Jon was a great guy, fun to be around, happy-go-lucky and never an angry word. He was also a heck of a player. It’s tough to lose someone like that from our group and our lives.

Jon was born Aug. 23, 1964 in Medina, the son of Harry and Ann (Barrett) Brown, and he married Susan Seiberling in 1989. She survives.

He was a 1983 graduate of Cloverleaf High School and was a driver for Turn-To Transport in Cleveland. He had previously driven as an independent mover.

Surviving are his wife, Susan, a son, Joshua Brown of Creston; two brothers and three sisters, Barb (Tom) Lowery of Sunriver, Ore., Terry (Sandy) Brown of Georgetown, Texas, Dawn (Steve) Daniel of Kennesaw, Ga., Harry Brown of Winter Park, Fla. and Lila Brown of Portland, Ore. and nieces and nephews and many friends. He was preceded in death by his parents.

Memorial contributions may be made to First Tee, 2000 S. Hawkins Ave., Akron, Ohio 44314 or Hospice and Palliative Care of Greater Wayne County, 2525 Back Orrville Road, Wooster, Ohio 44691.

Is PGA Tour Player Kyle Stanley the long lost twin brother of Northeast Ohio am Ross Beal?

Watching Torrey Pines this past weekend, all I could think was that Kyle Stanley and Uniontown’s Ross Beal were twins separated at birth. Then CBS announcer Gary McCord said Stanley is 5′ 11″ tall, ending any potential DNA link to the 6’3″ Beal…

As a welcome to all, every ad posting is FREE until April 15th! So test out the Northeast Ohio Golf Classified Ads today and see if you can’t clean out your club bin or find a buyer for what you’re selling! Give it a try; learn more here…

A longtime competitive local amateur, a frequent NOGA player, and a member at Canterbury Golf Club, Barragate sees the opportunity to mix his love of tournament golf with the opportunity to help grow the financial situations of the people he’s met in the game.

“I’ve played golf with all kinds of great guys over the years,” said Barragate. “Competitive golfers don’t talk too much business on the course, but we certainly get a sense of the type of people each of us are. Some of those friendly relationships can take on a business dimension if there is a match and if they are explored. I look to Northeast Ohio Golf as a great way to jumpstart those kinds of conversations.”

Bryan qualified for the USGA’s U.S. Mid-Am played in 2007 at Bandon Dunes GC in Oregon. He played collegiately at Eckerd College, and twice has been runner-up in the Canterbury club championship in addition to playing in and winning other local events.

The Ameriprise Financial ads will run across the Northeast Ohio Golf website and in the email newsletter throughout the 2012 season. If you have investments that might not be performing as well as you might like, click on any one of those ads, review Bryan’s website, and give him a call.

And if you’re attending the Greater Cleveland Golf Show this winter, look him up; he will have a booth there and will be offering some great incentives – including a round at Canterbury!

Also, some brand new sponsors have already joined with NEOHgolf.com for the 2012 season, and they will be announced shortly. (Want to join that list of 2012 sponsors? Learn more here!)

Brian Unk of Lewis Center came the closest, missing the finals by a single shot. Results for each player below:

Nov 15 – Nov 18, 2011
Southern Hills Plantation Club, Brooksville, FL
John Hahn
 

Nov 16 – Nov 19, 2011
Hombre Golf Club Bad/Ugly, Panama City Bch, FL
Ryan Armour
Brian Unk
 

Nov 16 – Nov 19, 2011
Bear Creek Golf Club, Murrieta, CA
Bob Sowards
 

Nov 16 – Nov 19, 2011
Plantation Preserve Golf Course & Club, Plantation, FL
Vaughn Snyder

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL!

To the tournament players of Northeast Ohio, to the ‘executive directors’ of the golf events run throughout the area, and to the readers of this website who don’t play at a competitive level but simply want to keep up with tournament golf in Greater Cleveland — thanks once again for sharing another great golf season right here on NEOHgolf.com.

In what I consider God’s unfounded benevolence towards me, I’m lucky to be off to Florida to get out of winter’s cold with my lovely girls. But in the coming weeks, you’ll see a recap story punctuating the highlights of the 2011 golf season, plus the occasional article / note / opinion piece about golf in the region — and worldwide, too, if something unique and really interesting pops up. (And if you want to submit an article relevant to golf in Northeast Ohio for publication, send it on over — I’ll certainly consider it!)

So check back every couple of weeks to get your fix while the snow is flying. We’ll get you through the off-season until Spring 2012…

In chilly and wet conditions, Duda and partner Andrew Bailey shot an 11-under par score of 61 to win by two shots over last year’s Fall 2-Man champions, Brian Smith and Norton Brick.

Coming into the Big Met 2-Man, Duda won the 27-hole Bill Barbour Cup at Sleepy Hollow with Doug Barbour as his partner. He then won the 3-Player Scramble at Manakiki while playing with Frank Livak and David Stover. Derek then picked up current Big Met course champion and course-record holder Andrew Bailey as his partner after the event’s cancellation in early October and stormed to a two shot victory and the “elusive triple crown”.

It is believed that this is the first time that one player has had a part in winning all three Fall Tour tournaments.

Derek has already begun lobbying for a new exemption category for the 2012 Greater Cleveland Amateur. Big Met pro Mike Raby commented, “We don’t give exemptions for winning team events, but this may get some consideration.”
 

FINAL RESULTS:
2011 Big Met 2-Man Fall Tour Scramble
Big Met Golf Course – Par 72
Fairview Park, OH
Saturday, October 29th, 2011
 

22 Teams total entered in the event field.

If you haven’t played some particular area golf course and a tournament is coming up at that site (or if you haven’t played at all in a week or so and just need to get a few swings in), then getting in a practice round at that course before event day can help get you mentally and physically ready. But why overpay for a practice round?

Several different players have confirmed that the rates offered online in the GolfNow Ohio golf course directory can be significantly less expensive for an immediate booking vs. the price you get walking up to the counter and paying!

The way GolfNow works with each golf course owner means that certain tee times can have some pretty hefty discounts attached to them. So it’s worth a look online before you get in the car to go play, or before you pick up the phone to book a time.

(Going online also means you don’t have to wait on hold to find out what tee times might be available; the open times and their prices are listed right there. And the guy on the phone is never going to tell you, “Oh, by the way, if you book a time 20 minutes later than this one, you’ll pay less.”)

GolfNow doesn’t have every Northeast Ohio golf course on its roster yet, but it has quite a few. Even the courses that don’t have the online booking option still have informational listings in the directory about their facilities, amenities, course specs, contact info, even a direct link to each course’s website.

As long as you have a little bit of flexibility as to time and date, you can save $10, $20, $30, sometimes even $40 bucks off a round of golf in advance of a tournament date. That’s worth five minutes online to check it out.

Nabbing a practice round every once in a while doesn’t mean you’re prepping to play The Masters. But there’s no reason to sign up for a tournament and then play the course blind, either — especially if you can get that practice round at a big, fat, giant discount.

Brian Unk of Lewis Center easily made it through his first stage test, finishing T10 after shooting 289 (+1) in windy conditions at Deerwood Golf Club in Kingwood, TX.

And former Kent State player John Hahn of Hudson, now living full time in Las Vegas, tied for fourth place at 284 (-4) to advance from the qualifier at Pinewild Country Club in Pinehurst, NC.

While Snyder, Unk and Hahn will move on to second stage events in mid-November, other local players who also tested the Q-School waters did not fare as well. [NEWLY UPDATED]

Blake Sattler of New Philadelphia (left) may have had the toughest week; he finished his first stage tournament at 1-under par 287 and missed advancing by just a single shot at Stonebridge Ranch in McKinney, TX.

In the same Grasslands event in which Snyder played, Garrett Frank of Youngstown failed to advance, finishing with a score of 291 (+3) to finish 45th.

Christopher Capriolo of Medina missed advancing, posting 297 (+9) to finish T63 at Dayton Valley Golf Club in Dayton, NV.

Tim Ailes of Lewis Center missed advancing from the first stage qualifier at Lantana Golf Club in Lantana, TX which completed play on October 28th, posting a 72-hole score of 291 (+3) to finish tied for 43rd place.

And finally, Nick Latimer of Brooklyn finished with a score of 300 (+12) to finish T65 after a tough closing round at the qualifier at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, CA.

Northeast Ohio Golf will track local players in the second stage of Q-School in mid-November as well; keep watching…