Jimmy Wild of Sagamore Hills went for the green in two at the water-guarded par-5 18th hole to make birdie and slide past fellow-competitor Ryan Stefanski by one point in his victory at the 2019 NEOHgolf.com Raintree Stableford+Skins.
This fire-at-the-flags event awards only positive points in a modified Stableford scoring format: one point for par; three points for birdie; five points for eagle. Surprisingly, even with three easily reachable par-5 holes in play at Raintree, there were no eagles made on the day.
Stefanski held a 2-point advantage going into that final hole at Raintree Golf & Events Center in Green, after a birdie to the buried pin at the tricky par-3 11th pushed him ahead of Wild.
After that, the pair matched two birdies and three pars from 12 to 17.
But when Stefanski managed but a par at the last as Wild made four after taking on — and successfully hitting — the do-or-die par-5, Wild earned his third NEOHgolf.com Series win of the year. In addition to his win at Raintree, Wild was on the “perfect” team with Stefanski and Brian Smith at the Rawiga All-American 3-Man Scramble, and he won early in the season at the Skyland Pines Stroke Play.
Brecksville’s Allen Freeman started off hot with a four-birdie front nine at Raintree, but cooled on the back side to finish in third place.
Brian Beebe did exactly the opposite, earning just three points on his front side but then ran off four birdies in a row to close out his round with a sizzling 16 point inward half.
The amount of money in the skins pot was double that of the Stableford entry, another way the event promoted “fire-at-the-flags”. Freeman and Beebe each earned a skin as a part of their birdie runs, while Danny Terry, Ray McNiece and Ty Kovach all won a skin to earn one-fifth of that pot. Complete results below.
With his victory, Wild earned a custom club fitting from Windmill Golf Center in Macedonia. But given that this is his third win of the season, he may not have any clubs in his bag that still need to be fit — or want to mess with success!
The final event of the 2019 Northeast Ohio Golf Tournament Series season is at the Jack Nicklaus-renovated Valley of the Eagles for a 2-Man Scramble in Elyria on Saturday, October 19th. The golf course property is absolutely beautiful and the trees should have their peak October leaves look…
FINAL RESULTS:
2019 NEOHgolf.com Raintree Stableford+Skins
Raintree Golf & Events Center, Green, Ohio
Saturday, September 28, 2019
Jimmy Wild 12 – 14 = 26 $170.00
Ryan Stefanski 11 – 14 = 25 $100.00
Allen Freeman 15 – 7 = 22 $70.00
Aaron Crewse 10 – 10 = 20
Rob Schustrich 9 – 11 = 20
Brian Beebe 3 – 16 = 19
Brian Vincelette 9 – 8 = 17
Ty Kovach 9 – 8 = 17
Jonathan Riemer 7 – 9 = 16
Chris Okeson 11 – 5 = 16
Ray McNiece 6 – 9 = 15
Dan Terry 6 – 9 = 15
Mark Schneider 5 – 10 = 15
Fred Miller 7 – 7 = 14
Troy Luckenbaugh 5 – 8 = 13
Harry Tsartsabedelisis 7 – 5 = 12
Emilio Noguez 2 – 8 = 10
SKINS: $136 ea
Allen Freeman – Birdie 3 Hole #1
Ray McNiece – Birdie 2 Hole #8
Dan Terry – Birdie 3 Hole #13
Ty Kovach – Birdie 3 Hole #14
Brian Beebe – Birdie 2 Hole #16
