One of the state’s most prestigious events is less than one week away and preparations are underway for the 104th Ohio Open Championship, which returns to Firestone Country Club for the first time in 63 years on June 30 – July 2.
During the first two rounds, a field of 288 professional and amateur players will take on two of the three courses at Firestone, the Fazio and the North. Then, if they are one of the 60 players (plus ties) to make the cut, those players will turn to the famed South Course for the final round of the championship.
This 54-hole stroke-play event that has been won previously by such stalwarts as Jack Nicklaus, Byron Nelson, Tom Weiskopf, Herman Keiser, Bob Shave Jr., Denny Shute and Billy Burke.
Included in the field of 133 professionals and 155 amateurs are 13 former champions, including the men who won the last four championships when the tournament, conducted by the Northern Ohio Professional Golfers Association (NOPGA) was held at Westfield Country Club.
Drew Salyers (Howard) is the reigning champion, followed by 2023 winner Michael Balcar (Toledo), 2022 champion Jordan Gilkison (Springboro) and 2021 winner Jake McBride (Uniontown).
They will be joined by Bellefontaine’s Stephen Gangluff – the last repeat winner in 2018 and 2019 – as well as Newark’s Chase Wilson (2017), Fredericktown’s TT Crouch (2016), Delaware’s Tim Ailes (2014), Dublin’s Bob Sowards (2010), Lancaster’s Chris Black (1998), Youngstown’s Dennis Miller (1996), Aurora’s Mitch Camp (1993) and 1986 champion Gary Robison, who had long and successful stints as head professional or Director of Golf at Firestone (1981-2006) and Canton Brookside (2006-2020). Robison, 71, now resides in Muncie, Indiana and is an instructor at Crooked Stick Golf Club.
Robison and Camp are members of the NOPGA Hall of Fame and Sowards and Camp join Gangluff as multiple winners. Sowards is one of seven to win three Ohio Open titles, adding wins in 2002 and 2004. Camp, long-time Director of Golf as Club Walden, is one of eight to win two titles in 1985 and 1993.
Firestone Country Club has graciously welcomed the Ohio Open for the first time since Willoughby’s Bob Shave Jr. won by four shots over Ashland’s Leo Biagetti in 1962. One year earlier Frank Stranahan, who won six times on the PGA Tour, defeated Youngstown’s Ed Griffiths with a birdie on the first playoff hole after both had finished at 287. (In those days the Ohio Open was contested over 72 holes).
All three of Firestone’s distinctive courses – the Fazio, the North and the famed South — will be used in 2025. Half the field will play the Fazio Course on the first day while the other half will play the North Course (with morning and afternoon waves on both).
The fields will swap courses on the second day and the field will be cut to the low 60 scores and ties. The survivors will play the final round on the South Course.
104th OHIO OPEN FAST FACTS, FIGURES AND STATS
WHEN: June 30-July 2, 2025
WHERE: Firestone Country Club, 452 E. Warner Rd., Akron. Fazio, North and South Courses.
WHO: A total of 288 professionals (133) and amateurs (155) from throughout Ohio have entered. Players from 108 municipalities and 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties are accounted for.
CONDUCTED BY: The Northern Ohio Section of the Professional Golfers Association of America (NOPGA) assumed control of the Ohio Open in 1983. Prior to 1983 the event alternated between the NOPGA and the Southern Ohio PGA.
PLAYING FORMAT: 54 holes, stroke play. Cut to the low 60 scores plus ties after the second round. All three of Firestone’s distinctive courses – the Fazio, the North and the famed South — will be used. Half the field will play the Fazio Course on the first day while the other half plays the North Course. There will be starting waves from approximately 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. and then from 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. The fields will swap courses for the second day (same times) and the low 60 scores and ties will qualify for the final round, all conducted on the South Course.
DEFENDING CHAMPION: AT WESTFIELD COUNTRY CLUB Drew Salyers (Howard, OH). had rounds of 67-65-68=203 (10-under) to win by one shot over Jake Scott (Strongsville, 66-68-67=201), Paul Wackerly (Minerva, 71-64-66=201) and Ohio Amateur champion Andrew Bailey (Shaker Heights, 71-62-68=201).
THE RETURN TO FIRESTONE: The Open returns to Firestone Country Club for the first time in 63 years. Willoughby’s Bob Shave Jr. won in 1962 and Toledo’s Frank Stranahan won in 1961, also at Firestone. The tournament has been held at 56 courses throughout Ohio. The last four were played at Westfield Country Club. Tam O’Shanter Golf Course in Canton played host to the event 15 times (1989-2002), the most of any venue.
TITLE SPONSOR: Pyramid Treating (Roy & Kathy Kommel)
104th Ohio Open Championship Details >
FIRESTONE GOLF COURSE NOTES
FAZIO COURSE: Named after famed architect Tom Fazio, it opened in 1989 as the West Course and has played host to the NOPGA’s Ohio Senior Open every year since 2003 and for 28 times since 1996. Tom Fazio Architects redesigned it in 2021 and the course was renamed in his honor.
NORTH COURSE: Designed by Robert Trent Jones, it opened in 1969 and was the site of the PGA Tour’s American Golf Classic in 1976 and the 1994 World Series of Golf.
SOUTH COURSE: Originally designed by Bert Way, it was the first course built by Raymond Firestone and opened on August 10, 1929. Robert Trent Jones did a major renovation for the 1960 PGA Championship. It has been the site of numerous significant events, with PGA Tour Champions’ Kaulig Companies Championship – which concluded on June 22, being the most recent.
DID YOU KNOW?
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN begins Monday, June 30th and ends Wednesday, July 2nd on the three diverse courses at Firestone Country Club?
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN is a true Open, available to both professional and amateur players from throughout Ohio?
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN returns to Firestone for the first time in 63 years? It was won by Bob Shave Jr., in 1962 and Frank Stranahan in 1961.
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN will include a full complement of 288 players from more than 100 cities and more than half of Ohio’s 88 counties?
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN has a top prize of $10,000?
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN field will contain 13 former champions, including reigning champion Drew Salyers, from Howard, Ohio, and the three previous to Salyers. They are Michael Balcar (2023), Jordan Gilkison (2022), Jake McBride (2021).
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN includes players of all ages providing they have a handicap index limit less than 2.0. Westlake’s Patrick Myers and Marengo’s Jake Walker are the youngest players in the field at 15. NOPGA Hall-of-Famer Gary Robison, the 1986 winner, is the oldest at 71. Jack Nicklaus is the youngest champion of all time, winning at age 16 in 1956.
THE 104TH OHIO OPEN could be extra special for Dublin’s Bob Sowards who can become just the third four-time winner of the event, joining Ohio greats Denny Shute and Billy Burke. Sowards won in 2002, 2004 and 2010. He also stands a chance to become the only player to win the Ohio Open and the Ohio Senior Open in the same year. Sowards, Director of Instruction at Kinsale Golf & Fitness Club in Powell, Ohio, won the Senior Open for the sixth time in seven years when it was held on the Fazio Course in late May. His other Senior Open victories came in 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020 and 2019.
