Amateur Danny Milo Earns Victory with Last Hole Heroics
160 players took to The Elms Country Club in Massillon on Friday to compete in the 72nd edition of the Tigertown Open. Two amateurs set the pace early at 5-under par in the morning wave, but another amateur outdid them in the afternoon session to take the title.
A handful of pros had their chance at victory, but let it slip away.
Amateurs
Playing in the first group of the day, Sagamore Hills am Jimmy Wild posted a roller-coaster 67, making seven birdies and an eagle against four bogeys.
“Lot of birdies, and some bad bogeys” Wild said. “On my 17th hole, number 8, I made a sidewinder for eagle to get to 6-under par. But then on 9, the juices were flowing, I hit it long over the green and made bogey.”
Then late in the morning round, Mark Mokros of Massillon put on a bomb-and-gouge show, blasting some deep tee shots as he toured The Elms in his own round of 67. Mokros made five birdies and an eagle against two bogeys.
“My driver saved me all day. I had a lot of shots from 50-60 yards to the green. Made some putts, missed some putts.” When it was pointed out how deep his tee shot appeared to be at the sixth, he said, “Yeah, that was a good one. I think it ended up as 360 yards.”
Because of NOGA Live Scoring (thank you Sean Croell!), the players in the afternoon wave knew the score to beat. But only one amateur made a solid run at the number.
Danny Milo of Mentor, a 21-year old golfer for Lake Erie College, turned his first nine, the back side at The Elms, in 4-under par that included a bogey at the long par-3 17th. Milo made birdie at the par-5 third to reach the tying number, and needed one more to push past.
He had two birdie holes in front of him, the short 7th and the par-5 eighth. But he thinned his drive on seven and had 180 yards in when most players were flipping a half-wedge. He went long (dead), but got it up-and-down to save par from eight feet. Then after a solid drive and a second shot pin-high left in two on the par-5 eighth, he converted for birdie to grab the lead at 6-under par.
But Milo’s finishing tee shot at the downhill par-3 ninth hole was ugly. He pulled the shot well left of the green, just short of the trees that guard the hole with everything sloping away. Afraid of hitting the branches beside him or running the chip well past the hole, his pitch found the green but still 15 feet away, well above and with a slinging break.
That’s when Milo shined, reading and executing the putt perfectly to hole out for the win. Scores of other players had the same putt, quick and with 3-4 feet of break, nearly all of them missing.
“The last three holes, I was feeling nervous. This was my first time playing really good golf in a big tournament,” admitted Milo. “Hitting 8-iron to 16 then getting up-and-down from over the green was big. The birdie on the par-5 was pin-high, two feet off the green, chipped to about six feet and made the putt up the hill.”
“But then on the last hole, I tugged my wedge left from 156 yards over near the trees,” Milo continued. “I hit my chip just like I wanted to, it landed short and bounced onto the green then trickled out, not close maybe 15 feet away. I put a really good stroke on the putt and it went in. Perfect line, perfect speed.”
Professionals
27 Professionals competed at the Tigertown Open this year. Five of those professionals had a real chance to take the title, but each made an error somewhere in their round that kept them from the top spot.
Paul Wackerly of Minerva started out his round on the back nine with three straight birdies. But then disaster: a double-bogey 7 at the par-5 13th immediately followed by a bogey at the drivable par-4 14th. But Wackerly righted the ship, making birdie at the par-5 15th. On the front side, he made three birdies against a bogey at the long par-3 fourth, then made a great up-and-down from long-right behind the par-3 ninth hole, his last of the day (pictured above).
Also in the morning wave, Connor Curry of Mount Vernon finished at 4-under par, but also had a double-bogey on his scorecard. Starting with two pars on the back nine, he made double at the par-4 12th. But then Curry reeled off four birdies — including a birdie at the tough 18th hole, to turn the back side at 2-under par. A bogey at one and three front-side birdies completed his day.
In the afternoon, Ricky Denny of Miamisburg played a solid round that included an eagle at the par-5 third and five birdies. But three bogeys offset some of that work, leaving him at 4-under par.
Avery Schneider of New Albany also had a shot at victory, but couldn’t get hot at the end of his round. He turned his starting back-nine at 2-under par of four birdies and two bogeys, then made bogey at the second. He followed that with an eagle at the par-5 third and a birdie at the tough par-3 fourth, but then could only par in from there.
Those four Professional players who tied for first place in the division earned a few cents shy of $1,400 each.
Jordan Eck of Williamsport also had a shot at the win, but his last hole cost him. He was bogey-free at 5-under par playing his last hole, the downhill par-3 ninth. But he missed his tee shot right, left his first chip short still in the rough, pitched down with his third, then two-putted for a costly double bogey.
Senior Amateurs
In the Senior Amateur Division, newly-minted 50-year old Dave Oates of Canton took advantage of his new-found access to the forward tees to shoot a 4-under par 68. But his victory was not without challenge.
Standing at 5-under par at the last, Oates made bogey on the 18th hole to open the door. Playing directly behind Oates, David Trier of Stow sat at 4-under par going into 18, but found the trees left and made double bogey to fall back. Then late in the day, Rob Schustrich of Windham reached 5-under par through the 15th hole, but made bogey-double on 16 and 17.
Senior Professionals
Four players “double dipped” as Professionals and Senior Professionals, as the tournament was conducted on the same tees for both of those divisions and the Amateurs. So Wackerly came out on top as the Senior Pro champion, followed by Tim Ailes of Delaware.
PRIZE PAYOUTS:
Cash payouts for all prizes will be made in one of three ways: check, Venmo or Paypal. But the amount of the prize dictates how the payment will be sent.
Any total prize amount due to a player as listed in the Player Prize Summary that is over $420 will be sent by mailed check on Monday. (Venmo and Paypal limit the total amount of payments that can be sent in any week, so a check is the best solution for the larger prize amounts.)
Any total amount under $420 can be sent by Venmo or Paypal, so long as a friend request, a payment request or an email address is made available. For Venmo, make a friend request to the account @Allen-Freeman-NOHIOGOLF. For Paypal, request money from golf@northernohio.golf. Any prize payout under $420 that is not paid out by Venmo or Paypal by Friday, July 21 will then be mailed as a check.
PHOTO GALLERY: 2023 Tigertown Open >
FINAL RESULTS:
2023 Tigertown Open
The Elms Country Club, Massillon, Ohio
Friday, July 4, 2023
Hole-by-Hole NOGA Live Scoring >
Amateur Division
1 Daniel Milo, Mentor 66 $780.00
T2 Jimmy Wild, Sagamore Hills 67 $432.50
T2 Mark Mokros, Massillon 67 $432.50
T4 Joseph Gonzalez, Millersburg 69 $225.00
T4 Thomas Bell, Bowling Green 69 $225.00
T4 Tim Novic, Pittsburgh 69 $225.00
T7 Shaun Kloetzer, Fairlawn 70 $109.29
T7 Colin McCree, Copley 70 $109.29
T7 Ryan Gutowski, Akron 70 $109.29
T7 Michael Witmer, Brecksville 70 $109.29
T7 Caleb Westfall, Mechanicsburg 70 $109.29
T7 Paul Ajak, Pittsburgh 70 $109.29
T7 Brandon Jatich, North Canton 70 $109.29
T14 Zach Drukenbrod, Canton 71 $40.00
T14 Jacob Sylak, Mineral ridge 71 $40.00
T14 Jeff Deal, Willoughby 71 $40.00
T14 Chris Okeson, Lyndhurst 71 $40.00
T14 Gunnar McCollins, Massillon 71 $40.00
T19 Josh Clay, North Canton 72 $7.00
T19 Anthony Savage, Mount Vernon 72 $7.00
T19 Nate Albrecht, Massillon 72 $7.00
T19 Rick Stimmel, Pittsburgh 72 $7.00
T19 Carter Hahn, Wooster 72 $7.00
T24 Ben Ramold, Navarre 73
T24 Brett Brown, Macedonia 73
T24 Tim Hepner, Dover 73
T27 Kyle Jones, Canton 74
T27 Jarrod Kasunick, Massillon 74
T27 Rob Loomis, Akron 74
T27 Andrew Milan, North Royalton 74
T31 Henry Neumann, Broadview Heights 75
T31 Christopher Walker, Medina 75
T33 Daniel Krier, Canal Fulton 76
T33 Brandon Slater, East Canton 76
T33 Antonio Fernandez, North Canton 76
T33 Chris Jellel, Elkhart IN 76
T33 Adam Filo, Norton 76
T38 Adam Arman, Massillon 77
T38 Noah Dever, Concord 77
T38 Luke Schreck, Seville 77
T38 Jon Oates, Massillon 77
T38 Alec Adcock, Canton 77
T38 Blake Foutty, Sunbury 77
T44 Owen Van Fossen, Norwich 78
T44 Gavin Stutz, Wooster 78
T44 Brad Jones, Bowling Green 78
T44 John Vellios, Massillon 78
T44 Kevin Wheeler, Avon 78
T49 Colton Moore, Carrollton 79
T49 Luke Gutman, Westerville 79
T49 Drue Moore, Carrollton 79
T49 Gavin Gress, Coshocton 79
T49 Michael Sweany, North Lawrence 79
T54 Logan Cook, Berea 80
T54 Matt Urie, Independence 80
T54 Xander Moran, Kent 80
T54 Mark Schneider, Canton 80
T58 Robert Maurer, Canal Fulton 81
T58 Andrew David, Canton 81
T58 Ross Teeter, Johnstown 81
T61 Christian Miller, North Lawrence 82
T61 Justin Krotine, Wooster 82
T63 Hunter Kallay, Edinboro PA 83
T63 Bryan Jones, Canal Fulton 83
T63 Jordan DeLillo, Beach City 83
T63 Spencer Crone, Ravenna 83
T63 Raffaele Scassa, Canton 83
T63 Ryan Lowers, Massillon 83
T69 Jack Shepard, Canton 84
T69 Seth Marsh, Massillon 84
71 Adam Sibila, North Lawrence 85
72 Mitch Phillis, Uniontown 86
73 Jarryd Ridgeway, Green 90
T74 Gregory Gaitanos, Columbus 91
T74 David Drees, Massillon 91
T74 Trent Marsh, Massillon 91
77 Evan Berbari, Massillon 93
78 Jeramy Taylor, Canton 94
79 Anthony Walker, Massillon 96
80 Danny Culberson, Canton 97
81 Cameron Moore, Canton 104
WD Colton Gress, Coshocton WD
WD Scotty Armstrong, Westerville WD
AMATEUR SKINS: $415.00 ea
Matt Urie, Independence – Eagle on 14
Mark Mokros, Massillon – Eagle on 13
Rob Loomis, Akron – Eagle on 10
Adam Filo, Norton – Eagle on 3
Professional Division
T1 Paul Wackerly, Minerva 68 $1,397.50
T1 Connor Curry, Mount Vernon 68 $1,397.50
T1 Ricky Denny, Miamisburg 68 $1,397.50
T1 Avery Schneider, New Albany 68 $1,397.50
T5 Tim Ailes, Delaware 69 $141.67
T5 Michael Kinkopf, Dublin 69 $141.67
T5 Ken Keller, Youngstown 69 $141.67
T5 Logan Lagodich, Canton 69 $141.67
T5 Jordan Eck, Williamsport 69 $141.67
T5 Cole Corder, Columbus 69 $141.67
11 Stephen Gangluff, Bellfontaine 70
12 Blake Sattler, Dover 71
T13 Tony Pozderac, Carrollton 72
T13 Nick Paxos, Canton 72
T13 Nathan Tarter, Mogadore 72
T16 Jake McBride, North Lawrence 74
T16 Mitch Irwin, Delaware 74
T18 Dylan Van Fossen, Norwich 75
T18 Mason Laird, Massillon 75
T18 Nick Sims, Urbana 75
T21 Charles Merzbacher, Chattanooga, TN 76
T21 Jay Schiffbauer, Fairport Harbor 76
T21 Nick Mollica, Dublin 76
24 Daniel Mosher, North Canton 77
T25 Alex Miday, Medina 78
T25 Scott Savage, Mount Vernon 78
27 Matt Sommers, Pinellas Park 80
28 Darrin Vaughan, Bolivar 84
PROFESSIONAL SKINS: $186.67 ea
Logan Lagodich, Canton – Eagle on 8
Nick Paxos, Canton – Eagle on 13
Cole Corder, Columbus – Birdie on 6
Senior Amateur Division
1 Dave Oates, Canton 68 $570.00
T2 Rob Wakeling, Hudson 70 $281.67
T2 David Trier, Stow 70 $281.67
T2 Rob Schustrich, Windham 70 $281.67
T5 Brian Beebe, Uniontown 72 $120.00
T5 Lou Boarman, Mogadore 72 $120.00
T7 Dean Cutlip, Copley 73 $50.00
T7 Larry Lahnan, Aurora 73 $50.00
T7 Nolen Jatich, North Canton 73 $50.00
T10 Rick Bryson, Akron 74 $17.50
T10 Mark Mickley, Howard 74 $17.50
12 Mark Thomas, Jackson Township 75
T13 Jim Cea, Tallmadge 76
T13 Brad Steven, Concord 76
T13 Rodney Bordman, Norwalk 76
T13 Roger Tolley, Willard 76
T13 Jeff Sparks, Cincinnati 76
T18 Raul Mendoza, North Lawrence 77
T18 Brad Baker, Danville 77
T20 Keith Pluto, Parma 78
T20 Bobby Wadsworth, North Canton 78
T22 Brian Huntley, Uniontown 79
T22 Larry Criswell, North Canton 79
T22 Geoffrey Burge, Reminderville 79
T25 John Toth, Akron 80
T25 Tim Heavner, Alliance 80
T25 Jim Lowder, Brewster 80
T28 Mark Ciccarello, South Euclid 82
T28 Troy Luckenbaugh, Green 82
T28 Randy Crider, Brunswick 82
T31 Ed Diebold, Akron 83
T31 Chris Minear, Akron 83
T31 James Wilburn, Deerfield 83
T31 Mike Crawford, Sheffield Lake 83
35 John Sales, Canton 84
T36 Leo Szczepanski, Seven Hills 85
T36 Ron Rositani, Willowick 85
38 Paul Fox, Massillon 89
39 Derek Vaughan, Bolivar 90
40 Ralph Miday, Canton 93
41 Jeff Fox, Tumwater 95
42 Chuck Howe, Barberton 100
43 Dana Candusso, Canton 104
NC Joe Nemeth, Uniontown NC
SENIOR AMATEUR SKINS: $230.00 ea
Brian Beebe, Uniontown – Eagle on 13
Rob Wakeling – Eagle on 15
Brian Beebe, Uniontown – Birdie on 17
Dean Cutlip – Birdie on 18
Senior Professional Division
1 Paul Wackerly, Minerva 68 $1,200.00
2 Tim Ailes, Delaware 69 $410.00
3 Tony Adcock, Canton 74
4 Scott Savage, Mount Vernon 78
5 Jim Cichra, Pittsburgh 79
6 Darrin Vaughan, Bolivar 84
7 Russ Papa, Aurora 87
SENIOR PROFESSIONAL SKINS: $14.00 ea
Tony Adcock, Canton – Birdie on 1
Tony Adcock, Canton – Birdie on 2
Tim Ailes, Delaware – Birdie on 4
Paul Wackerly, Minerva – Birdie on 5
Paul Wackerly, Minerva – Birdie on 7
Paul Wackerly, Minerva – Birdie on 8
Scott Savage, Mount Vernon – Birdie on 9
Paul Wackerly, Minerva – Birdie on 10
Paul Wackerly, Minerva – Birdie on 12
Tim Ailes, Delaware – Birdie on 13
