The 75th playing of the Tigertown Open at The Elms Country Club in Massillon featured super-true greens, no wind, a big field of 160 players, record low scores, large cash payouts, and a couple of skins pot sweeps.
33 players finished the day under par in 2026 — that’s how good were the scoring conditions.
In the Professional Division, Fremont’s Brandon Hoelzer made nine birdies and an eagle to tie the tournament and course record of 11-under par 61, matching the mark set by Strongsville’s Jake Scott back in 2019. But despite all of the fireworks, Hoelzer’s biggest putt was the last of his round, for par.
We’ll let him tell the tale.
“I caught the second shot a little thin and it went to the back edge,” recounted the champion, who was playing the Tigertown for the first time and did not know the dangers lurking above the 18th hole at The Elms. “I didn’t realize how fast it was. But I thought the putt was for 59 — and I’ve never had a putt for 59 — so I didn’t want to leave it short. And I did not! I hit it about 12 feet past the hole, but then made the come-backer.”
Asked about his score, the long-hitting Korn Ferry Tour player noted his nine birdies and a chip-in on the reachable par-4 14th for eagle. “It was a solid day for the most part, I didn’t really do anything too poorly,” Hoelzer said with a laugh.
‘Not too poorly’ was good for the $5,000 first place professional prize, the largest one-day payout in Ohio golf.
Hoelzer needed that come-backer for par, too, as 2024 Tigertown co-champion Mike Van Sickle of Pittsburgh finished just one shot behind with a 10-under par 62 total. Van Sickle made a bogey at the challenging par-4 16th hole, the difference maker in his attempt for a second title.
Three-time Tigertown Open champion Blake Sattler put together another strong performance with a solo third place finish, shooting 9-under par 63.
The Senior Professional division race was an absolute blow-out. Minerva’s Paul Wackerly, who for the second consecutive year double-dipped entries into both professional divisions, finished in solo fourth place in the main Pro division at 8-under par 64 — a score that won the Senior Pro title by a whopping nine shots. The ultimate title defense.
For as wide a margin in the Senior Pro chase, the exact opposite was the case in the Amateur Division.
Sagamore Hills’ Jimmy Wild posted 6-under par 66 in the first group from the first tee on Friday morning, and rode out a series of challengers to take the Amateur victory.
Benjamin Bridges, Brian Myers, and Connor Ritter all finished at 5-under par 67, and all had legitimate chances to match Wild. Myers had reached the 6-under par mark but made bogey at the last, while Bridges and Ritter both settled for par on 18.
Shaun Kloetzer also had a chance in the first group off the back nine in the morning wave. Reaching 5-under par with four holes to play, Kloetzer couldn’t find a birdie coming in and suffered a bogey at the last to share T5 with Jarrod Kasunick, Ryan Sam, and Mark Pillar.
In the Senior Amateur Division, the record-setting score from two years ago was eclipsed this year.
In 2024, Fairlawn’s Howard Clendenin posted 9-under par 63 in a blowout win. He won the division again in 2025, shooting 66.
This year, Pittsburgh’s Rick Stimmel bettered that Senior record mark by one, shooting 10-under par 62 in a round that featured two eagles, seven birdies, and a bogey (at the 18th, his ninth hole of the day).
In a round that took awhile to heat up, Clendenin finished in second place behind Stimmel at 8-under par 64. But when the defending Senior champ did get his momentum, the round derailed with a disastrous OB tee shot at the par-4 12th, leading to double-bogey. That error lit a fire under Clendenin, as he finished his last six holes in 7-under par, with two eagles and five birdies.
Stimmel and Clendenin finished five shots clear of the rest of the Senior Am field.
The skins results were unique this year, as two of the four skins pots in play were swept: in the Amateur skins, HJ Wenger made eagle-3 on the par-5 8th as the solo skin in the division, earning a tidy $1,740; for the Pros, Gunnar McCollins made an eagle-3 on the par-5 15th, good for $540 as the only untied hole.
2026 TIGERTOWN OPEN PHOTO GALLERY >
FINAL RESULTS:
2026 Tigertown Open
The Elms Country Club, Massillon
Friday, July 17, 2016
Hole-by-Hole Results >
PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
1 Brandon Hoelzer 61 $5,000.00
2 Mike Van Sickle 62 $1,500.00
3 Blake Sattler 63 $1,000.00
4 Paul Wackerly 64 $500.00
5 Maxwell Moldovan 65 $400.00
T6 Solomon Petrie 66 $150.00
T6 Gunnar McCollins 66 $150.00
T8 TT Crouch 68
T8 Nathan Tarter 68
T8 Connor Gdovin 68
T8 Michael Balcar 68
T12 Logan Lagodich 69
T12 Trevor Binau 69
T12 Avery Schneider 69
T15 Connor Curry 71
T15 Dylan Van Fossen 71
T17 Jason Goodendorf 72
T17 Ben Cors 72
T17 Justin Moose 72
T17 Randy Dietz 72
21 Nicholas Mollica 74
22 Michael Donovan Jr 75
23 Joshua Hettrick 76
T24 Jacob English 78
T24 Mason Laird 78
T26 Jay Schiffbauer 79
T26 Pat Weaver 79
Professional Skins: $540 ea
Gunnar McCollins – Eagle on 15
SENIOR PROFESSIONAL DIVISION
1 Paul Wackerly 64 $1,500.00
2 Scott Savage 73
3 James Cichra 76
4 Tony Mollica 80
5 Davey Snyder 81
6 Russell Papa 84
Senior Professional Skins: $13.33 ea
Paul Wackerly (5) – Birdie on 1, Birdie on 6, Birdie on 8, Eagle on 14, Birdie on 15
James Cichra (2) – Birdie on 2, Birdie on 7
Scott Savage – Birdie on 18
Tony Mollica – Birdie on 9
AMATEUR DIVISION
1 Jimmy Wild 66 $800.00
T2 Benjamin Bridges 67 $380.00
T2 Brian Myers 67 $380.00
T2 Connor Ritter 67 $380.00
T5 Shaun Kloetzer 68 $181.25
T5 Jarrod Kasunick 68 $181.25
T5 Ryan Sam 68 $181.25
T5 Mark Pillar 68 $181.25
9 Rocco Turner 69 $125.00
T10 Daniel Belden 70 $98.33
T10 Jacob Rainieri 70 $98.33
T10 Jared Feller 70 $98.33
T13 zach drukenbrod 71 $61.25
T13 Joshua Clay 71 $61.25
T13 Ryan Gutowski 71 $61.25
T13 Rendall Weaver 71 $61.25
T17 Christian Tomak 72 $30.00
T17 Hunter Lowder 72 $30.00
T17 Cameron Henry 72 $30.00
T17 Blake Doty 72 $30.00
T17 Wilson Magers 72 $30.00
T22 Rich Mastcko 73
T22 Jake Tinsley 73
T22 Daniel Mosher 73
T25 Greyson Phister 74
T25 Luke Gutman 74
T25 Zach Huscusson 74
T25 Vincent Whitehead 74
T29 Dustin ALCORN 75
T29 Garrick Tucker 75
T29 Alex Miday 75
T29 Brian Gamble 75
T29 aaron detweiler 75
T29 Max Baker 75
T29 Noah Dever 75
T29 Ty VanBulck 75
T37 Charlly Pak 76
T37 Jake Hassman 76
T37 Colin McCoy 76
T37 Bradley Jones 76
T37 HJ Wenger 76
T42 Fritz Houston II 77
T42 Zac Isla 77
T42 Joseph Gonzalez 77
T42 Austin Basham 77
T46 Bryan Jones 78
T46 Evan Yoder 78
T46 Camden Bille 78
T46 Paul Ajak III 78
T50 John Pattakos 79
T50 Erik Hazen 79
T50 Ryan Augustitus 79
T50 Jeff Deal 79
T50 Aiden Koehler 79
T50 Chris Jellel 79
T56 Adam Sibila 80
T56 Tyler Fichter 80
T56 Christian Creamer 80
T56 Seth Marsh 80
T60 Jason Grywalsky 81
T60 AJ Solvey 81
T60 Joshua Prok 81
T60 Yianni Vellios 81
T60 Tyler Watkins 81
T65 Adam Arman 82
T65 Antonio Fernandez 82
T65 John Vellios 82
T68 Carl Lemmon 83
T68 Raffaele Scassa 83
T70 Andrew Shyu 84
T70 Justin Lenox 84
T70 Aaron Rich 84
T73 Jake Ketler 85
T73 Mike Sullivan 85
T73 Gage Bonifant 85
76 Rob Loomis 86
T77 Gregory Gaitanos 88
T77 Christopher Tolbert 88
T79 Heath Manson 89
T79 Robert Morgan 89
81 Rocco Dibartolo 90
T82 David Walterhouse 92
T82 Jacob Metzger 92
84 tyler baker 112
WD Christopher Whitehead WD
WD Evan Jenkins WD
Amateur Skins: $1,740 ea
HJ Wenger – Eagle on 8
SENIOR AMATEUR DIVISION
1 Rick Stimmel 62 $510.00
2 Howard Clendenin 64 $380.00
T3 David Trier 69 $205.00
T3 Chris Walker 69 $205.00
5 John Kabasky 70 $100.00
T6 Dean Cutlip 72 $55.00
T6 Rick Bryson 72 $55.00
T6 Jeff Wenger 72 $55.00
T6 Tom Laubacher 72 $55.00
10 Ty Kovach 73 $20.00
11 Chuck Woody 74
T12 Edward Diebold 75
T12 Raul Mendoza 75
T12 Nick Lambos 75
T12 Brian Huntley 75
T12 Lou Boarman 75
T12 Rodney Bordman 75
T12 Robert Schustrich 75
T19 Eric Crone 76
T19 Mark Ciccarello 76
T21 Brian Beebe 77
T21 michael patton 77
T21 Lawrence Criswell 77
T21 David Oates 77
T21 Matt Bitikofer 77
T21 Mark Schneider 77
27 Jeff Mihalick 78
T28 Bob Ferencz 79
T28 Scott Loudon 79
T28 Paul Ferguson 79
31 Troy Luckenbaugh 80
32 Jon Bonsky 81
33 Ron Rositani 83
34 Jonathan Gerhardt 86
35 Gary Congin 87
36 Dave Mosley 89
37 Greg Wood 91
38 Denny Earl 100
39 DOUG BELLROSE 106
WD Mark Thomas WD
WD John Sales WD
Senior Amateur Skins: $137.67
Howard Clendenin (2) – Eagle on 13, Eagle on 15
Rick Stimmel (2) – Birdie on 6, Eagle on 14
Rick Bryson – Birdie on 12
John Kabasky – Eagle on 8
