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

The Ohio Golf Association, the group that runs all of the state Amateur Championships, has released its 2008 schedule.

The local qualifier for the Ohio Am will be held at the Elyria Country Club on Tuesday, May 27th (a fun little golf course that’s always in great condition — and my old caddie yard!). Get through the qualifier and you will head to The Ohio Amateur Championship at Findlay Country Club on July 14 - 18, 2008.

Also on the OGA Schedule for 2008, for those who don’t mind doing a little driving:

Ohio Mid Amateur Championship:
June 9 - 11, 2008 at the Worthington Hills Country Club  

Ohio Junior Championship:
June 16 - 18, 2008 at the Wildwood Golf Club  

Ohio Senior Amateur Championship:
August 11 - 13, 2008 at the Miami Valley Golf Club 

Entry blanks for all of these events are posted to the Ohio Golf Association website.

–Allen Freeman

Jeff Jenkins and the Championship Golf Association will be staked out at this weekend’s Cleveland Golf Show at the IX Center (Feb 15-17). Jeff will have a CGA presence courtesy of the guys at Chippewa GC, who always have a pretty large booth at the show. Stop by, pick up a schedule, pay your 2008 membership fee, and buy some stuff from the Chippewa guys.

Details about the Championship Golf Association can be found at ChampionshipGolf.org.

–Allen Freeman

Tim Davis, director of the Akron District Golf Association, has some big improvements coming after his inaugural year at the helm.

Plans for 2008 include a newly revised and upgraded website launching late February [adgagolf.com], some new ways to register for the events (website and voicemail), and an entry deadline for each registration.  

The new schedule — soon to be released – includes a couple of visits to private clubs, some tweaks to the Match Play, Lazor 2-Man and Golfer of the Year formats, and the creation of a 3-Man scramble tournament.

Tim runs great events; always has. If he implements these administrative changes well and then gets the web site to where it needs to be for pre- and post-event information, the ADGA clearly will be headed back in the right direction…

–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

I need your help to make this site successful. I need a “network”. Eyes and ears; mini Deep Throats, if you will. Here’s how you can help:

If you hear about a competitive tournament, scramble or scratch league and it’s not listed here, tell me. If you hear about a golf course that’s opening/closing/changing business practices, tell me. If you hear about something interesting related to golf, golfers or the business of golf in Northeast Ohio, tell me.

Just email me at golf@NEOHgolf.com. Tell me the story, tell me if you want your name mentioned or if you wish to remain anonymous.

Doesn’t matter if the story is big or small, just tell me…

–Allen Freeman

Northeast Ohio Golf is a new website covering competitive golf throughout the Greater Cleveland and Akron metro areas. I am looking for a self-starting writer/photographer who knows golf and wants to cover local golf events for the website.

Age and experience are not nearly as important as: 1) a knowledge of golf and its etiquette; 2) the ability to write interesting “game stories”; and 3) the ability to take good digital stills and action shots without interfering with the players or the tournament in any way.

For each event, I need: 1) digital action photos and headshots of the winner and the top players in contention; 2) complete results/scores for all players in the event; and 3) a 200-300 word game story and “notes of interest”.

Each event will take at least 2-3 hours for the writer to fully cover, and most events are held on the weekends (but not all).

Payment will be provided to the writer within a few days after each event, at a rate of $30 to $50 per event completed (based on “talent level” and “story value”).

The writer/photog will get byline credit for every story and photo used on the site, and all stories will be archived on the site for long-term “resume reference”.

We may also experiment with “video” too, as in short player interviews that can be posted to the site. Camera equipment for both stills and video will be provided.

If the writer shows talent, he/she also will be given feature assignments, and can earn additional payments for submitting ‘breaking golf news’ stories that are used on the site.

This is a great April through October gig for a high school or college journalism student, a school teacher, a retiree, or anyone who knows and loves golf and can write compelling sports-style articles and shoot pictures.

I am looking for 2-3 people that I can call on for this work, so that assignments can be made to cover all relevant events without placing too much work on the plate of on any one person. But the most work will go to the most talented.

Please email me and tell me what you know about golf, what you know about writing, and why you are the person I need to help me grow this Northeast Ohio Golf website. Thanks!

–Allen Freeman, Northeast Ohio Golf / NEOHgolf.com