It was a challenging day at Shaker Heights Country Club as the Northern Ohio Golf Association kicked off its lockdown-delayed 2020 Great Lakes Auto Scratch Series season with the Stroke Play Championship and season-long match play qualifier.
The greens were fast and firm, the hole locations challenging, the rough lush and the winds swirling: golf’s version of a horror novel. No player beat the course, but a few did manage to survive their way to a tie at the top.
In the Championship Division, Brian Smith, Tim Skufca and Rob Schustrich all managed a 2-over par score of 72, each with at least one double-bogey on the scorecard.
Smith (above) actually started his day with a double and made a triple at the 13th, but evened out the round a bit with a chip-in eagle-2 at the par-4 10th.
Skufca (featured image top) had a chance for a two-shot outright victory with a birdie putt on the final green, but ended with a frustrating three putt.
Shustrich (above) played the most steady of all throughout the day right up until the end, when his double jumped up on him at the twisting 17th hole.
Still, given how tough the conditions were for scoring, a 72 at Shaker playing to a par of 70 on a beautiful June 1st day was a damn fine score.
In the Senior Division, a pair of veterans who know how to manage tricky golf courses kept the double-bogeys off the scorecard and finished tied atop the pack.
Larry Lahnan (above, playing along side Matt Timmons) and Nick Lambos (pictured below) both picked and plodded their way around Shaker, making bogeys and birdies but never a big number. Finishing at 4-over par 75, they outlasted the rest of the sizable senior field by a tidy two shots.
The shot of the day belonged to Mark Ciccarello, who made his first-ever hole-in-one on the uphill 16th at Shaker Heights Country Club. Congrats to Mark!
The next event on the Great Lakes Auto Scratch Series schedule is the NOGA Four-Ball Championship at Lake Forest Country Club in Hudson on Monday, June 22nd.
Finally, watch this site for the seedings for both divisions of the individual scratch Season-Long Match Play brackets in the days ahead…
PHOTO GALLERY: 2020 NOGA Scratch Stroke Play Championship >
FINAL RESULTS:
Northern Ohio Golf Association
2020 Scratch Stroke Play Championship
Shaker Heights Country Club
Monday, June 1, 2020
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
T1 Brian Smith, Oberlin Golf Club 72 $316.67
T1 Tim Skufca, Avon Oaks Country Club 72 $316.67
T1 Robert Schustrich, Windmill Lakes Golf Club 72 $316.67
4 Michael Klaric III, Lake Forest Country Club 74 $220.00
5 Bryn Irvine, Avon Oaks Country Club 77 $190.00
T6 Brian Polick, Weymouth & Fox Meadow CC 78 $135.00
T6 Aaron Crewse, NEOH.GOLF Club 78 $135.00
T8 Chris Okeson, Stonewater Golf Club 79 $50.00
T8 Barry Cohn, Beechmont Country Club 79 $50.00
T10 David Young, NEOH.GOLF Club 80
T10 Jack Garswood, NEOH.GOLF Club 80
T10 Quinn Parker, Brookside Country Club 80
T10 Thomas Miano, Silver Lake Country Club 80
T10 Kevin Rowe, Avon Oaks Country Club 80
T15 David Snacki, NEOH.GOLF Club 81
T15 Mark Telerico, Barrington Golf Club 81
T15 Andy Carr, NEOH.GOLF Club 81
T15 Saumil Jhaveri, Avon Oaks Country Club 81
T15 David Stover, The Country Club 81
T15 Tim Khayat, Chardon Lakes Golf Course 81
T21 Brian Beebe, Ohio Prestwick Country Club 82
T21 David Miceli, Red Tail Golf Club 82
T23 Matt Bova, Ellsworth Meadows Golf Club 83
T23 Jason Stiwald, Oberlin Golf Club 83
25 Ryan Dorff, Avon Oaks Country Club 84
T26 Olivia Hochschwender, Portage Country Club 85
T26 Matthew Roth, NEOH.GOLF Club 85
T26 Andrew Zgrabik, Sleepy Hollow Golf Course 85
T26 Eddie Neer, Little Mountain Country Club 85
30 Ross Nicol, NEOH.GOLF Club 86
T31 Shaun Kloetzer, NEOH.GOLF Club 87
T31 Bradley Wise, Lakewood Country Club 87
T31 Mike Klavora, Chardon Lakes Golf Course 87
T34 Greg Thomas, Oberlin Golf Club 90
T34 Michael Hill, Kirtland Country Club 90
T34 Max Bohon, Stonewater Golf Club 90
37 Emilio Noguez, NEOH.GOLF Club 95
38 Emily Baumgartner, Club Walden 99
SENIOR DIVISION
T1 Nick Lambos, Brookside Country Club 75 $350.00
T1 Larry Lahnan, Club Walden 75 $350.00
T3 Monty Guest, Silver Lake Country Club 77 $202.50
T3 Jim Durr, Silver Lake Country Club 77 $202.50
T3 Mark Wise, Lakewood Country Club 77 $202.50
T3 Mark Guadagni, Silver Lake Country Club 77 $202.50
T7 Tom Laubacher, Club Walden 78 $73.33
T7 Brian Sparrow, Canterbury Golf Club 78 $73.33
T7 Mark Borlin, NEOH.GOLF Club 78 $73.33
T10 Greg Myers, Club Walden 79
T10 Scott Saari, NEOH.GOLF Club 79
12 Tom Baugh, Portage Country Club 80
T13 Steve Schaefer, Sweetbriar Golf Club 81
T13 Mark Ciccarello, NEOH.GOLF Club 81
T13 Joe Denk, Pine Hills Golf Club 81
T16 Tim Baker, Chagrin Valley Country Club 82
T16 John Toth, Fox Den Golf Course 82
T16 Jeffrey Knox, Canterbury Golf Club 82
T16 Marc Fried, Signature of Solon 82
T16 Matt Timmons, Shaker Heights Country Club 82
21 Bernie Beaudoin, Stonewater Golf Club 83
T22 Rick Merrow, NEOH.GOLF Club 84
T22 Ray McNiece, Manakiki Golf Course 84
T22 Tom Begley, Firestone Country Club 84
T22 Ron Skirpstas, NEOH.GOLF Club 84
T26 Richard Areddy, Barrington Golf Club 85
T26 John Young, Cuyahoga-North Coast Golf Association 85
T26 Tom Meola, Quail Hollow Country Club 85
T29 Daniel Malloy, Lakewood Country Club 86
T29 Ron Hulett, Sleepy Hollow Golf Course 86
T29 Richard Clark, Gleneagles Golf Club 86
T29 Bob Weaver, Oberlin Golf Club 86
T33 Ken Lurie, Beechmont Country Club 87
T33 George Papas, Weymouth & Fox Meadow CC 87
T33 Jerry Haywood, Silver Lake Country Club 87
36 Keith Pluto, Oberlin Golf Club 88
T37 Jim Groh, Sharon Golf Club 89
T37 Jim Sophia, Mayfield Sand Ridge Club 89
39 Paul Lagrotteria, NEOH.GOLF Club 90
T40 Mike Crawford, NEOH.GOLF Club 92
T40 Mark Thomas, Ohio Prestwick Country Club 92
T40 David Devault, Quail Hollow Country Club 92
NS Britt Lilley, Oberlin Golf Club NS
