The Northern Ohio Golf Association’s season-long Match Play Championships for 2025 are coming down the home stretch, where victory is in sight but a lot of work still remains.
Let’s check in on each of the six brackets to see where things stand as of August 1, 2025.
NOGA CHAMPIONSHIP SCRATCH SERIES INDIVIDUAL MATCH PLAY
This big field Great Lakes Auto Scratch Series bracket is down to the Quarterfinal matches – so three more victories are required for a player to take the title.
Trevor Cohen earned a hard-fought 1-up victory over past match play champ Ian Hardesty to earn the right to play a hot-handed Howard Clendenin, who sailed into the Quarters.
John Angelo will face Andrew Grayson in the opposite upper bracket match.
Defending individual match play champ Brian Smith will take on Colin Burns in the lower bracket quarters, while Ben Hogan will face Cole Pittis to set up the semis.
NOGA SENIOR SCRATCH SERIES INDIVIDUAL MATCH PLAY
The Great Lakes Auto Scratch Series Senior Individual Matches are down to the Semifinals.
Tom Laubacher has completed a tough run, getting past Dean Cutlip in 19 holes, the defending champion Mike Belacic by 3&2, and Mark Ciccarello 1-up to earn his spot in the semis.
Laubacher will face the #1-seeded Rob Schustrich next, who has posted wins against Ken Lurie, Mike Cassell, and Nick Lambos to earn his spot in the upper bracket semi-finals.
Greg Myers topped Mike Stiller, Jeff Semple and Allen Freeman to earn his chance. He will play Ray McNiece in the semis, after McNiece bested Joe Denk, Mark Guadagni and David Belden.
SENIOR SCRATCH INDIVIDUAL BRACKET >
NOGA CHAMPIONSHIP SCRATCH SERIES FOUR-BALL MATCH PLAY
Just four teams remain in the hunt for the Championship Division of the Scratch Series Four-Ball Match Play title.
Brian Smith + Doug Barber will face Jeff Meagrow + John Bernatovicz in the Semifinals.
Smith + Barber cruised past Greg Thomas + Ben Hogan 6&5, then did the relatively same against Rick Areddy + Thomas Miano by 5&3. They won a coin flip to advance past Steve Blackburn + Howard Clendenin when scheduling became an issue.
Meagrow + Bernatovicz won their early matches without too much trouble, topping Jeff Mihalick + Brian Beebe 3&1, then Rick Deichert + Ryan Wirtz by 4&2, and most recently John Doughton + Jason McDowell 2&1.
In the lower section of the bracket, Ian Hardesty + Andrew Malkus will face off against Lucas Liberatore + Brett Dubin.
Hardesty + Malkus earned their way to the semis with an early bye as the #2 seed, a nail-biter 20-hole win over Andrew’s brother Ryan Malkus + Matthew Roth, and a 4&3 win over Trevor Cohen + Jeff Sawitke.
Liberatore + Dubin also had a first-round bye, won a coin flip over George Rohan + Jonah Karzmer because of scheduling issues, then defeated David Stover + Putter Johnson in a barn-burner 21-hole match.
NOGA SENIOR SCRATCH SERIES FOUR-BALL MATCH PLAY
The #1 seeded Kurt Peterson + Nick Lambos have earned their way into the Semifinals, and will face off against #4 seed Mike Cassell + Tom Laubacher.
On the opposite side of the bracket, Nick Bukovecky + Jon Nagy will take on the #3 seed Robert Schustrich + Greg Myers to see who makes it to the Finals match.
After a bye, Peterson + Lambos earned their semifinals spot by dispatching John Toth + Edward Diebold 4&3, then beating Allen Freeman + Mark Borlin in 19 holes.
Cassell + Laubacher also had a first-round bye, but then had to slip past Bob Spino + Shayne Bishop 1-up before defeating Jim Durr + Mark Guadagni 3&2.
Bukovecky + Nagy had a bye before winning against Brian Vincelette + Chris Minear and the #2 seed Jeff Semple + Jeff Thrams.
Schustrich + Myers also had a starting bye, then topped Rick Merrow + Rick Bryson 3&2 before beat Tom Baugh + Tom Skidmore 4&3.
SENIOR SCRATCH FOUR-BALL BRACKET >
All of the remaining Scratch Series matches listed above must be completed by August 17.
NOGA NET SERIES INDIVIDUAL MATCH PLAY
The brackets are a bit uneven as of August 1 in the Individual Matches for the PrimePay Net Series, as the top half of the bracket has been completing their matches early.
Robert Heiss will play Jim Crandall in the Semifinals.
The #48-seeded Heiss won a long first-round match of 24 holes against Chuck Adya, then topped both Blair Martin and David Thompson 1-up before besting #9 Jim Rosen 2-up in the Quarters.
Crandall, the #4 seed, had a first-round bye, then beat Paul Ferguson 6&4 before winning 1-up against Missy Gedeon then over #5 Joel Recht in 19 holes.
The lower section of the bracket isn’t as far along, although still within the deadlines for match completion.
In the Quarterfinals, #15 Jake Sugar will take on #26 Tom Jonozzo, while #14 Steve Cochrane goes up against #6 John Wright.
NOGA NET SERIES FOUR-BALL MATCH PLAY
Two of the teams in the Semifinals have been determined, while the other two still await identification in the Quarters.
#17 Dennis Dempsey + Luke Ulrych have claimed their spot in the Semis after beating Bryan Dudash + Ed Svoboda in the Quarters by 5&4.
They await the winner of the #4 Brian Klefos + Christine Carroll vs. #12 Andrew Gunn + Regis Balaban Quarterfinals match.
In the lower half of the bracket, #46 Dan Pyle + Seth Severin have also earned their Semifinals spot, having topped #6-seeded Matt Vanderhoff + John Wright by a tidy 5&4.
They await the winner of the #2 Kevin Mcafee + Aaron Kazan vs. #26 Pat Cartellone + Jim Hyde match.
