The second edition of the Northern Ohio Golf Association’s Lewis Cup Matches will be played this coming Saturday and Sunday, October 15-16 at the two beautiful courses of Westfield Country Club.
The season-ending Ryder Cup style competition pits 12 NOGA Amateurs vs. 12 NOGA Seniors, and honors a local-yet-international golf legend, NOGA Hall of Famer Bob Lewis Jr. in the process.
Last year in the inaugural event, the Senior Team handily defeated the Amateur Team 15 to 9. On Saturday of last year, the Seniors won the first nine Four-Ball matches 5-1. Then in second nine Foursomes (alternate shot), the Amateur team bounced back to split with the Seniors 3-3, making the Saturday total score 8-4 heading into Sunday. The Seniors closed the door on any thoughts of a comeback, as they won the Sunday singles matches 7 to 5.
To be eligible to earn a spot in the Lewis Cup, players must compete in three NOGA events during the season. Players are invited by their order of standing on the NOGA Player of the Year points list until each team fills out its roster of 12 players.
The captains for each team are the NOGA Player of the Year award winners; this year’s captains are Brian Smith of Amherst / Oberlin CC on the Amateur side and Mark Borlin of Stow / Silver Lake CC for the Senior team.
This year, the Amateur Team is much stronger on paper, with Captain Smith, 2022 NOGA winner Shaun Kloetzer and Brian Beebe returning from last year. They are joined by some highly-experienced tournament players like Aaron Crewse, Chris Okeson and Ben Hogan, and a whole host of younger new guys.
The Senior Team sports six of the same victorious players as last year (Captain Borlin, Mark Guadagni, Tom Skidmore, Tom Baugh, Scott Saari, Allen Freeman) plus one who changed sides (two-time 2022 NOGA winner Rob Schustrich) and some strong new additions (2022 NOGA winners Dean Cutlip and David Trier).
Pros and Cons
Just like last year, the Senior Team of players ages 55+ quickly filled its roster without having to go too far down the Player of the Year points list. Only one eligible player in the top 12 chose not to commit, and the 13th player gladly took the final Senior roster spot.
The Amateur Team had to go further down its list of eligible players, but not nearly as far as last year. This year, 10 eligible players opted out of their invitation, with the 22nd eligible player on the list taking the final spot. Last year, the Amateur team’s final player came from the 40s in the POY rankings, so this is a marked improvement.
What about wins during the season? In counting NOGA victories won by members of each team this year, the Senior field notched six NOGA tournament wins compared to just one NOGA tournament win on the Amateur side. Unfortunately, the eligible Amateurs who chose not to compete accounted for three NOGA victories this past season, which hurts the Ams on the win experience side.
By GHIN Handicap, the Amateur Team sports an average Index that is more than one full shot better than the Senior Team: +0.1 average vs 1.2 average. The best Index for the Ams is +2.7, while the best Senior Index is +0.7. The highest Index on the Am side is 2.6, while the Seniors have two players currently at 4.2. Algo-mathematically, the Amateurs sport a superior team.
Pick ’em
So based on all of the data above, which team will win the 2022 Lewis Cup?
Given that many of last year’s Senior players who won the Cup have returned to defend that honor, that they are the winners of more NOGA events this year than their younger counterparts, and that they are higher ranked on the POY points list as a group, a strong case can be made for a repeat Senior victory and their retention of the Cup.
Plus, as defending champs, a tie goes to the Seniors.
But with five players of the 12 sporting a “plus” GHIN Handicap Index (better than scratch) and another four players under an Index of 1, the Amateur Team is highly talented and certainly won’t lay down against the old guys. The three Ams who return this year have a chip on their shoulder after last year’s loss, and their 2022 team is made up of tournament veterans and higher POY-ranked players this time around.
So “the line” is likely a toss-up. But one thing is for certain: the 2022 Lewis Cup competition will be a heated battle. And there’s a good chance the very last singles match on Sunday will decide which team wins the Cup.
2022 Lewis Cup Team Rosters
2022 SENIOR LEWIS CUP TEAM
POY Rank | Player Name | Events Played | Wins | POY Points | Index
1 | Captain Mark Borlin | 7 | 1 | 916.00 | 1.8
2 | Robert Schustrich | 6 | 2 | 731.60 | +0.7
3 | Mark Guadagni | 5 | 0 | 715.60 | 0.4
4 | David Trier | 7 | 1 | 642.81 | 1.0
5 | Tom Skidmore | 5 | 0 | 545.50 | 0.2
7 | Dean Cutlip | 6 | 1 | 524.71 | 3.3
8 | Allen Freeman | 5 | 0 | 437.41 | +0.3
10 | Scott Saari | 5 | 0 | 351.75 | 0.9
12 | Tom Laubacher | 3 | 1 | 343.20 | 0.0
13 | Paul Lagrotteria | 7 | 0 | 317.04 | 4.2
14 | Tom Baugh | 5 | 0 | 292.45 | 0.2
17 | Mike Crawford | 6 | 0 | 265.51 | 4.2
2022 AMATEUR LEWIS CUP TEAM
POY Rank | Player Name | Events Played | Wins | POY Points | Index
1 | Captain Brian Smith | 7 | 0 | 646.65 | +0.9
3 | Shaun Kloetzer | 4 | 1 | 542.5 | +2.4
7 | Aaron Crewse | 4 | 0 | 469.25 | +2.2
9 | Ben Hogan | 6 | 0 | 356.85 | +1.9
12 | Andrew Malkus | 6 | 0 | 339.02 | 0.9
15 | Andrew Grayson | 4 | 0 | 267.3 | +2.7
17 | Michael Richey | 4 | 0 | 241.05 | 1.2
18 | Brian Tischler | 5 | 0 | 209.67 | 0.3
19 | Chris Okeson | 3 | 0 | 205.25 | 0.0
21 | Brian Beebe | 5 | 0 | 162.03 | 0.6
22 | Jeff Mihalick | 4 | 0 | 152.5 | 2.6
27 | Robert McMahon | 4 | 0 | 121.6 | 3.3
