The Northern Ohio PGA hosted the 2022 Firestone Junior Cup at Firestone Country Club’s Fazio Course for the second year in a row yesterday, in conjunction with the Bridgestone Senior Players Championship.
Eight PGA Junior League teams from around Northern Ohio were invited to attend a day of activities, starting with a short game clinic with eight-time PGA Tour Champion and four-time Champions Tour winner Fred Funk. Funk hit shots from around the 18th green of the Fazio Course, instructing the juniors on his approach to hitting different chips and pitches.
From there, the juniors hit the course to use some of the knowledge they learned and played nine holes of golf. The format for the day was a two-person scramble with four teams of eight players, with all four scores counting towards an aggregate score. Parents and spectators were encouraged to be walking scorers and keep track of players’ scores as well as help rake bunkers and keep up the pace of play.
Four teams played on the front nine and four teams played on the back nine. Then at the end, the low aggregate score from the front nine would compete against the low aggregate score on the back nine in a shootout to determine a champion.
On the front nine, the Portage Country Club and Barrington/Quail Hollow teams both shot scores of 183, having to go to a tiebreaker to determine that Portage was the front nine champion.
On the back nine, the winner was more decisive, with Jimmy Beers Golf team shooting a total of 174.
All players from each team participated in the shootout, alternating shots from each team, hitting from the back of the tenth tee box down to sixteen green. It was a difficult front-right pin location with gusts up to twenty miles per hour. In the end, one player from Portage Country Club stole the limelight and hit a shot to approximately twenty feet to take the victory for Portage Country Club.
Congratulations to the players from the victorious Portage Country Club: Jack Griggy, Grant Salmon, Bo McMillen, Andrew Varian, Andrew Gerstenmaier, Parker McClary, Jonas Kulick, and Nicole Krohn. Portage was captained by Assistant Golf Professionals Tyler Peterson and Chandler Kraft.
Another congratulations goes to the players on Jimmy Beers Golf for winning runners-up honors: Ellie Gonzalez-Ribble, Ayreana Rippey, Emma Gonzalez-Ribble, Olivia Norris, William Trainor, Aris Asher, Joseph Asher, and Charlie Collins. Jimmy Beers Golf was captained by Jimmy Beers, PGA and Coach Kevin Ribble.
Eight PGA Junior League teams participated in the 2022 Firestone Junior Cup: Westfield Country Club, Portage Country Club, Glenmoor Country Club, Barrington/Quail Hollow, Jimmy Beers Golf, Silver Lake Country Club, Mayfield Country Club, and The Turn.
Thank you to the Misheff Family Foundation for their support in this event the past two years!
