Two warhorses who have been here before.
Two veterans who spend many days together.
Two of the Northern Ohio PGA’s up-and-coming prospects.
The script for the finals of the 51st Denny Shute Match Play Championships has plenty of interest and intrigue, fitting for the last scene of the Section’s 79th season.
New champions will be determined in all three divisions by day’s end. Well, not entirely new champions, but new inasmuch as they didn’t win in 2024 but have won this event before.
Two former champions were eliminated during quarterfinal and semifinal play on Tuesday on a bright and brisk day, while another was unable to play due to injury.
Here is how the day unfolded in the three divisions:
CHAMPIONSHIP DIVISION
Four-time champion Randy Dietz and 2018 champion Jim Troy played their way into the finals by beating former champions in the semifinals.
Dietz, a four-time match play champion and an instructor at Windmill Golf Center, defeated Shaker Heights Country Club Assistant Professional Jordan Paolini, 2-and-1, in the semifinals after eliminating Optimus Golf Director Mark Sierak, 2-and-1 in the quarterfinals.
Dietz, scheduled to undergo knee surgery next month, birdied the sixth and seventh holes to go 2-up on Paolini and was 3-up at the turn. He maintained the lead the remainder of the way. Dietz, one of the stalwarts on the Ohio Cup teams for the last seven years, has an opportunity to add a fifth Shute title to his resume – joining Hall-of-Famer Mitch Camp and PGA Life Member Tom Atchison — as he was the Associate Division winner in 2013 and 2015 and the Regular Division winner in 2019 and 2020.
NOPGA Hall-of-Famer Gary Robison holds the record with six Shute titles.
Troy, an instructor at the Golf Dome and a five-time Section Player-of-the-Year, reached the finals for the second time in the last three years by beating 2023 champion Anthony Panepento, 5-and-3, in the semifinals and GolfTec’s Nick Paez, 5-and-4 in the quarterfinals. Troy, the top-seeded player in the division, took control early with three birdies through the first seven holes and was 5-up after nine. When the match ended he had four birdies and an eagle through 15 holes.
Dietz and Troy, with more than 50 victories between them over the last 10 years, will begin their 36-hole final at 9:10 on Wednesday.
SENIOR DIVISION
It will be a case of worker vs. the boss when Scott Pollack and Gary Rusnak meet in the finals. Pollack is the Managing Partner of 1899 Golf-Twinsburg and Rusnak is an instructor there.
Pollack rallied from an early deficit to beat Firestone Country Club Director of Instruction Steve Parker, 3-and-2, while Rusnak outlasted 2019 champion Tom Waitrovich, 1-up after taking the lead for good on the 15th hole.
The Pollack-Parker match took a big turn on the 356-yard ninth when Pollack made a testy downhill putt from 18 feet for par and Parker, the 2017 Senior champ, missed from about three feet.
“I was able to handle the adversity from a bunch of poor shots and poor execution,” Pollack said in describing his round, which he closed out with six six pars and one bogey over his last seven holes.
Rusnak is having a banner season having won the NOPGA Senior Professional Championship and the Mitchell-Haskell Senior Division title.
Pollack and Rusnak, who shared a hearty handshake when Rusnak came off the final green, will begin their 18-hole final at 9:20. The question that needs to be asked: Who’s working today?
ASSOCIATE DIVISION
Assistant professionals Kyle Buzaki (Glenmoor Country Club) and Antonio Bodziony (Chagrin Valley Country Club) will meet in the finals. Qualifying for the Shute event for the first time, Buzaki used a hot putter to defeat Riley Wilcoxon (Liberty Hills Golf Club), 4-and-3, the semifinals after eliminating Weymouth Country Club Assistant David Reiter, 3-and-1, in the quarterfinals.
Buzaki, in his first year at Glenmoor, made six putts for a combined 120 feet in his win over Wilcoxon.
“Funny, I haven’t made a putt in the last month,” said Buzaki, who finished fifth in both the Assistants Championship at Oberlin and the Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship at The Country Club. “And today I make all those long ones. All those putts were longer than all the other combined putts I made all season.”
For the record he made one putt from 35 feet and another from 30 feet. He had one 20-footer and three from 12 feet. Five of the six were birdie putts.
Bodziony birdied the fourth to take the lead for good with a birdie on the fourth hole enroute to a 1-up win over Dan Wasinski (Signature of Solon). Wasinski had ousted defending champ and top-seeded Sean McGuire in his first match by the efficient score of 4-and-3. Wasinski entered the event as the ninth seed.
Bodziony’s birdie on the fourth was the result of a 10-foot putt following a wedge from 100 yards.
His wins were accomplished in different ways.
“I putted very well in the first match and drove it well in the second match,” he said.
He started his second match on the back nine and was five-under after seven holes.
Buzaki and the Bodziony, who teamed up to win their Fourball and Foursomes Matches for the triumphant East-West Assistants Cup at Sand Ridge last month, now will be competitors. They will be the first match out in their 36-hole final 9 a.m.
