78 – 82 = 160
CUT Andrew Malkus, Maple Heights 83 – 77 = 160
CUT Brett Eley, Wapakoneta 82 – 81 = 163
CUT Jeff Mihalick, Elyria 87 – 76 = 163
CUT Joey Collins, Elyria 81 – 85 = 166
CUT Rob Loomis, Akron 82 – 85 = 167
CUT Trever Wendel, Ravenna 87 – 83 = 170
CUT Matthew Gregory, Medina 85 – 87 = 172
CUT Zach Panek, Bay Village 88 – 86 = 154
Senior Division
1 Kurt Peterson, Bolivar 69 – 77 – 65 = 211 $500.00
2 Robert Schustrich, Windham 73 – 69 – 74 = 216 $400.00
3 Brad Steven, Concord 70 – 73 – 74 = 217 $300.00
4 Mark Borlin, Stow 71 – 71 – 77 = 219 $250.00
5 Doug Hauenstein, Aurora 72 – 73 – 75 = 220 $200.00
6 Rick Bryson, Akron 70 – 78 – 77 = 225 $175.00
T7 Greg Myers, Twinsburg 76 – 78 – 74 = 228 $68.75
T7 Scott Winckowski, Oregon 77 – 74 – 77 = 228 $68.75
T7 Marc Fried, Solon 77 – 76 – 75 = 228 $68.75
T7 Tom Baugh, Akron 72 – 79 – 77 = 228 $68.75
T11 Dean Cutlip, Copley 79 – 77 – 73 = 229
T11 Chris Minear, Akron 74 – 77 – 78 = 229
13 Mike Belacic, Akron 74 – 75 – 81 = 230
T14 Roger Tolley, Willard, United States 82 – 79 – 72 = 233
T14 Brian Sparrow, Chagrin Falls 80 – 79 – 74 = 233
16 Allen Freeman, Brecksville 75 – 81 – 80 = 236
17 Joseph Kovach, Strongsville 76 – 81 – 80 = 237
T18 Jim Durr, Silver Lake 84 – 76 – 81 = 241
T18 Robert Wadsworth, Uniontown 81 – 78 – 82 = 241
CUT David Trier, Stow 79 – 83 = 162
CUT David Stover, Pepper Pike 79 – 84 = 163
CUT Lou Boarman, 81 – 82 = 163
CUT Joe Denk, Fairview Park 82 – 81 = 163
CUT Tony Turrall, Bay Village 81 – 83 = 164
CUT Jeffrey Knox, Brecksville 82 – 83 = 165
CUT Paul Ferguson 85 – 83 = 168
CUT Mark Ciccarello 85 – 89 = 174
DQ Nick Lambos, Canton 74 – 74
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio Golf Association
2024 Northeast Ohio Women’s Amateur Championship
Windmill Lakes Golf Club, Ravenna
Monday, June 10, 2024
Golf Genius Hole-by-Hole Results >
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
1 Klaira Paramore, Ashland 80 – 78 – 75 = 233 $100.00
2 Elaina Seeley, Circleville 87 – 88 – 81 = 256
SENIOR DIVISION
1 Fiona Connor 13, University Heights 83 – 83 – 83 = 249 $100.00
2 Gail Hackett 13, Canton 83 – 89 – 84 = 256 $50.00
3 Diane Sabo 19, Painesville 89 – 93 – 83 = 265
