Okeson is Eskimo Emperor at Stroke Play #6
Whew, it was cold! But that didn’t stop the field at the April 1st, 2017 playing of the Northeast Ohio Golf Stroke Play #6 at Turkeyfoot Lake Golf Links.
Clearly, Greater Cleveland’s tournament players are a committed bunch. How so? 44 players registered in advance of the event, when the forecast showed partly sunny and 52. And 44 players showed up to play on Saturday at noon, even though the starting temperature read 37. Credit given.
Those players had every reason to stay home, too: the sky was solid gray, the northern wind had a bite to it, the ground and air were damp from Friday’s non-stop rain, and the temperature never made it past 39 degrees. Brrr.
But given all that, nothing seemed to bother Chris Okeson of Cleveland. He seemed to be in mid-season form — or maybe it was Leah tagging along that kept him mentally toasty.
Chris birdied the tough par-3 second hole right out of the gate, good for a skin. He made just one bogey on the third, and turned at even-par 36. Then he scorched the back nine in 33 shots to shoot a nifty round of 2-under 69 and win going away.
Okeson’s score was three shots ahead of a trio of second place finishers:
– wily veteran Fred Miller of Aurora;
– the equally wily veteran John Zitkovic of Findlay;
– and the always solid Brian Polick of of Middleburg Heights.
Jack Garswood of Cleveland finished alone in fifth place, one shot behind that, coming back from a tough front nine of 40 by matching Okeson’s back nine 33.
The shot of the day came from Zach Drukenbrod, who holed a 130-yard pitching wedge on the par-4 11th hole, good for an eagle skin. His was one of seven skins won on the day.
Thanks to pro Mike Thiron and the staff at Turkeyfoot: the golf course was in fantastic shape for April 1st and the event went smoothly.
The next event is the Stroke Play #7 at Tam O’Shanter Golf Course in Canton on Saturday, April 22nd beginning at 10 a.m.
Stroke Play #6 Photo Gallery Here >
FINAL RESULTS:
NEOHgolf.com Stroke Play #6
Turkeyfoot Lake Golf Links, Akron, Ohio
Saturday, April 1, 2017
| Chris Okeson | 36 | – | 33 | = | 69 | $530 |
| Fred Miller | 36 | – | 36 | = | 72 | $283 |
| John Zitkovic | 36 | – | 36 | = | 72 | $283 |
| Brian Polick | 35 | – | 37 | = | 72 | $283 |
| Jack Garswood | 40 | – | 33 | = | 73 | $120 |
| Mike Simpson | 35 | – | 39 | = | 74 | $90 |
| Zack Koinis | 39 | – | 35 | = | 74 | $90 |
| Kent Monas | 41 | – | 35 | = | 76 | $53 |
| Rob Loomis | 39 | – | 37 | = | 76 | $53 |
| Mark Schneider | 38 | – | 38 | = | 76 | $53 |
| John Topeka | 38 | – | 39 | = | 77 | |
| Mark Borlin | 41 | – | 37 | = | 78 | |
| Brian Smith | 41 | – | 37 | = | 78 | |
| Zach Drukenbrod | 42 | – | 36 | = | 78 | |
| Bob Berkheimer | 42 | – | 36 | = | 78 | |
| Adam Arman | 41 | – | 37 | = | 78 | |
| Jeff Dean | 38 | – | 40 | = | 78 | |
| Mark Thomas | 42 | – | 37 | = | 79 | |
| Shayne Bishop | 43 | – | 36 | = | 79 | |
| Tom Stack | 41 | – | 38 | = | 79 | |
| Jim Cea | 40 | – | 39 | = | 79 | |
| Steve Blackburn Jr | 40 | – | 40 | = | 80 | |
| Jade Waligura | 42 | – | 38 | = | 80 | |
| Shannon Bartruff | 44 | – | 36 | = | 80 | |
| Taylor Rising | 43 | – | 37 | = | 80 | |
| Tim Heavner | 39 | – | 42 | = | 81 | |
| Yanni Velios | 43 | – | 38 | = | 81 | |
| Ty Kovach | 44 | – | 38 | = | 82 | |
| Dean Cutlip | 44 | – | 38 | = | 82 | |
| Tommy Li | 45 | – | 37 | = | 82 | |
| Mike Dota | 42 | – | 41 | = | 83 | |
| Ryan Augustitus | 43 | – | 41 | = | 84 | |
| Oliver Byers | 44 | – | 41 | = | 85 | |
| Randy Turner | 41 | – | 44 | = | 85 | |
| Kory Hull | 41 | – | 45 | = | 86 | |
| Zoran Karic | 39 | – | 47 | = | 86 | |
| Dan Terry | 43 | – | 43 | = | 86 | |
| Joshua Prok | 49 | – | 41 | = | 90 | |
| Joshua Smith | 55 | – | 45 | = | 100 | |
| Craig P. Erwin | 56 | – | 56 | = | 112 | |
| Bobby Harmon | NC | |||||
| Brian Beebe | Skins | |||||
| Troy Luckenbaugh | Skins | |||||
| Dennis Carmody | Skins |
SKINS: $130 ea
Chris Okeson Birdie 2 Hole #2
Zach Drukenbrod Eagle 2 Hole #11
Mark Borlin Birdie 2 Hole #13
Zack Kionis Birdie 2 Hole #15
Mike Simpson Eagle 3 Hole #16
Jack Garswood Birdie 2 Hole #17
Taylor Rising Birdie 4 Hole #18
