Stow’s Kyle Buzaki ran up a big enough lead in the first round of the 2024 Stark County Amateur Championship that he could cruise home to victory in round two when no player stepped up with a sustained challenge.
Buzaki shot 5-under par on Saturday at Ohio Prestwick Country Club in Uniontown, and took a two-shot lead into Sunday’s finale over his closest pursuer, Shaun Kloetzer of Fairlawn.
Both Buzaki and Kloetzer shot matching scores of 37-37=74 on Sunday, so the margin of victory remained at two shots at day’s end, with Buzaki finishing at 3-under par. The lead shrunk to just a single shot on a handful of holes throughout the day on Sunday, including after the par-3 15th when Buzaki made a double-bogey. But he never lost his lead.
Joshua Clay of North Canton and Ryan Sam from Canfield finished in a tie for third place, at even par 144. Dillon Pendergast of Mogadore made a run with back-nine birdies at 12 and 14, but a bogey on 16 and a double on 17 ended his chances with a T5 finish.
SENIOR DIVISIONS
Fairlawn’s Howard Clendenin added a second tournament to this week’s victory column, closing out the Senior Division of the Stark County Am after a blowout win at the Tigertown Open Senior Am division on Friday with a 9-under par 63. Clendenin posted a 5-under par 67 on Saturday to lead by four at Prestwick, then won by a four-shot margin with a Sunday 73 when he didn’t have his best stuff.
Canton’s Dave Oates finished in second place overall at even par 144 for the two days. Bolivar’s Kurt Peterson finished third at 147.
In the Men’s 60-69 age division, Akron’s Rick Bryson got his revenge in 2024, after losing in a playoff last year to Aurora’s Tom Laubacher. Bryson shot 74-70 for an even par 144 total to top runner-up Laubacher this year by four shots.
In the Men’s 70+ age division, Fairlawn’s Rick Merrow won for the second consecutive year, besting two players who regularly pair together for team events: Ron Bell of Stow and Jim Cea of Tallmadge by one shot.
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIPS
Akron’s Emily Liptak shot a Sunday 73 to run down first-round leader Madison Reemsnyder of Canton and take the 2024 Stark County Am Women’s title. Liptak started the day two shots behind Reemsnyder, who shot even par 72 on Saturday. But the strong play of Liptak and and a 78 by Reemsnyder gave the Walsh University golfer a three shot victory.
For the second year in a row, Canton’s Denise Callahan is the 2024 Stark County Am Women’s 50+ champion. Callahan shot 79-80 to win by three shots over Alison Cress of Jupiter, FL.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2024 Stark County Am >
FINAL RESULTS:
2024 Stark County Amateur Championship
Ohio Prestwick Country Club, Uniontown
Sat/Sun, July 21 – 22, 2024
Golf Genius Hole-by-Hole Results >
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
1 Kyle Buzaki, Stow 67 – 74 = 141 $800.00
2 Shaun Kloetzer, Fairlawn 69 – 74 = 143 $750.00
T3 Joshua Clay, North Canton 72 – 72 = 144 $625.00
T3 Ryan Sam, Canfield 71 – 73 = 144 $625.00
T5 Kyle Smith, Akron 75 – 70 = 145 $525.00
T5 Dillon Pendergast, Mogadore 72 – 73 = 145 $525.00
T7 Ryan Gutowski, Fairlawn 76 – 70 = 146 $322.50
T7 Chris Okeson, Beachwood 73 – 73 = 146 $322.50
T7 Zach Huscusson, New Franklin 74 – 72 = 146 $322.50
T7 Blake Hood, Alliance 70 – 76 = 146 $322.50
11 Gunnar McCollins, Massillon 76 – 71 = 147 $260.00
T12 Dylan Dunn, Stow 75 – 73 = 148 $222.50
T12 Caden Scarbrough, North Canton 73 – 75 = 148 $222.50
T14 Carter Mishler, Millersburg 76 – 73 = 149 $172.50
T14 Sethi Rajveer, Chandler, AZ 73 – 76 = 149 $172.50
T16 Jordan Kish, Massillon 80 – 72 = 152 $110.00
T16 Jarrod Kasunick, Massillon 74 – 78 = 152 $110.00
T16 Jacob Sylak, Mineral Ridge 74 – 78 = 152 $110.00
T19 Hunter Lowder, Brewster 77 – 76 = 153 $25.00
T19 Joshua Weiner, Macedonia 77 – 76 = 153 $25.00
T21 Griffin Hrabak, Medina 78 – 76 = 154
T21 Vaughn Snyder, Canton 78 – 76 = 154
T21 Kyle Jones, Canton 77 – 77 = 154
24 Andrew Shultz, Akron 79 – 76 = 155
25 Charlie Belden 83 – 74 = 157
T26 Justin Trzebuckowski, Broadview Heights 77 – 81 = 158
T26 Jimmy Wild, Sagamore Hills 86 – 72 = 158
T28 Alex Micale, Akron 82 – 77 = 159
T28 Craig Carneval, Westlake 78 – 81 = 159
T28 Dustin Buehler, Akron 78 – 81 = 159
T31 Mark Mokros, Canton 81 – 80 = 161
T31 Raffaele Scassa, Massillon 82 – 79 = 161
33 Alexander Anderson, Hartville 82 – 80 = 162
34 Rich Mastcko, Uniontown 83 – 80 = 163
T35 Matt Stephan, Uniontown 82 – 83 = 165
T35 Lou Pederi, Uniontown 82 – 83 = 165
37 Brock Jenkins, Massillon 81 – 86 = 167
38 Brock Hawkins, Canton 85 – 84 = 169
T39 Rob Loomis, Akron 87 – 83 = 170
T39 Greyson Phister, Clinton 85 – 85 = 170
41 Michael Derks, North Canton 88 – 83 = 171
T42 Tyler Fichter, Akron 90 – 86 = 176
T42 Robert Morgan, Massillon 86 – 90 = 176
44 Alexander Pincoe, North Canton 93 – 90 = 183
45 Camden Horning, Uniontown 94 – 92 = 186
46 Ty VanBulck, Alliance 91 – 99 = 190
WD Edward Keith, Canton 91 – WD
SUNDAY CHAMPIONSHIP SKINS: $30 ea
Ryan Gutowski – Birdie on 1
Vaughn Snyder – Birdie on 2
Jimmy Wild – Eagle on 6
Rob Loomis – Birdie on 10
Rob Loomis – Birdie on 13
Jimmy Wild – Birdie on 16
Rich Mastcko – Birdie on 17
Lou Pederi – Eagle on 18
SENIOR 50-59 DIVISION
1 Howard Clendenin, Fairlawn 67 – 73 = 140 $700.00
2 David Oates, Canton 74 – 70 = 144 $540.00
3 Kurt Peterson, Bolivar 73 – 74 = 147 $440.00
T4 Bob Spino, Uniontown 77 – 71 = 148 $315.00
T4 Allen Freeman, Brecksville 72 – 76 = 148 $315.00
6 Ty Kovach, Medina 71 – 78 = 149 $240.00
T7 Robert Schustrich, Windham 74 – 77 = 151 $165.00
T7 Dean Cutlip, Copley 72 – 79 = 151 $165.00
T9 David Trier, Stow 75 – 77 = 152 $62.50
T9 Tony Pariano, Louisville 73 – 79 = 152 $62.50
T11 James Thompson, Marion 79 – 78 = 157
T11 Chris Minear, Akron 80 – 77 = 157
T11 Mike Stiller, Akron 81 – 76 = 157
14 Matthew Sutter, North Canton 81 – 77 = 158
T15 Scott Hawkins, Cantonio 81 – 78 = 159
T15 Scott Loudon, N. Canton 73 – 86 = 159
T17 Edward Diebold, Coventry Township 78 – 84 = 162
T17 Greg Stearn, Hartville 74 – 88 = 162
19 Jim Kish, Massillon 90 – 74 = 164
T20 Robert Button, Westlake 84 – 84 = 168
T20 Brian Beebe, Uniontown 87 – 81 = 168
22 Jeffrey Barbas, North Canton 85 – 84 = 169
DQ Will van Nostran, Canton 78 – DQ
SUNDAY 50-59 SKINS: $75 ea
Chris Minear – Birdie on 8
Jim Kish – Birdie on 11
Dean Cutlip – Birdie on 15
David Oates – Birdie on 17
SENIOR 60-69 DIVISION
1 Rick Bryson, Akron 74 – 70 = 144 $700.00
2 Tom Laubacher, Aurora 75 – 73 = 148 $550.00
3 Brian Huntley, Uniontown 75 – 74 = 149 $450.00
4 David Peck, Macedonia 78 – 76 = 154 $350.00
5 Larry Lahnan, Aurora 79 – 76 = 155 $300.00
T6 Jeff Semple, Canton 76 – 80 = 156 $220.00
T6 Doug Lockwood, Powell 74 – 82 = 156 $220.00
8 Raul Mendoza, North Lawrence 78 – 79 = 157 $150.00
9 Robert Barkett, Mansfield 79 – 79 = 158 $125.00
T10 Jim Herchek, Chagrin Falls 80 – 79 = 159 $30.00
T10 John Toth, Akron 80 – 79 = 159 $30.00
12 Randy Skorman, Barberton 80 – 80 = 160
13 Mark Thomas, Jackson Twp. 81 – 81 = 162
14 Paul Ferguson, Lakewood 84 – 86 = 170
15 Kirk Seablom, rocky River 89 – 82 = 171
16 Geoffrey Burge, Aurora 87 – 85 = 172
17 Jim Hart, Akron 88 – 86 = 174
18 Dave Freudeman, Canton 80 – 95 = 175
19 Tom Difrancesco, Mogadore 86 – 90 = 176
20 Russ Swartz, Mogadore 88 – 92 = 180
WD George Allen, Warren WD
WD Mike Crawford, Sheffield Lake WD
SUNDAY 60+ SKINS: $140 ea
Mike Brady – Birdie on 1
Lon Haidet – Birdie on 6
Robert Barkett – Birdie on 14
SENIOR 70+ DIVISION
1 Rick Merrow, Fairlawn 77 – 79 = 156 $600.00
T2 Ron Bell, Stow 74 – 83 = 157 $470.00
T2 Jim Cea, Tallmadge 78 – 79 = 157 $320.00
4 Mike Brady, Avon Lake 83 – 76 = 159 $220.00
5 Jeff Luken, Middleburg Hts 81 – 80 = 161
6 Lon Haidet, Canton 79 – 84 = 163
T7 Randy Young, North Canton 86 – 78 = 164
T7 Doug Van Nostran, North Canton 78 – 86 = 164
9 Tom Stack, Akron 83 – 84 = 167
10 Bill Charles, Canton 85 – 83 = 168
11 Bob Russell, North Canton 86 – 87 = 173
NC Alex Dottavio, Canton NC
WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
1 Emily Liptak, Akron 74 – 73 = 147 $500.00
2 Madison Reemsnyder, Canton 72 – 78 = 150 $350.00
T3 Kylie Porter, North Canton 85 – 72 = 157 $116.00
T3 Rachel DiDonato, Akron 86 – 71 = 157 $116.00
T3 Erin Strouse, Louisville 76 – 81 = 157 $116.00
6 Hannah Higgins, North Canton 80 – 85 = 165
7 Abigail Blackburn, North Canton 82 – 87 = 169
8 Ava Kemp, North Canton 84 – 89 = 173
9 Cari Hetler, Green 87 – 89 = 176
WOMEN’S 50+ DIVISION
1 Denise Callahan, Canton 79 – 80 = 159 $400.00
2 Alison Cress, Jupiter, FL 81 – 81 = 162 $250.00
T3 Natalie Savich, Libertyville, IL 89 – 76 = 165 $75.00
T3 Gail Hackett, Canton 84 – 81 = 165 $75.00
5 Janet Shaheen, North Canton 82 – 92 = 174
6 Becka Kasapis, Stow 97 – 85 = 182
7 Connie Russell, North Canton 98 – 95 = 193
SUNDAY WOMEN’S 50+ SKINS: $15 ea
Alison Cress – Birdie on 2
Natalie Savich – Birdie on 5
Alison Cress – Par on 8
Natalie Savich – Birdie on 9
Alison Cress – Birdie on 10
Denise Callahan – Birdie on 15
