Dan Sutton, the Director of Golf at Heather Downs Country Club, shot an opening 2-over par 73 and has the first round lead in the 2020 NOPGA Senior Professional Championship at Brookside Country Club.
The event is being conducted by the Northern Ohio Section of the Professional Golfers Association of America.
No one in the field was able to break par or solve the fast-paced greens on the difficult Brookside layout, made even more testy by swirling winds on an otherwise perfect day.
Sutton, who doubles as the Head Coach at St. Francis DeSales High School, had nines of 34-39 over Brookside’s 7,155 yards to hold a one-shot lead over host pro Gary Robison, a five-time winner of the event.
Sutton, 52, was one of the few players under par as he stood at one-under after 11 holes. But, four straight bogeys on holes 12 through 15 slowed him down until a momentum-changing rare birdie on the challenging 416-yard 16th hole.
With a severely-sloped green the 16th hole yielded just two birdies to the field of 30 players.
“That birdie saved the round,” said Sutton, who finished with pars on Brookside’s back-to-back par-5s.
With rounds of 69-67—136, Perrysburg’s Steve Stone was the medalist last year when the event was held at Oberlin Golf Club. Stone, a Teaching Professional at Maumee Golf Center, edged five-time champion Gary Robison by one stroke. He shot 77 on Wednesday.
The top four finishers will advance to the 2020 Senior PGA Professional National Championship, which will be held on October 15-18 at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Four alternates also will be chosen.
Round 2 begins Thursday at 8:30 a.m.
ROUND 1 RESULTS: Northern Ohio PGA
2020 NOPGA Senior Professional Championship
Brookside Country Club, Canton, Ohio
Wednesday, August 19, 2020
1 Dan Sutton Heather Downs CC 34-39–73 +2
2 Gary Robison Brookside 36-38–74 +3
T3 Tony Adcock Seven Hills CC 39-36–75 +4
T3 Steve Mulcahy Shawnee CC 36-39–75 +4
T3 Kevin Sullivan GolfTEC – Brecksville 36-39–75 +4
T6 Steve Parker Portage 36-40–76 +5
T6 Gary Rusnak GolfTEC – Brecksville 39-37–76 +5
T8 Mitchell Camp Club Walden 40-37–77 +6
T8 Dennis Miller PGA Of America Life Membe 40-37–77 +6
T8 Rob Moss Pepper Pike Club, The 40-37–77 +6
T8 Steve Stone Maumee Golf Center 39-38–77 +6
T12 Scott Pollack 1899 Golf, CLE East 39-39–78 +7
T12 Tom Waitrovich Lakewood 37-41–78 +7
T14 Joseph Borawski Brookside 41-38–79 +8
T14 Jon Jones Youngstown 39-40–79 +8
T14 Daniel Terry Chippewa GC 41-38–79 +8
T17 Sean Kenily Union CC 39-41–80 +9
T17 Mike Rankin Westbrook CC 42-38–80 +9
T19 Tom Atchison Salem GC 39-42–81 +10
T19 Tony Milam North Coast Jr Tour 37-44–81 +10
T19 Gregory Smith Westbrook CC 40-41–81 +10
T19 Gary Trivisonno PGA Of America Life Membe 39-42–81 +10
T23 Michael Heisterkamp Chagrin Valley 39-43–82 +11
T23 Trevor Thomas The Delphos 42-40–82 +11
T25 Dan Dauk Firestone G.C., Raymond C 41-43–84 +13
T25 Eric Morgan Plum Brook CC 45-39–84 +13
T25 Terry Shell PGA Of America Life Membe 47-37–84 +13
T28 Charles Goodwin FoxCreek Golf and Racquet 43-44–87 +16
T28 Andy Santor The Country Club 46-41–87 +16
30 Doug Lemons Chenoweth 47-46–93 +22
