Weather makes for a fun day at Chardon Lakes...

Chardon, OH- Weather was the early story of the day as the Golf Channel Am Tour of Cleveland held its last regular season event at Chardon Lakes Golf Club this weekend.  Heavy rain and intermittent thunder and lightening caused a 30-minute delay during the early holes of the tournament before the resumption of play and brightening skies allowed for the completion of the event. The 21 players challenged the tight tree lined course which was built back in the 1930's and Jack Nicklaus still holds the course record at 67 from the tips of the 6800 yard course.

In the Palmer Flight, John Smallenburg (81) claimed a 1-stroke victory over John Hilinski (82).  Tom Betras finished 3rd shooting an 88.  Smallenburg and Hilinski went back and forth sharing the lead but neither player gaining more than a 2-stroke lead at any one time.  Finally on the 12th hole Smallenburg made par there to regain the lead.  Smallenburg and Hilinski then went back and forth winning the next couple of holes with pars and keeping the lead at 1 for Smallenburg allowing him to take the win down the stretch.

In the Hogan Flight, Jeff Mast won for the 4th time on the Cleveland Tour this season as he carded an 82 and won by 1-stroke over Abram Boyd (83) and Ed Ruper (83) who tied for 2nd place.  Boyd was tied with Mast going into the 17th hole while Ruper was 2-shots back.  Ruper birdied 17, Mast pared, and Boyd bogied which allowed Mast to take the lead on Boyd and solidified the win as all 3 made bogies on the par-4 18th to close it out.

In the Sarazen Flight, Christopher Ramaglia won for the 1st time on the Golf Channel Am Tour as he shot an 82.  He won by 3-strokes over Ben Hall in 2nd place with an 85.  Jason Morrison finished in 3rd place with an 88.  Ramaglia was steady as he made 9 pars in his round and scattered his bogies and 2 double bogies on his card for the win.

And rounding out the Jones Flight, it was Peter Gitnik who got himself a weekend double as he won the Pittsburgh event on Saturday and won Sunday as well at Chardon Lakes carding an 80.  Pat Herron finished in 2nd place with an 85 and Raymone Scott shot an 87 for 3rd place.  Gitnik coasted to his 5-stroke victory led by his front nine 39 and making birdie on the par-3 14th hole were highlights in his round.

Thank you to all the Cleveland Am Tour players who came out to our events this season.  We close out our season on Saturday, August 27th at Avalon Lakes Golf Club in Warren, Ohio for the Tour Championship.  The course at Avalon Lakes is a very popular course which use to host the LPGA when they came to Northeastern Ohio.  It is another challenging layout that is a great warm-up for those who plan to attend the 2011 National Championships.  The highest placed finisher in each flight who has not already qualified for the 2011 Nationals will earn a spot in the Championships from this event.

August Member Spotlight...

Ronald Shoemaker

 

Cleveland Tour

Senior Snead Flight

     At 70 years of age, Ronald Shoemaker has had many opportunities in life to experience things he is passionate about.  The Golf Channel Am Tour gives Ron the chance to take 2 of those likes and combine them together for a very enjoyable experience.  Ron combines his love for traveling around the country in his recreational vehicle and his golfing passion to compete on not only the Cleveland tour, which is his home tour, but because of his equidistance to both the Columbus and Pittsburgh tours as well, he enjoys the best of all 3 tours on his yearly schedule.  His year thus far has demonstrated his want for travel as he has won 3 events, one on each of the 3 tours he has played on.

     Of Ron's 3 victories this year, Longaberger on the Columbus schedule is one of his favorite courses to play.  He has won twice there in both of his seasons on tour.  He also attributes Little Mountain Golf Club on the Cleveland Tour and Olde Stonewall on the Pittsburgh tour as other favorite stops he likes to compete at. 

     He has also had great success at the Majors this year as he finished 2nd at the Swan Lake Major in Indiana and took 3rd place at the recent Greenbrier Open Major, which qualifies him for the 2011 Senior National Championship in September.   

     Ronald Shoemaker is what the Am Tour is all about as he travels the country playing courses that he says he "would never have a chance to play otherwise if it were not for the Am Tour."  "Where else can you play TPC Sawgrass, Old White TPC at the Greenbrier, and get a chance to visit the Golf Hall of Fame at World Golf Village while playing in St. Augustine" he states.    So if you see Ron down the road in his recreational vehicle please stop by and say "hi", because he will surely be on another wonderful golfing adventure. 

Mylan Classic Volunteer Opportunity in its last days...

The Nationwide Tour is comming to Pittsburgh and we have the distinct opportunity to marshall the 1st hole.  If you wish to volunteer please contact the tournament office through their website. 

Look who even made the email of the day yesterday! 

A Grand Time at Greenbrier...

White Sulphur Springs, WV-18 players on the Cleveland and Pittsburgh Tours of the Golf Channel Am Tour went to White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia to test their skills against other amateurs and the PGA Tour.  The Old White TPC and Greenbrier Courses at the Greenbrier Resort hosted the Greenbrier Open Major the weekend of August 13-14th.  It was just 2 weeks after the PGA Tour came to town for the Greenbrier Classic, and the course showed no wear.  Players were anxious to see how they compared versus the Tour. 

In the Hogan Flight, Jeff Mast and Michael Yates competed and it was Jeff Mast who was consistent in his 2 rounds shooting a pair of 78's (156) from the blue tees and winning the Greenbrier Open in his flight!  Jeff had previously qualified for nationals with a 3rd place finish at the Swan Lake Major in the Sarazen flight, but now further validated his move to the Hogan flight with this win.  Michael Yates shot rounds of 85-88 (173) to finish in a tie for 12th. 

In the Sarazen Flight, Christopher Casto and Matt Blum were competing and although both had bad rounds on one of the 2 days of the tournament they still had lots of fun.  Casto shot rounds of 103-90 (193) for an 18th place finish and Blum shot 93-107 (200) for a 22nd place finish. 

In the Jones Flight, Jerry O'Brien competed and was tied for the lead after day 1 with a 91.  He couldn't hold on to the lead as he played the more difficult Greenbrier Course and shot a 2nd day 100 (191) which was still good for 5th place. 

In the Snead Flight, K Steven Wiley and Ben McDonald competed.  Both fared well on the courses and Wiley shot rounds of 106-94 (200) which was good enough for 3rd place earning him an automatic qualifying spot in the 2011 National Championship.  McDonald wasn't far behind as he shot rounds of 107-108 (215) as he finished in 9th place.

In the Senior Hogan Flight, James Huber shot consistent rounds of 89-88 (177) to finish in a tie for 8th place.

In the Senior Sarazen Flight, Keith Miller, Nora Faller, and Dallas Kelley all competed.  Miller and Faller had good showings as they finished 5th and 6th place respectively.  Miller shot rounds of 85-94 (179) and Faller was 1-stroke behind at 91-89 (180).  Dallas Kelley withdrew after a 1st round 94.    

In the Senior Jones Flight, Russ Hittle had a stellar weekend as he shot rounds of 89-93 (182) to take 2nd place.  He earns a 2011 Senior National Championship automatic qualifier spot for his play.  Peter Gitnik had solid rounds of 92-97 (189) to finish 6th.  Johnny Owens was 4 strokes back of Gitnik as he shot rounds of 96-97 (193) for a tie for 8th place.  And Jon Neff was 12th with scores of 102-97 (199). 

And in the Senior Snead Flight, Ronald Shoemaker earned a 3rd place finish shooting rounds of 96-107 (203) and earning his 2nd automatic qualifying spot of the year to the 2011 Senior National Championship after finishing in the top-3 of the Swan Lake Major.  Michael Scuro finished with rounds of 100-106 (206) to finish in 5th place.  And Charles Burger rounded out the competition with scores of 113-94 (207) to finish in a tie for 6th place.

A great time was had by all Cleveland and Pittsburgh Tour players at this great facility.  We look forward to finishing the season in the next couple of weeks and wish all those who qualify for the 2011 National Championships good luck as they travel to La Quinta, California in September.

Standing Up to the Test...Aurora Country Club Recap

Aurora, OH- The Golf Channel Am Tour of Cleveland wanted to put Aurora Country Club on its schedule quickly after it had changed hands and went from a private club to a public one.  Little did it know how difficult it was to finally get it on the schedule.  After technical difficulties prevented it from being on the schedule earlier in the 2011 season, it was finally added to the schedule August 6th and the weather held perfect for the early morning tournament.  After a previous couple of days of heavy rain, the course was still very wet as they had taken on about 4 inches in the last week, neverless the 28 players were ready for a challenge.

In the Palmer flight, it was Ben Lehrke who shot an 80 to take the trophy winning by 6 shots over John Smallenburg (86).  James Brundage finished in 3rd place shooting a 93.  Lehrke shot an even par 36 on the front nine with 2 birdies and coasted to the end holding his 6 shot lead.

In the Hogan flight, Michael Sylvia shot a winning 83 to fend off tough comeptition from both Dale Thompson and Brandon Wang who tied for 2nd at 84.  Sylvia playing his 1st tournament on the Cleveland Tour made it successful by comming back from a 5-stroke defecit on the back nine spurred by a birdie on the 15th hole that ultimately gave him the 2-shot swing to take the lead from Thompson and the win. 

Another close battle was staged in the Sarazen flight as Charles Blasdel shot 80 to fend off another tie for 2nd 1-stroke back between Christopher Ramaglia and Charles Worth Jr.  The tournament was ultimately staged between the last 4 holes as Ramaglia held a 1-stroke lead on Blasdel and Worth.  Blasdel made par on all 4 holes, Worth bogied 15, and Ramaglia bogied 2 of the final 4 holes to decide the title.  It was a great finish on the challenging holes.

And in the Jones flight to round out the competition, Russ Hittle got out to a quick start to his round and led by 4 shots early.  Making 2 birdies on his card en route to an 82 allowed him to hold on for a 4-stroke victory over Scott Cummings (86) and a 2-way tie for 3rd place between Charles Dozier and Pat Herron (90). 

It was a fun tournament for all as many have liked playing the course at Aurora Country Club, but perhaps the most fun was from Matt Blum who really stood the test of time.  His 2nd ever round of golf was played on the back nine at Aurora Country Club 25 years prior.  He then carded an 86 ONLY ON THE BACK NINE!  Today, he carded an 86 on the full 18-hole course.  What a test of time for both him and the course. 

Only 1 tournament remains in the regular season as we move to Chardon Lakes Golf Club Sunday, August 21st for the last event before the Tour Championship at Avalon Lakes the next Saturday.  Please come and enjoy these last 2 remaining courses on our schedule.      

JDRF Donations Nearing Season Goal!

With 1 month of tournaments left, JDRF fundraising for the Cleveland and Pittsburgh tours are almost to completion of their seasonal goal.  A goal of $2000.00 was set by tour players and as of August 1st, $1550.00 has been raised which corresponds to 77 percent of the goal.  The donations raised will be given to JDRF of Cleveland during their Walk for Diabetes being held September, 18th at the Cleveland Zoo.  All who wish to attend the walk please contact tour player Matt Blum for more info.

Let's please push to make the goal in this final month and also support the regional majors fundraising efforts as they exceed their large goal of $25,000 towards Orlando, Florida charity Give Kids The World.  Give Kids The World is a local Orlando charity near Golf Channel Headquarters that is similar to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. 

Raccoon Hill Closes out July with Good Scoring...

Kent, OH- A beautifully sunny day with temperatures in the 90's was a great start to the event at Raccoon Hill Golf Course.  A shorter course around Greater Cleveland which only measured about 6300 from the tips, it is more known for a few of its crazier dogleg holes like the par-5 13th hole which meausres only 433 yards and is a double-dogleg, and the short par-4 16th hole which measures a bending 225 yards.  20 golfers took the course to decide who was best in 4 flights of competition.

In the Palmer Flight, it was Joseph Smith who shot a 78 to take the title defeating 2nd place Tylor Davis (83) by 5 shots and 3rd place Dustin Cramer (85) by 7 shots.  Smith had the early lead, then finally regained the lead on the 13th hole by making birdie then extened it on the last holes for the victory.

In the Hogan Flight, it was Ed Ruper who was victorious with an 83 to defeat 2nd place Brandon Wang (85) by 2 shots.  Brett Gaylord finished 3rd with a 95.  Ruper at one point held an 8 stroke lead on Wang, but Brandon closed hard on the back nine only to come up just a little short as he was within 1 stroke heading into the 17th.

The Sarazen Flight had veteran Charles Blasdel shooting a 79 to take home the trophy as he held off 2nd place Christopher Ramaglia (83) and 3rd place Matt Blum (84).  Blasdel cruised around the course by starting with a 2-over par 37 on the front nine and coasted to his 4 shot win. 

And in the Jones Flight, it was Pittsburgh tour player Jerry O'Brien who shot an 83 to win his flight over 2nd place Raymone Scott (86) and 3rd place Scott Cummings (88). 


Thank you to the players that came out to this event as we close out the penultimate month in the tour schedule.  Only a few more events before Nationals for those that qualify! 

We look forward to seeing you at our next event on Saturday, August 6th at Aurora Country Club.  This will be an earlier start time of 8:45 am and a limited field of 32 players so sign up fast if you want to play this great former private club course.

2 Weeks of Majors have Am Tour Players Ready for Finish.

The last 2 weekends have provided an off weekend for some and for others it was a way to test their game as a higher level of competition as Regional Majors were on the schedule.  On the weekend of July 16-17th 2 players went down to challenge TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, while 4 more golfers challenged 2 courses at the Turning Stone Resort on the weekend of July 23-24th. 

Down at TPC Sawgrass, Sarazen Flight player Matt Blum and Senior Hogan player Kevin Muehring were up for the task of taking on the challenging course and conditions at the Stadium and Valley Courses. Playing in sunny and 90 degree conditions, the courses were in great condition with very thick rough throughout.  The rough made for tough decisions on the course cause many of the errant balls that found the rough did not get good lies.  None the less both had lots of fun playing the challenging layouts.

In the Senior Hogan Flight, Kevin Muehring shot scores of 100 (Stadium) and 87 (Valley) to total 187 and finish tied of 8th place.  One of his great memories on the weekend was probably hitting the famed 17th green and taking his par. 

As for Matt Blum in the Sarazen flight, it was a big celebration for him as he got to celebrate his 33rd birthday by getting the tournament underway on the Stadium Course on Saturday.  His tee shot, which was the first stroke of the tournament, sailed down the right rough about 130 yards away from the hole.  Much of the rest of the weekend was enjoyable, but he felt bad he didn't bring his "A" game to the course.  He shot 105 (Stadium) and 107 (Valley) for a 212 total and finished in 20th place.  Bright spots in his round were that he made a nice 12 footer for birdie on the 13th at the Stadium course and took home a skin as well as nearly driving #16 in two and getting a par.  He also hit the green on #17 in one, but found himself on the wrong section of the green and had to take a 3-putt bogey. 


In upstate New York, the 4 players that went to Turning Stone Resort had a swell time also. Led by the play of Hogan flight player Brandon Wang who finished 5th in his flight.  Wang shot rounds of 84-81 to finish at a 2-day total of 165 and was only 4 shots back of the lead.  He posted the medalist round on Sunday with his 81 in the Hogan Flight. 

Snead flight player Ben McDonald shot 120-107 for a 227 total and finished 18th in his flight.

Senior Palmer John Smallenburg finished with a steady 2-day total of 163 (82-81) and was 6 strokes back of the lead in 8th place.

and rounding out the players who went to a regional event these past 2 weekends was Senior Sarazen flight player Peter Gitnik who shot a pair of 101's to total 202 and ended up in 13th place. 

We hope to see everyone out on tour for the summer finish as we make the final push to qualify for the 2011 National Championships at PGA West in La Quinta, California September 18-27.