Crewse makes his tournament-tying effort on the final hole at the 2011 Summit County Am.

Defending champion Dave Oates started the second round of the 2011 Summit County Amateur Golf Championship making bogey, then double-bogey.

Yup, three over par after the first two holes. Chili-choppin’ hacker stuff. Two shots back at the start of the day, now five shots back after just two holes.

It didn’t matter.

Oates rallied with four birdies on that same nine (the back nine at Good Park, where all the leaders start) and finished the day with a 2-under par score of 69 and a 1-under par 141 total to win his second consecutive Summit County Amateur title — amazingly, his fifth career win in the event.

But it’s not like Oates won going away, and that the day didn’t have it’s drama. Because it did, especially coming down to the final few holes.

33 players started Sunday’s round within five shots of the lead, but not many players in that big group made the heroic push. Pete Skirpstas of Medina posted the low round of the day, a 4-under par 67, but he started the final round six-over par and was too far back to rally. Ross Beal also made some incredible shots, including drives that came close to the greens on holes 15 and 17, but his roller-coaster round of 71 left him at 1-over par for the finale, yet another near miss. Drew Hanzel and Nathan Tartar played even par golf in round two, but couldn’t get their finishing totals under par.

First round leader Nick Lambos and past Summit County Am champion Aaron Crewse both played solid first rounds and then well enough throughout Sunday to have a great chance coming in to the final hole, the 214-yard par-3 ninth. (The final round leaders finish at the ninth hole because the back deck of Good Park serves as a fantastic set of bleachers for the crowd at the event.) Standing on that final tee, both players knew that Oates was in the clubhouse at 1-under par for the tournament, while both players were only at even par.

After sending their tee shots toward the final green, Lambos left himself with a swinging 40-foot putt from the left fringe, while Crewse’ solid hybrid over the front-right bunker gave him a 20-footer from just below the hole.

Drama time.

Lambos’ ball was a bit tight against the left collar and because of the distraction he didn’t pull off his best effort, leaving his birdie putt about five feet short.

One done, with only one more player to go.

After sizing it up, Crewse sent his twenty-footer towards the hole in stroke built of great tempo, and the crowd started rooting as the putt looked like it had a solid chance. But the ball curled away from the cup with just a couple of inches to go, and Crewse was nearly on his knees when the ball stopped because he couldn’t believe he left it short.

Oates had won again.

Five times winning a single event — any event, let alone one with the quality of field at the Summit County Am — is an impressive feat. No other player may ever match Dave Oates’ record in the Summit County Am. But even more impressive is the character of the gentlemen who play, as the three top finishers made a grand gesture: Oates, Lambos and Crewse all decided to donate their gift certificate winnings to the 2012 Good Park Junior Tournament in memory of Dave Barnes, the former Good Park staffer who passed away last year and is now memorialized through the event. Barnes always put great effort into running the Junior Tournament, and the three top players decided to make the donation in his memory. That gesture, made by the during the trophy presentation, broke the voice of long-time tournament director Larry Zimmerman; a truly nice moment.
 

FINAL RESULTS: 2011 Summit County Amateur Golf Championship
Good Park Golf Course, Akron Ohio – Par 71
August 6th – 7th, 2011:
 

 
Gift certificate prizes will be available at Chippewa GC.
 

SKINS:
RD1 Tim Davis – Eagle #12 $700
RD1 Jim Krivanek – Eagle #14 $700
RD2 John Furlong – Eagle #14 $1,400

Jason Chadima smooths his drive at the 7th Hole in Round 1 of the 2011 Summit County Am

Nick Lambos of Canton was the only player in the field to get his first round total score into red figures, finishing with a 2-under par 69 after day one of the 2011 Summit County Amateur Golf Championship at Good Park Golf Course in Akron on Saturday.

Five players are two shots back at even par 71: John Furlong, Bryan Mitchell, Mike Simpson, Aaron Crewse and Robert Schustrich.

And to illustrate how tight tomorrow’s play will be, 33 players are within five shots of Lambos’ first round lead — meaning the golf on Sunday should be a shootout!
 

ROUND 1 RESULTS: 2011 Summit County Amateur Golf Championship
Good Park Golf Course, Akron Ohio
Saturday, August 6th, 2011 – Par 71

With the tees moved up to 270 yards to entice players into going for the par-4 green at the 12th hole, Mastran flew his tee shot with a driver directly at the tucked front-left ‘sliver’ position and landed his ball right behind the hole. The ball bounced up, and from the tee the group thought the ball flown over the very small corner of the green.

The resulting ball mark was big and chunky, and a foot directly behind the hole. The players in the group searched over the back of the green for about a minute before Mastran decided to look inside the hole — where he found his ball! Instead of hopping forward with the driver as the group had thought, the ball had buried into the wet green for a moment, then hopped backward into the cup!

For all of the incredible combination of luck and skill that went into Mastran’s hole-in-one on a par-4, there was one not-so-lucky side: Mastran decided before the round not to enter the $10 per day big skins game at the event — missing out on any chance to win money from the pot of about $1,300 in play just for Saturday!

But at least a lifetime-memory was won: an ace on a par 4. Congratulations Michael!

Dave Oates plays his final hole in victory at the 2010 Summit County Amateur

Dave Oates of Canton earned his fourth win in the Summit County Amateur Golf Championship on Sunday, finishing at 3-under par 139 to win by two shots over runner-up and past champion Kurt Peterson.

But the final outcome was never really as close as the two shot difference sounds.

Oates played a solid first nine holes at 2-under par 34 to maintain his starting two shot lead, and ran out to a 4-shot lead after a chip-in eagle on the par-5 second hole (his 11th of the day; Good Park’s nines are played in reverse in the final round). Peterson kept plugging away, hitting it close on several occasions on the final nine, but failing to connect on the birdie putts.

Then on the par-4 seventh hole (16th of the day), it looked as if the tournament may get more interesting as Peterson hit his second shot 5-feet away for birdie, while Oates hit an indifferent shot just off the front fringe. But Oates made the 50-foot bomb of a birdie putt before Peterson had his chance, essentially closing the door on the victory. Oates bogeyed eight and nine for the final margin, as it mattered little.

With the win, Oates ties Barry Terjesen for the most Summit County Amateur titles, with each player now holding four.

In the big skins game, the big winner on the weekend was Pete Skirpstas of Medina, as he made eagle on the 560-yard par-5 fifth hole on both Saturday and Sunday, good for a skin each day. On Saturday, eagle skins were also won on the par-5 second hole by Joe Swiathowski and the par-5 14th hole by Vince Lorenzo, while Sunday’s skins winners were Skirpstas, Corey Leventhal with a birdie on the long par-3 sixth, and Dustin Alcorn with an eagle on the 14th. Skins were worth $450 each day.

Game stories: Plain Dealer | Akron Beacon Journal.

As always, a big thank you to Larry Zimmerman, Greg Enright, Dave Chapple, Todd Bertermann and all the other great golf guys who put forth the time and effort to make the Summit County Amateur the event it is.

The trophy presentation for the 2010 Summit County Amateur Championship

FINAL RESULTS: 2010 SUMMIT COUNTY AMATEUR CHAMPIONSHIP
Good Park Golf Course, Akron, Ohio – Par 71
In Memory of David Barnes – Sunday, August 1, 2010

Dave Oates hits his drive off the 10th tee during Saturday's Summit County Am first round.

Dave Oates posted a smooth 2-under par 69 to grab the overnight lead after the first round of the 2010 Summit County Amateur Golf Championship at Good Park Golf Course on Saturday.

Oates leads by a single shot over six players, and a whopping 33 players are within four shots of the lead. Look for a shoot-out in tomorrow’s final round!

Game Story: Plain Dealer |

ROUND 1 RESULTS: 2010 SUMMIT COUNTY AMATEUR
Good Park Golf Course, Akron, Ohio – Saturday, July 31, 2010

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Ball in the air! Defending Summit County Am champ Aaron Crewes chips to the 9th.