Balcar Wins His Fourth Title in Five Years
Prior to the start of the 56th Assistants Championship conducted by the Northern Ohio Section of the PGA, the question was asked if Michael Balcar would be able to win a fourth title in the last five years, equaling the record mark set by former Westwood Professional Todd Lancaster.
If things go as planned, Balcar, 32, said he hopes to reach Class A status by the end of the year which would make him eligible to compete in the Northern Ohio PGA Section Professional Championship at Tippecanoe Country Club in 2026.
Balcar, in his sixth year as an assistant at Brandywine Country Club, used a bogey-free, first-round, 6-under 66 and the fortitude to rebound from an unfortunate incident early in his final round to shoot even-par at Oberlin Golf Club to win by one shot over Chagrin Valley Country Club’s Antonio Bodziony and Oberlin’s Alex Treuel, both of whom shot rounds of 70-69=139.
Balcar’s 66-72=138 finish assured him a spot in the Section’s prestigious Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship at the end of the month and perhaps more importantly the opportunity to play 49th Assistant PGA Professional Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla. in November.
While Bodziony and Treuel finished second they are ineligible to compete at the national as they are still in level one of the program and players must be matriculated into level 2 of the associate program (and be a “B-8 classification”) or a Class A (“A-8 Classification”) to advance.
Their spot will be taken by Canterbury Assistant Anthony Panepento (70-72=142). It marks the second year in a row that Balcar and Panepento, two of the Section’s prominent up-and-comers, will represent the area in Florida.
Balcar’s 66 gave him a 4-shot lead over Bodziony, Treuel and Panepento that he maintained comfortably until the 545-yard 17th hole, his eighth after starting on the back nine in round two.
“I felt in control of myself through that whole round,” Balcar said of his 6-under round. “I was hitting my driver well and hit a lot of fairways.”
We all know things can go awry in a heartbeat for a variety of reasons. It happens to the best of them (see Tommy Fleetwood, Greg Norman, Jean Van de Velde, etc.) and it happened to Balcar on the 17th.
With Bodziony and Treuel breathing down his neck, Balcar hit a 305-yard drive to the first cut on the right, leaving him 240 yards out. That’s when things went a little haywire.
He pulled his second shot across the fairway into a sparse area of trees, leaves and a small ground-under-repair spot and flirted with the out-of-bounds.
A problem arose when no one saw the ball come to rest. Not playing partners Kyle Buzaki and Justin Roth, not three spectators/observers and not Balcar.
A search began and as the three-minute hunt time came close to expiring, Balcar jumped in his cart and returned to the spot of his original shot to reload. Just as he dropped a ball his original was found, clearly in play with a partially obstructed path to the green approximately 45 yards away. In true sportsman fashion Balcar called for a ruling and the rule book was scoured.
Bottom line is that the instant Balcar’s drop came to rest it was deemed “in play” and a penalty stroke was issued. He eventually made a double-bogey seven and his lead had vanished with Bodziony and Balcar tied at 5-under.
To his credit Balcar recovered and parred his next four holes but not without a touch of drama on the 397-yard second. He nearly drove his ball into a penalty area on the left but a short search found it about 12 inches inside the stakes. He hit a marvelous second over a greenside bunker to three feet. While his birdie attempt lipped out he tapped in for par. Calamity averted.
“I definitely had a scare on 17 and ended up with a double, but I thought I did a decent job of composing myself,” he said. “I was fortunate that my ball kicked out of the trees on two. I mean, if it goes in the hazard, who knows? I didn’t get the birdie but I made a stress-free par.”
Balcar, 32, made a critical birdie from eight feet on the 376-yard fourth and made an even more critical par-save on the 412-yard seventh. His drive found the fairway bunker on the left and his second hit the lip of a greenside bunker and fell back into the trap.
He blasted to six feet and made what could be called his most important putt of the day, getting up-and-down for par that kept his lead safe.
“The up-and-down was really big,” he said. “I knew I had to make it because I was checking the leaderboard after the double on 17 and saw that Antonio and a couple other guys were playing well.”
He flirted with disaster on the 525-yard ninth when a drive with his 3-wood nearly stopped about five feet from the water on the right. He smartly hit a 7-iron to about 90 yards to the middle of the fairway – ignoring the temptation to fly it over the left edge of the water — and made par to clinch it.
“That was the toughest 90-yard shot,” he said, explaining that his ball came to rest on the top-side of a divot, missing it by an inch. “I probably should have hit a 4-iron or 7-wood off the tee instead of the 3-wood. I thought hard about going over the water but it really wasn’t worth it. But I did give it some thought.”
Obviously, the reward was greater than the risk.
While he had some missed opportunities down the stretch, including on the 473-yard sixth when he hit his drive 349 yards. He missed a 12-footer for the birdie that would have made life easier.
Several players made significant improvement from the first 18 holes to the second. Shaker Heights Country Club’s Austin Karchefsky went 87-73. Kyle Buzaki (Glenmoor) went 75-69. Palmer Yenrick (Stone Oak) went 74-69 and Shaker’s Jordan Paolini went 74-71.
Bodziony started his second 18 on the front after an opening 2-under 70. He quickly got to 3-under with a birdie on the second and to 4-under – and within shooting distance of Balcar – with another on the ninth.
Birdies on the 13th and 14th gave him a brief share of the lead but a double-bogey on the par-3 16th ended his hopes.
Balcar did not take his victory for granted.
“There are a lot of great players in the Section,” he said. “Antonio, Alex, Anthony Panepento, DJ Holub and many others are really, really good. So, it’s an honor and I feel great about winning this event and being a part of such a great championship. I beat a lot of great players today.”
PHOTO GALLERY: 2025 NOPGA Assistants Championship >
FINAL RESULTS: Northern Ohio PGA
2025 NOPGA Assistants Championship
Oberlin Golf Club, Oberlin, Ohio
Tuesday, September 2, 2025
Blue Golf Hole-by-Hole Results >
1. Michael Balcar, Toledo, OH, Brandywine Country Club, $1,600.00, *66-72-138 -6
2. Antonio Bodziony, Mentor, OH, Chagrin Valley Country Club, $1,100.00, *70-69-139 -5
2. Alex Treuel, Elyria, OH, Oberlin Golf Club, $1,100.00, *70-69-139 -5
4. Anthony Panepento, Wooster, OH, Canterbury Golf Club, $900.00, *70-72-142 -2
5. Palmer Yenrick, Oregon, OH, Stone Oak Country Club, $850.00, *74-69-143 -1
6. Kyle Buzaki, Stow, OH, Glenmoor Country Club, $750.00, *75-69-144 E
7. Jordan Paolini, Tallmadge, OH, Shaker Heights Country Club, $600.00, *74-71-145 +1
7. DJ Holub, Twinsburg, OH, Pepper Pike Club, $600.00, *72-73-145 +1
9. Ben Bastel, Toledo, OH, Lincoln Hills Golf Club, $450.00, *72-74-146 +2
10. Sean McGuire, Twinsburg, OH, Pepper Pike Club, $400.00, *72-76-148 +4
10. Riley Wilcoxon, Bellefontaine, OH, Liberty Hills Golf Club, $400.00, *75-73-148 +4
10. Chris Capriolo, Westlake, OH, Cappy’s Club Repair, $400.00, *72-76-148 +4
13. Dustin Roth, Norwalk, OH, Eagle Creek Golf Club, $350.00, *74-75-149 +5
14. Matthew Nimsuwan, Strongsville, OH, Brookside Country Club, $312.50, *75-75-150 +6
14. David Morgan, Wellington, OH, Westfield Group Country Club, $312.50, *73-77-150 +6
16. Anthony Cosentino, Northfield, OH, Beechmont Country Club, $275.00, *77-74-151 +7
17. Derek Smith, Parma, OH, Red Tail Golf Club, $158.33, *77-75-152 +8
17. Anthony Julius, Mayfield Heights, OH, The Mayfield Sand Ridge Club – Mayfield, $158.33, *78-74-152 +8
17. Conner Stevens, Brookfield Center, OH, Pine Lakes Golf Club, $158.33, *76-76-152 +8
FULL FIELD RESULTS >
QUALIFIERS
1. Michael Balcar, Toledo, OH, Brandywine Country Club, *66-72-138 -6
2. Anthony Panepento, Wooster, OH, Canterbury Golf Club, *70-72-142 -2
ALTERNATES – IN ORDER
3. DJ Holub, Twinsburg, OH, Pepper Pike Club, *72-73-145 +1
3. Jordan Paolini, Tallmadge, OH, Shaker Heights Country Club, *74-71-145 +1
5. Ben Bastel, Toledo, OH, Lincoln Hills Golf Club, *72-74-146 +2
