The 2008 Championship Golf Association season kicks off this Sunday, April 20th with a $20 Big Skins Game at the challenging Greyhawk GC in LaGrange.

The season continues with a number of great events at the best public golf courses in Northeast Ohio. The 2008 CGA Schedule:

Sunday April 20 - Greyhawk GC, LaGrange - $20 Big Skins
Sunday April 27 - Pine Hills GC, Hinkley - Stroke Play
Saturday May 10 - Turkeyfoot GC, Akron - 2 Man Scramble
Sunday May 18 - Eagle Creek GC, Norwalk - Stroke Play
Sunday May 25 - Fowlers Mill GC, Chesterland - Stroke Play
Sunday  June 1 - Ironwood GC, Hinckley - Stroke Play
Sunday June 8 - Sugarbush GC, Garrettsville - Stroke Play
Sunday June 22 - The Quarry, East Canton - Modified Stableford
Sunday June 29 - Gleneagles GC, Twinsburg - Stroke Play
Sunday July 6 - Punderson GC, Newbury - Stroke Play
Sunday July 13 - Windmill Lakes GC, Ravenna - Stroke Play
Sunday July 20 - Chippewa GC, Doylestown - Stroke Play
Sunday Sept 14th - Fairways of N Canton - $40 Big Skins Blowout
Sunday October 5 - Little Mountain GC, Concord - Stroke Play

Entry fees are $25 for the event pot and $10 for skins, plus greens fees and cart fees. A yearly membership or 1-day non-member fee is required. 

Players can register for any of the CGA events online here or can call the CGA Hotline at 216-556-0219. 

–Allen Freeman

The season-opening Stark County Amateur Golf Association 2-Man Better scheduled for this Saturday has been postponed and rescheduled due to the poor weather forecast for the weekend.

The event will still be held at Glenmoor Country Club, but the date has been moved to Sunday, April 20th.

Players interested in competing in that event should visit the SCAGA website for complete entry information.

–Allen Freeman

Play in the Ohio Publinx! The Ohio Public Golf Association announces their 2008 tournament schedule, the association’s 80th anniversary. These events are open to all male Ohio resident golfers, public or private:

OPGA MID-AMATEUR STATE CHAMPIONSHIP
June 23 - 24, 2008
CHAPEL HILL GOLF COURSE, MT. VERNON, OHIO
36 Hole Scratch Stroke Play Event - Ages 25 & Up
$75 entry fee due June 7
DOWNLOAD ENTRY FORM (Word document)

OPGA STATE AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
August 5 - 8, 2008
COOKS CREEK GOLF COURSE, ASHVILLE, OHIO
72 Holes Scratch Stroke Play Event
Practice Round Monday, August 4, 2008
$125 entry fee due July 15
DOWNLOAD ENTRY FORM (Word document)

OHIO MEMORIAL SENIORS CHAMPIONSHIP
September 13 -14, 2008
HIAWATHA GOLF COURSE,  MT. VERNON, OHIO
Practice Round on September 12, 2008
36 Holes - Ages 50 & Up - 6 Age Flights
$75 entry fee due September 1
DOWNLOAD ENTRY FORM (Word document)

Additional information and entries may be obtained from any OPGA director, OPGA Secretary Bob Martin at 440-239-9747, or OPGA President Ken Hyland at 330-875-4196. Or visit the OPGA website at http://www.opga.us/

–Allen Freeman

NEWLY RESCHEDULED DATE: NOW APRIL 5TH

Another early “down south tune up”, where it might be just a bit warmer and a little less snowy…

River Greens Golf Course in Coshocton, a fun test of golf with 27 holes, will host its 2-player “6/6/6″ scratch amateur event on Saturday, April 5, 2008.

Six holes each are played in scramble, better-ball and alternate shot formats, with prizes for each six plus the overall winner.

To enter, call 1-888-584-4495 or use the River Greens online registration.

Entry fee is just $20 per man for the golf and cart and another $20 for the event entry fee (quite a deal!). Payouts are player’s choice as to cash or certificates. 

This event is coming up soon, so watch this site regarding weather/playability status; we’ll keep you posted. The snow is mostly gone there, according to pro Brad Haynes, and the groundwater is receding. No major rain between now and event day and the course should be in reasonable shape…

–Allen Freeman

Interested in competing the national championships of the USGA? You need to make it through the local qualifiers to get there:

2008 USGA CHAMPIONSHIP QUALIFYING
 
U.S. Open Local Qualifying
Tuesday, May 13 - Red Tail GC
Entry Deadline: April 23

U.S. Public Links Qualifying
Monday, June 16 - Windmill Lakes GC
Entry Deadline: May 28

U.S. Amateur Qualifying
Thursday, July 31 - Legend Lake / Fowler’s Mill
Entry Deadline: TBD

U.S. Mid-Amateur Qualifying
Monday, August 11 - Lake Forest CC
Entry Deadline: TBD

U.S. Senior Amateur Qualifying
Monday, August 25 - Acacia CC
Entry Deadline: TBD

Entry information for these qualifiers can be found at the USGA entry forms website.

– Allen Freeman

The Northern Ohio Golf Association has posted the dates for their Northeast Ohio Amateur Invitational, one of the longest running amateur stroke play events in the area.

The 2008 Northeast Ohio Am is scheduled as:
Monday, June 23 - Oakwood CC
Wednesday, June 25 - Good Park GC
Monday, June 30 - Fox Meadow CC (36 holes)

The tournament is an invitational, meaning that NOGA must send you an application to play. The field is filled first with low-handicap members of NOGA clubs, but they do extend invitations to unaffiliated competitive amateurs if there are additional spaces in the field. If you would like to request consideration for an entry, email NOGA at tournaments@noga.org.

Additional NOGA events can be found at the NOGA website.

– Allen Freeman

Bet you’re saying to yourself, “Gee, it sure is swell that Al has put together a website listing all of the different competitive golf events around Northeast Ohio.” 

“But it sure would be nifty to have a single schedule that listed every area tournament by date, so that I can see what’s coming up next on the calendar.”

“And it definitely would be cool if that calendar listed the golf course on which the event is being played, and how I can enter.”

“And it would be the cat’s meow if that calendar rolled along throughout the year, removing the events from the list that had already been played so I didn’t have to sort through all of the old stuff.”

Well, NEOHgolf.com user, your internal dialogue is my command.

Check out the new Northeast Ohio Golf Tournament Calendar. The link to it is posted permanently at the top of the left-hand column for easy access. Go ahead, click it. A lot of events are posted already, and I’ll be adding more in the coming weeks.

Pretty cool, huh?

– Allen Freeman

The Stark County Amateur Golf Association has released its 2008 schedule, and it’s a great mix of team and individual events at some of the best public and private courses in “south” Northeast Ohio:

Complete details and entry information can be found on the SCAGA website at http://www.scaga.com/.

Also, Dave Oates, one of the Board Members of SCAGA, has agreed to provide NEOHgolf.com readers with complete results and stories for each of the SCAGA events in 2008. Dave is one of the best players in Northeast Ohio — see his name on the trophies from last year’s Summit County Am, Stark County Am and Chippewa Club Championship if you have any questions. We look forward to Mr. Oates’ postings to the Northeast Ohio Golf website! Thanks, Dave…

–Allen Freeman

I apologize if this post ’scoops’ Tim Davis, especially if the dates aren’t yet official. But the new Akron District Golf Association website is partially active now, and most interesting is the 2008 ADGA Tournament Schedule that’s posted there. From top to bottom, the schedule looks fantastic:

Parke H. Thornton Two Man Better Ball - May 3  Turkeyfoot Lake Golf Links

Four Man Scramble - May 17  Fairways of North Canton

54-Hole Medal Play, Round 1 - May 31  Seven Hills CC
54-Hole Medal Play, Round 2 (Cut to 32) - June 1  Brookledge Golf Course
54-Hole Medal Play, Final Round - June 2  Portage CC 

Match Play Qualifier - June 21  Good Park Golf Course
Match Play Rd. of 32 and Rd. of 16 -June 22  Good Park Golf Course
Match Play Quarterfinals and Semifinals - June 28  Good Park Golf Course 
Match Play Final (36 Holes) - June 29  Sharon Golf Club 

Lazor Memorial Qualifier - July 12  Chippewa Golf Club 
Lazor Memorial Rd. of 16 and Quarterfinals - July 13  Chippewa Golf Club 
Lazor Memorial Semifinals - July 19  Chippewa Golf Club 
Lazor Finals (36 Holes) - July 20  Rawiga CC

Three Man Scramble - July 26  Barberton Brookside CC 

ADGA Open - Sept 7  Raintree CC 

Golfer of the Year, Round 1 - Sept 28  Rosemont CC 
Golfer of the Year, Final Round - Sept 29  Rosemont CC

Congratulations on a job well done, Tim! 

–Allen Freeman

It’s a bit further south than “Northeast Ohio”, but early in the season that can be a good thing…

Eaglesticks Golf Club and Longaberger Golf Club are hosting their two-day 2-man better ball, April 5-6, 2008. These are two very good golf courses, which makes it worth the drive.

There is both a scratch division and a handicap division (requires official USGA handicap). Entry fee is $150/player for both days, and prizes are in gift certificates ($10K based on 100 players).

Entry deadline is April 2nd. To enter, call 740.763.1100 or complete the online entry form.

–Allen Freeman