The two races for the Northern Ohio Golf Association’s Great Lakes Auto Player of the Year titles were polar opposites in 2025.
The Championship Division saw a super tight competition with four players in the mix throughout, and a winner determined by the performances in the NOGA Tour Championship.
The Senior Division race was decided two weeks prior to the season’s end, with a comfortable lead that could not be affected by the finishes in the finale.
Championship Division POY
Heading into the NOGA Tour Championship at Firestone Country Club on September 8-9, Brian Smith (798 points), Vaughn Snyder (781), Rick Deichert (704), and Lucas Liberatore (646) were the top-4 players on the Championship Division points list. All had a chance to secure the Player of the Year title by winning the regular season’s final event.
But when Ian Hardesty posted a final-round 68 on Firestone South to take his third Tour Championship title in four years, that left the four candidates to fight for finish position to determine the final POY standings.
Liberatore finished in second place at Firestone, but started too far behind to win POY with anything but a victory if any of the four contenders played well.
Deichert finished T3, but had the same requirement as Liberatore.
That left the top-two on the points list.
2025 leader and 10-time NOGA Player of the Year Brian Smith had a uncharacteristically poor round on the South Course, shooting 43-38 to finish T11 in the Tour Championship.
That gave Vaughn Snyder the opportunity he needed to win POY with a good performance.
But Snyder also started poorly on the South Course in the Monday finale, going out in 42. Then, something clicked on the back nine for Snyder. When he kick-saved his day with an incoming 1-under par 34 for a 76 total and a T3 tournament finish, he earned himself the 2025 NOGA Player of the Year title, his first ever.
By just 49 points over Smith, by 75 over Liberatore, and by 77 over Deichert. A super close finish for a season’s worth of points.
Senior Division POY
On the Senior side, Windham’s Rob Schustrich entered the Tour Championship with a lead that could not be overcome, no matter the result of the final tournament.
With 2025 wins in NOGA’s Scratch Stroke Play #1 and the Senior Summit County Amateur, and an appearance in the U.S. Senior Amateur Championship, Schustrich earned enough points to be over 320 points ahead of Allen Freeman of Brecksville before the start of the Tour Championship.
The win is Schustrich’s second consecutive Player of the Year title.
Aurora’s Tom Laubacher finished third in the POY race, with Fairlawn’s Howard Clendenin taking fourth place after an easy win at the NOGA Tour Championship.
Clendenin only had Senior Division eligibility during the later part of the year due to the date of his 55th birthday. A full year of points for Clendenin should make next year’s Senior POY race even more interesting.
