One of the best local scratch games in Northeast Ohio is the $100 Big Skins Game held every Monday at Chippewa GC in Doylestown. The game is open to anyone, pros or ams, and it’s a straight skins game — meaning anyone who can make a birdie has a chance.

It’s very straight-forward: pay the $100 plus (discounted) greens fees at the pro shop when you arrive, casually make up a group on the first tee, and go play summer-rules golf. $20 of the hundred goes to a pin shot on each of the four par-threes, which stays in line with the “go for it” format. The remaining $80 goes to “big skins”, meaning that the pot is divided equally among each of the players who “win” a particular hole against the field.

The $100 Skins Game is an amazing deal for several reasons:

1) Chippewa is always in great condition and owner Kevin Larizza and his guys always seem to get it right;

2) the $100 Skins Game starts at 11:30 a.m. every Monday so that the amateur players can roll right into the 2-Man Monday Scratch League starting at 4 p.m.;

3) Chippewa only charges $25 for the golf and cart when you enter the game;

4) you can get as much (or as little) side action as you want;

5) the guys who play in the game are serious but a lot of fun;

6) the pace of play is pretty zippy, as it usually takes only 3 1/2 hours to finish the 18 holes;

7) you can show up when you want, as it is an open game with no season-long commitment and no need to sign up or call ahead.

The game started off with just a handful of guys and has grown over the last couple of years. Most Mondays see 16-24 guys put up ” ‘da Benjamin”; sometimes more. Even on the crappy rainy days, 10 guys will tee it up.

Do the math — if you can hold off everyone else on a given day and take the entire pot, it’s some serious cheese. Even a “taste” can be tasty. But regardless if you get a skin or not, it’s always fun, the competition is great, someone always gets a good needle on the first tee, and you never know who is going to win when.

So if you feel like playing hookie on a Monday and want some competitive golf at a great-conditioned course, now you know where to go…

–Allen Freeman

Just like any other major metro area in the USA, greater Cleveland and Akron have a handful of great competitive amateur golf tournaments that a scratch player HAS to enter. The reasons why these events are “the best” can vary: maybe it’s the golf course; the quality of the field year after year; because there is a great trophy or a “history” prize; or maybe there is a chunk of “gambling money” on the line, like a big scramble.

This particular list is not about weekly events or leagues, it’s about the “once a year” events. (I’ll cover the ”series” events in another entry.) It’s also not about the qualifiers for the national championships (US Am, Open, Publinx, etc) or the state stuff that comes around the area (Ohio Am, Open, Publinx, etc). Instead, this list covers the yearly events conducted around the area – the best events a serious NEOH amateur can choose “for the entry fee dollar.”

Here is my personal “Top 5 List of Big NEOH Golf Tournaments” that any low-handicap player living in Northeast Ohio should play in:

- Cleveland Amateur Championship

- Summit County Amateur Championship

- The Turkeyfoot “Spring Back-to-Back” (2 Man Scramble by CGA; 2 Man BB by ADGA)

- Ashland Am-Am

- Chippewa Club Championship

Certainly, there are many other great local golf events that are fun and first rate, but these five made my top-5 list. And here is your chance to comment / agree / disagree / list your own Top 5…

–Allen Freeman