After a glorious summer filled with sunny skies and toasty temps, the inaugural Elyria Open reminded competitors that wind, rain and cold make for truly difficult scoring.
PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
The Professional field of 19 players went off first at Elyria Country Club, and that early start gave most of the pros the warm and dry portion of the weather. While still breezy during those early morning times, the pros faced the start of the rain only on their last few holes.
The breezy conditions were reflected in the final scores, as a batch of five players tied for the day’s low at 70, which was even par with two of ECC’s member par-5s converted to long par fours.
Jake McBride and Peter Webb got to the house first at 70. McBride had the cleanest scorecard of the day, with a double-bogey on long, into the wind third hole offset by a pair of birdies at 4 and 12. Webb birdied four holes on his day, but made bogey at the final two holes on each side.
In the following group, Michael Balcar match the even-par score. Balcar made double-bogey on his first hole of the day, but five birdies offset the rough start.
Then in the group behind that, facing a bit more of the wet weather at the finish, Michael Davan and Mike Van Sickle also posted 70. Davan used an eagle-3 at the par-5 12th and a string of pars at the end to craft his total. Van Sickle didn’t handle the worsening weather as well, as he reached 4-under par after the 12th but made bogey on four of his last six holes to finish.
So off to a playoff the five professionals went, down the first hole at Elyria Country Club. That playoff was short-lived.
Van Sickle overcame his difficult finish to make birdie on the first playoff hole, taking the inaugural title, the crystal and the $3,000 first place prize.
AMATEUR DIVISION
An Elyria Country Club member used his local knowledge and experience to top the 55 amateur players in the field who fought off the worst of the wind, the heavier rains and the plunging temperatures. (At the end of the round, the mercury showed a system-shocking 48 degrees.)
Playing later in the day in the worst of the conditions, Adam Mastone put together a solid score of 1-over par 71. A double-bogey on the 16th hole, one of the member par-fives converted to a par-four for the Open, was Mastone’s only major blemish, against three birdies and two bogeys at the ECC’s toughest holes (the 5th and par-five converted 8th).
A pair of Bowling Green Falcons finished just behind the Am champ. Senior Nick Hofland of Canada finished in second place one shot behind, also a double-bogey victim of the converted 16th hole. Roni Shin, a junior from Rocky River, was another shot back at 73.
Kudos to Tournament Director and ECC Assistant Jake Scott, Head Golf Professional Tony Hoover, PGA and Course Superintendent Patrick Rodgers, GCSGA for the successful event and access to the beautiful golf course!
PHOTO GALLERY: 2020 The Elyria Open >
FINAL RESULTS:
2020 The Elyria Open
Elyria Country Club, Elyria, Ohio | Par 70
Thursday, October 15, 2020
PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
1 Mike Van Sickle* 70 $3,000.00
T2 Peter Webb 70 $712.50
T2 Jake McBride 70 $712.50
T2 Michael Balcar 70 $712.50
T2 Michael Davan 70 $712.50
T6 Paul Wackerly 71 $150.00
T6 Blake Sattler 71 $150.00
Out of the Money:
8 Jon Mills 72
T9 Bill Gaffney 73
T9 Tyler McHugh 73
T11 Grant Godfrey 74
T11 Barrett Kelpin 74
13 Sam Stilwell 75
14 Tony Pozderac 76
T15 John Powers 77
T15 Chris Capriolo 77
17 Nick Paez 78
18 Scott Siler 86
WD Cole Adams WD
PROFESSIONAL SKINS: $60 ea
Bill Gaffney – Eagle on 2
Blake Sattler – Birdie on 6
Michael Davan – Eagle on 12
Jon Mills – Birdie on 15
Peter Webb – Birdie on 16
AMATEUR DIVISION
1 Adam Mastone 71 $750.00
2 Nicholas Hofland 72 $400.00
3 Roni Shin 73 $300.00
T4 Nathanael Matthews 75 $187.50
T4 Jared Wilson 75 $187.50
T4 Shaun Kloetzer 75 $187.50
T4 Brayden Baldridge 75 $187.50
T8 Bryan Yeo 76 $112.50
T8 Robert Schustrich 76 $112.50
T10 Chris Horne 77 $37.50
T10 Chris Okeson 77 $37.50
Out of the Money:
T12 Stephen Bosak 78
T12 Timothy Straka 78
T14 Christopher Walker 79
T14 Collin Hoops 79
T14 Jeffrey Luken 79
T14 Logan Bratsch 79
T14 Jay Overy 79
T19 Fankhauser Roy 80
T19 Brian Smith 80
T21 David Hilditch 82
T21 John Toth 82
T23 David Snacki 83
T23 Bret Simkovich 83
T23 Allen Freeman 83
T23 Dan Schlimm 83
T27 Eric Wonkovich 84
T27 Maxwell Lavisky 84
T27 Nolan Foster 84
T27 Dan Hopkins 84
T31 Jack Garswood 85
T31 Dylan Champney 85
T33 William Fankhauser 87
T33 Ryan Streator 87
35 Ty Plas 88
T36 Alan Gauvreau 89
T36 Bradley Wise 89
T36 John Lord 89
39 Randi Harrell 90
T40 Kyle Geist 92
T40 Dan Malloy 92
T40 George Ata 92
43 Tom O’Boyle 97
44 Antonio Blanton 98
45 Logan Janik 100
WD Jeremy Knight WD
WD Kyle Jacob WD
WD Matthew Wetterich WD
NC Mike Crawford NC
NC Dan Terry NC
NC Kyle Matus NC
NC Mark Ciccarello NC
NC Bill Ash NC
NC Mark Borlin NC
NS Logan Cooke NS
AMATEUR SKINS: $125 ea
Stephen Bosak – Eagle on 2
Nicholas Hofland – Birdie on 3
Shaun Kloetzer – Birdie on 5
Allen Freeman – Birdie on 9
Brian Smith – Birdie on 13
Kyle Geist – Birdie on 15
