Bob Sowards Wins for a Record Sixth Time; Mark Borlin Wins Senior Plus in a Come-Back
Dublin’s Bob Sowards put together back-to-back rounds of 4-under par 66 and won the Ohio Senior Open championship for a record sixth time in the last seven years on Thursday on the Fazio Course at Firestone Country Club.
With two bogey-free rounds Sowards, 57, finished at 8-under par 132 to edge Fairlawn amateur and first-round leader Howard Clendenin by two strokes in a tournament that took on a match-play feeling after other contenders fell out of the picture.
It marked the second time that Clendenin, a Firestone member, finished second to Sowards in this event. Clendenin closed with a 69 to finish at six-under par 134.
Sam Arnold, General Manager of The Vineyard Golf Course in Cincinnati, matched Sowards’ 66 with seven birdies to finish in a tie for third with Belmont Country Club assistant professional Mike Stone, both four shots back at 136.
Sowards’ 132 matched his lowest 36-hole total in the Senior Open, which he shot in winning in 2019 with rounds of 69-63.
Sowards began the day one shot behind Clendenin and the two were tied at 6-under until Sowards took the lead for good with a birdie on the 478-yard 13th hole and Clendenin’s birdie attempt lipped out from about 10 feet.
Sowards won $3,000 for the victory.
Stow amateur Mark Borlin came from four shots behind first-round leaders Allen Freeman, Tim Krapfel, and Marc Fried, to win the Senior Plus Division with a two-day total of 75-67=142. Borlin’s 3-under par 67 on Thursday was the lowest round shot anyone in the 60-and-over age bracket over the 36 holes and more than made up for his opening round.
Cleveland’s David Games shot 73-70=143 to finish second and Krapfel, a teaching professional from Galloway, was third at 71=73=144 and low professional.
Borlin had three birdies and no bogeys over his final nine holes, which lead to a decisive closing run.
RD2 PHOTO GALLERY: 2025 Ohio Senior Open >
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio PGA
2025 Ohio Senior Open Championship
Firestone Country Club Fazio Course, Akron – Par 70
Wednesday, May 28 – Thursday, May 29, 2025
BlueGolf Hole-by-Hole Results >
1 Bob Sowards, Dublin, OH 66 – 66 = 132
2 Howard Clendenin (a), Fairlawn, OH, Firestone Country Club 65 – 69 = 134
T3 Sam Arnold, Cincinnati, OH 70 – 66 = 136
T3 Mike Stone, Perrysburg, OH, Belmont Country Club 68 – 68 = 136
5 Paul Wackerly, Minerva, OH 73 – 67 = 140
6 Nick Myers, Sylvania, OH, Highland Meadows Golf Club 75 – 66 = 141
T7 Joseph Moore, Englewood, OH 73 – 69 = 142
T7 Dennis Miller, Youngstown, OH, PGA Of America Life Member 70 – 72 = 142
T7 Michael Riley (a), Akron, OH, Fairlawn Country Club 69 – 73 = 142
T7 Jon Jones, Warren, OH, Youngstown Country Club 68 – 74 = 142
11 Mitch Camp, Aurora, OH, PGA Of America Life Member 71 – 72 = 143
T12 Matthew Sutter (a), North Canton, OH, Brookside Country Club 73 – 71 = 144
T12 Rob Moss, Broadview Heights, OH, Pepper Pike Club 68 – 76 = 144
T12 Brian Unk, Lewis Center, OH 75 – 69 = 144
T12 Tom Waitrovich, Westlake, Ohio, PGA Of America Life Member 68 – 76 = 144
16 Mike Thomas, Loveland, OH 69 – 76 = 145
T17 Daniel Terry, Wadsworth, OH, Chippewa Golf Club – Doylestown 78 – 68 = 146
T17 Peter Samborsky II (a), Kettering, Ohio 72 – 74 = 146
T19 Dave Antill (a), Dublin, OH 74 – 73 = 147
T19 Mike Kaido, Zanesville, OH 73 – 74 = 147
T19 Rik Cramer, Bellbrook, OH 72 – 75 = 147
T19 Brian Smith (a), Amherst, OH, Oberlin Golf Club 70 – 77 = 147
T23 Robert Schustrich (a), Windham, OH 72 – 76 = 148
T23 Garrett Frank (a), Youngstown, OH 73 – 75 = 148
T23 Jeff Mallette (a), North Canton, OH, Brookside Country Club 76 – 72 = 148
T23 Steve Parker, Akron, OH, Firestone Country Club 72 – 76 = 148
T23 Chris Black, Lancaster, OH, OH 75 – 73 = 148
T28 Scott Pollack, Chagrin Falls, OH, 1899 Indoor Golf – Twinsburg 80 – 69 = 149
T28 Peter Betzold (a), West Chester, OH, Twin Run Golf Course 75 – 74 = 149
T28 John Goodson, Hudson, OH, Lake Forest Country Club 74 – 75 = 149
T28 Gary Trivisonno, Aurora, OH, PGA Of America Life Member 74 – 75 = 149
T28 Gary Rusnak, Painesville, OH, 1899 Indoor Golf – Twinsburg 76 – 73 = 149
T28 Mark Guadagni (a), Hudson, OH, Silver Lake Country Club 76 – 73 = 149
T28 John Bernatovicz (a), Akron, OH, Westfield Group Country Club 75 – 74 = 149
T35 Darrin Vaughan, Bolivar, OH 74 – 76 = 150
T35 Scott Savage, Mount Vernon, OH 74 – 76 = 150
T35 Willie Yacknow, Fairlawn, OH, Challenge Golf Course At Edwin Shaw Rehab 76 – 74 = 150
T35 John Fryman (a), Westerville, OH 75 – 75 = 150
T35 Steve Mulcahy, Lima, Ohio, University of Findlay 75 – 75 = 150
T35 Robert Spino (a), New Franklin, OH, Ohio Prestwick Country Club 75 – 75 = 150
T41 Wayne Moler (a), Waterford, OH 78 – 73 = 151
T41 Ryan Reichley (a), Dayton, OH 77 – 74 = 151
T41 David Dinan, Akron, OH, Windmill Golf Center 72 – 79 = 151
T41 Tony Milam, Concord Township, OH, North Coast Junior Tour 75 – 76 = 151
T41 Kevin Sullivan, Painesville, OH, Quail Hollow Country Club – Weiskopf/Morrish 75 – 76 = 151
T46 David Clancy (a), Springboro, OH 81 – 71 = 152
T46 Jay Davis (a), St Clairsville, OH, Steubenville Country Club 76 – 76 = 152
T48 Chris Brooks (a), Columbus, OH 81 – 72 = 153
T48 Mark Evans, Stow, OH, The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club – Mayfield 75 – 78 = 153
T48 James Logue Jr, Westerville, OH 79 – 74 = 153
T48 Craig Goldsberry, Lewis Center, OH, Bent Tree Golf Club 77 – 76 = 153
T48 Brian Jones, West Chester, OH 77 – 76 = 153
T48 Kurt Peterson (a), Massillon, OH 77 – 76 = 153
T48 Doug Ganim (a), Westerville, OH 76 – 77 = 153
T55 Mike Haynes (a), Gallipolis, OH 79 – 75 = 154
T55 Paul Krueger (a), Parma, OH 79 – 75 = 154
T57 Chris Casto, Galena, OH, NorthStar Golf Club 82 – 73 = 155
T57 Bob Stephens, Mason, OH, PGA Life Member 81 – 74 = 155
T57 Nick Lambos (a), Canton, OH, Brookside Country Club 80 – 75 = 155
T60 Joe Podolski (a), Worthington, OH 80 – 76 = 156
T60 Brad Cavey, Medina, OH, Beechmont Country Club 78 – 78 = 156
T62 Brian Beebe (a), Uniontown, OH, Firestone Country Club 75 – 82 = 157
T62 Jason Leeds (a), Powell, OH 78 – 79 = 157
T62 Bob Koch, Medina, OH, Fox Meadow Country Club 76 – 81 = 157
65 Dale Davis, Akron, OH, Firestone Country Club 76 – 82 = 158
T66 Stephen Mayes (a), Westerville, OH 83 – 76 = 159
T66 Derek Kesig (a), Delaware, OH 82 – 77 = 159
T66 Scott Loudon (a), Canton, OH, Ohio Prestwick Country Club 81 – 78 = 159
T66 Dean Cutlip (a), Copley, OH, Firestone Country Club 80 – 79 = 159
T70 Scott Karabin, Warren, OH, Old Avalon Golf Course 82 – 78 = 160
T70 Trevor Thomas, Findlay, OH, The Delphos Country Club 80 – 80 = 160
T72 Ronald Salerno, Broadview Hts, OH, X-Golf Broadview Heights 84 – 77 = 161
T72 Ryan Groff (a), Troy, OH 82 – 79 = 161
T72 Ken Kinkopf (a), Jupiter, FL 80 – 81 = 161
T72 Roger Tolley (a), Willard, OH, Eagle Creek Golf Club 80 – 81 = 161
T76 Jeff Thrams (a), North Canton, OH, Shady Hollow Country Club 83 – 79 = 162
T76 Mark Warden (a), Vincent, OH 81 – 81 = 162
78 Dan Sutton, Holland, OH, McDivots Driving Range 87 – 76 = 163
79 Edward Diebold (a), Coventry Township, OH 79 – 85 = 164
80 Brian Crowthers (a), Cincinnati, OH 84 – 82 = 166
81 Dennis Dempsey (a), Madison, OH, Quail Hollow Country Club 85 – 82 = 167
T82 Jon Bucciarelli (a), Munroe Falls, OH 88 – 88 = 176
T82 Dirk HartmanAkron, OH, The First Tee of Akron 88 – 88 = 176
84 David Mosley (a), West Chester, OH, Hamilton Elks GC W/B 91 – 87 = 178
85 Brad Stewart (a), Doylestown, OH 93 – 88 = 181
WD Tony Adcock, Canton, OH, Foxy Golf Canton
WD Robert Huston (a), Loveland, OH, Tri County Golf Ranch
WD Timothy Ailes, Delaware, OH
WD Kenneth Lacy, Toledo, OH, Ottawa Park Golf Course
WD Michael Sweany (a), Massillon, OH
SENIOR PLUS DIVISION
1 Mark Borlin (a), Stow, OH, Silver Lake Country Club 75 – 67 = 142
2 David Games (a), Cleveland, OH 73 – 70 = 143
3 Tim Krapfel, Galloway, OH 71 – 73 = 144
T4 Tom Baugh (a), Akron, OH, Portage Country Club 75 – 70 = 145
T4 Edward Steiber (a), Cincinnati, OH 74 – 71 = 145
T4 Marc Fried (a), Solon, OH, Signature of Solon Country Club 71 – 74 = 145
7 Tom Laubacher (a), Aurora, OH, Club Walden 75 – 71 = 146
8 Allen Freeman (a), Brecksville, OH 71 – 77 = 148
T9 Pat Delaney, Springfield, OH 77 – 72 = 149
T9 Jack Pawelkoski, Dayton, OH 78 – 71 = 149
T9 Jeff Semple (a), Canton, OH, Firestone Country Club 76 – 73 = 149
T9 Mike Cassell (a), Hudson, OH, The Country Club of Hudson 74 – 75 = 149
T9 Steven Shaw, Brecksville, OH, Firestone Country Club 72 – 77 = 149
T14 Doug Ison (a), Jackson, OH 79 – 72 = 151
T14 Terry Tyson (a), Perrysburg, OH 76 – 75 = 151
T14 Terry Shell, Wintersville, OH, PGA Of America Life Member 75 – 76 = 151
T14 Kim Boehlke, Youngstown, OH, PGA Of America Life Member 75 – 76 = 151
T14 Todd Company, Avon, Ohio, Red Tail Golf Club 72 – 79 = 151
T14 Dan DeVore (a), Cincinnati, OH, Hamilton Elks GC W/B 72 – 79 = 151
20 Dean Pahr (a), Beachwood, OH, Canterbury Golf Club 74 – 78 = 152
T21 Larry Lahnan (a), Aurora, OH, Club Walden 79 – 74 = 153
T21 John Toth (a), Akron, OH, Fox Den Golf Course 77 – 76 = 153
23 Philip Russo (a), Cincinnati, OH, The Golf Club at Stonelick Hills 79 – 76 = 155
24 Gregg Matthus, Canton, OH, Shady Hollow Country Club 79 – 77 = 156
T25 Larry King, Cincinnati, OH, Tri County Golf Ranch 81 – 76 = 157
T25 John Martin, Deleware, OH 78 – 79 = 157
T27 Michael Ross (a), Hinckley, OH, Weymouth Club 81 – 77 = 158
T27 Dave Ison (a), Pedro, OH 84 – 74 = 158
T27 Curtis Cranmer (a), Waynesville, OH 79 – 79 = 158
T27 Beau Rugg (a), Hilliard, OH 78 – 80 = 158
T27 Mark Boothby (a), Cincinnati, OH 76 – 82 = 158
T32 David Clarke (a), Saint Clairsville, OH, Steubenville Country Club 82 – 78 = 160
T32 Theo Grubb, Milford, OH, Elks Run Golf Club 81 – 79 = 160
T32 Clay Baker (a), Galena, OH 80 – 80 = 160
T32 Fred Gintert (a), Pearland, TX 84 – 76 = 160
36 Mark Ciccarello (a), South euclid, OH, Highland Park Golf Course – Blue Course 81 – 80 = 161
T37 George Allen (a), Warren, OH 81 – 82 = 163
T37 Scott Campbell (a), Strongsville, OH, Weymouth Club 84 – 79 = 163
39 John Jewell (a), Centerville, OH 86 – 82 = 168
40 Raymond Najda (a), Olmsted Township, OH, Pine Hills Golf Club 91 – 81 = 172
41 Blake Smith, Canfield, OH 87 – 87 = 174
42 Doug Wade (a), Galens, OH 85 – 92 = 177
WD Leo Szczepanski (a), Seven Hills, OH
WD Mike Crawford (a), Sheffield Lake, OH
WD Frank Guise (a), Westlake, OH, Oberlin Golf Club
WD Doug Hauenstein (a), Aurora, OH
