It rained the only way it can in October in Central Ohio: steady, patient, and entirely unbothered by whatever plans were set for the day. The fairways at Wedgewood Golf & Country Club darkened as the hours passed, and before long, players in the 29th Ohio Cup were swinging in soaked sleeves and squishing shoes. But nobody quit. Nobody even thought about it. This is the Ohio Cup, after all, a match that lives somewhere between friendly and fierce, where the pride of a Section and the quiet joy of team golf find common ground.
By Tuesday evening, roughly 27 holes had been completed, the day shortened by the ever-encroaching October sunset. The Southern Ohio PGA leads the Northern Ohio PGA 5.5 – 3.5 after a full morning of four-ball play and a partially completed afternoon of foursomes. The charge was led by captain Bob Sowards, PGA, and his partner Mike Thomas, PGA, who provided a steady, confident start.
Sowards and Thomas took up the baton in the morning four-ball, taking the first match against Scott Pollack, PGA, and Gary Rusnak, PGA, of the Northern Ohio Section. Sowards and Thomas started red hot, winning the first two holes to take a 2-up lead they never relinquished. They won 2&1.
In match two, Chase Wilson, PGA, and Jeff Olson, PGA, halved their contest with Anthony Panepento, PGA, and Nick Gustin, PGA. Just behind them, Joe Moore, PGA, and Sam Arnold, PGA, turned a 2-down deficit on the back nine into a thrilling win over NOPGA Captain Mitch Camp, PGA, and veteran Tony Adcock, PGA.
Any hopes of a morning rout were quickly dampened as the defending champions from Northern Ohio battled back through the worsening rain. Mark Sierak, PGA, and Jordan Paolini, PGA, edged out Michael Auterson, PGA, and Ohio Cup rookie Andrew Martin, PGA, after a late birdie. The Southern Ohio duo had fought back from 2-down, highlighted by a spectacular approach from the wrong fairway by Auterson, but it wasn’t quite enough. Behind them, Mike Stone, PGA, and Jon Jones, PGA, cruised past Dave Bahr, PGA, and Chad Ammer, PGA, of Maketewah Country Club.
The back and forth affair continued. Danny Sorgini, PGA, Corey Weckerling, PGA, the latter making his Ohio Cup debut, secured a 3&2 win over Adam Lewicki, PGA, and Nick Paez, PGA, to extend Southern Ohio’s lead. Northern Ohio responded quickly as Jansen Hansen, PGA, and Jim Troy, PGA, won 1-up against the considerable team of Andy Montgomery, PGA, and Ben Kern, PGA. Southern Ohio’s Jared Jones, PGA, and Chris Muse, PGA, closed the morning with a victory against Randy Dietz, PGA, and Cory Kumpf, PGA, giving the hosts a narrow 4.5 – 3.5 advantage heading into the afternoon.
Enter Sowards. Off like a light in foursomes, he and Thomas weathered an early storm from Pollack and Rusnak, but with wins on the seventh and ninth holes, they turned all square. The back nine belonged entirely to the captain. Four consecutive wins sealed a commanding 5&3 victory–the only foursomes match completed before darkness fell.
Tomorrow, the singles will have to wait. With all foursomes matches through the first nine holes, Wednesday’s normal singles-only schedule is now slightly condensed to accommodate wrapping up those matches. Play is set to resume at 8 AM along with fall announcing its presence in the high 40s players can expect in the morning. There should be no rain, hopefully, because the Ohio Cup should be decided under autumn skies and that soft light only Ohio can show off this time of year.
LEADERBOARD: 29th Ohio Cup Matches >
MORE TO THE STORY: OHIO CUP DAY
by Tim Rogers, NOPGA Media
Somehow, it just isn’t right.
It doesn’t rain for 40 days and 40 nights and when one of Ohio’s unique golf events is about to take place the skies open up as if we were going to reenact the Great Flood and Noah was going to start collecting two of everything.
So it went on the first day of the 29th annual Ohio Cup Matches between the two Sections in the Buckeye State on Tuesday at the Wedgewood Golf and Country Club.
To say the event was rain-plagued would be like saying it gets cold in Antarctica. It rained at the start of the day and it rained in the middle and it really rained late, eventually leading to a suspension of play due to darkness with the majority of the competitors on the course competing in Foursomes.
The plan for Wednesday calls for the Foursomes Matches to begin at 8:00 with the 16 Singles Matches to follow. Weather forecasts call for chilly but dry conditions.
The rain that swept over Central Ohio like some kind of mammoth wave caused two delays and just made things miserable for everyone.
The NOPGA trailed 4.5 to 3.5 with the teams of Jaysen Hansen-Jim Troy, Mark Sierak-Jordan Paolini and Mike Stone-Jon Jones winning their matches and Anthony Panepento and Nick Gustin earning a halve.
The one-point deficit was acceptable for Captain Mitch Camp and better than many thought.
“We are hanging in there,” said Camp, seeking to captain the NOPGA to a second straight win and the first on the road since 2019. “They (SOPGA) have some real studs on that team. Don’t get me wrong. Our team is very good, and I am pleased with how we made out.”
While Jones and Stone cruised to a 6-and 4 win over Dave Bahr and Chad Ammer, the other NOPGA point-getters were pushed to the limit or close to it.
Troy and Hansen were two holes down to Ben Kern and Andy Montgomery through the first nine holes but cut the deficit to one with a par on the 410-yard 13th and pulled even with a birdie on the next hole when Hansen hit a 30-yard chip shot to four inches. Both teams parred the next two holes before Hansen birdied the par-3 17th from 15 feet for a 1-up win.
Hansen, whose 25-21-6 record is one the NOPGA’s best, used a 10-wood for his tee shot on the 199-yard penultimate hole. A 10-wood, really?
“It’s got a 26-degree loft,” he said. “You have to be careful, but it worked.”
Said teammate Randy Dietz, “You could hit yourself in the chin with that.”
The bottom line is that no teeth were lost and Hansen and Troy won the hole and the match.
Gustin and Panepento trailed Jeff Olson and Chase Wilson by one but earned a half point when Gustin chipped in from 25 yards for birdie on the 385-yard 15th and went on to halve the hole. The teams traded pars over the final three holes.
Sierak and Paolini stood even with Mike Auterson and Andrew Martin on the 16th tee when Paolini, the lone rookie on the team, set up a go-ahead birdie when his shot from 150 yards cozied to three feet and another 1-up victory.
Stone and Jones lost the third hole but took control by making four birdies over the final five holes on the front, including three in a row. They finished it off with birdies on 10 and 11, giving them a stretch in which they made six birdies in a seven-hole stretch.
The NOPGA will attempt to increase its lead in the series to 18-11 on Wednesday. Rain or no rain.
