AKRON, Ohio: Four former champions have reached the finals of the 52nd annual Denny Shute Match Play Championship at Portage Country Club.
They are Canterbury Assistant Professional Anthony Panepento in the Regular Division, Pepper Pike Club Head Professional Rob Moss and Foxy Golf instructor Tony Adcock in the Senior Division, and Pepper Pike Club Assistant Professional DJ Holub in the Associate Division.
Conducted by the Northern Ohio Section of the PGA of America, play gets underway in all three divisions at 9 a.m. Wednesday, with the Regular and Associate divisions playing 36-hole finals while the Senior Division is scheduled for 18 holes.
Panepento, the 2023 champion, defeated two-time winner Jim Troy, 3 and 2, in Tuesday’s semifinals after eliminating two-time champion Jaysen Hansen, 4 and 3, in the quarterfinals.
He will play Brandywine Assistant Professional Michael Balcar, who eliminated GolfTEC owner Nick Paez, 4 and 2, in the semifinals after a hard-fought 2-and-1 victory over Brookside Head Professional Cory Kumpf in the quarterfinals.
Holub, the 2022 champion, defeated Glenmoor Assistant Professional and 2025 champion Kyle Buzaki, 3 and 2, in the semifinals after taking down fellow Pepper Pike Club assistant Ken Keller, 3 and 1, in the quarterfinals.
Holub will face Blake Sattler, an assistant professional at Brookside, who rallied to beat Chagrin Valley Assistant Professional Tony Bodziony, 2 up, in the semifinals. Sattler, who was 2 down with four holes to play, won two of the final four holes with birdies, while Bodziony made a bogey.
Moss, a three-time champion, defeated four-time champion Jon Jones, 3 and 2, in the semifinals and will face 2003 champion Tony Adcock in an 18-hole final.
Three of the six finalists — Balcar, Panepento and Sattler — can be considered among the NOPGA’s hottest players.
Sattler won the Assistants Professional Championship by three strokes and claimed victories in three of the Section’s stroke-play events.
Balcar won the NOPGA Professional Championship by seven strokes and the Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship by 11, setting course and tournament records with a round of 63. He also finished second behind Sattler in the Assistants Professional Championship.
Panepento finished fourth in the Professional Championship and fifth in the Assistants Professional Championship. He also recorded a stroke-play victory and was one of the Section’s top performers in the Ohio Cup, winning all three of his matches.
DAY 2 RESULTS: Northern Ohio PGA
NOPGA 52nd Denny Shute Match Play Championship
Portage Country Club, Akron
Tuesday, October 13, 2026
Blue Golf Bracket Results >
