Golf: Remodeled Moraine a challenge for area’s top players

Members of Moraine Country Club got a good assessment of the quality of their remodeled golf course last Monday when 81 of the area’s best golfers played 18 holes on it while attempting to qualify for the 2017 Ohio Amateur Championship.

In sunny and windy conditions, one player broke par. That was Sam Meek, a Wright State University junior from Oak Hills High School in Cincinnati.

Per instructions from the Ohio Golf Association, the course was played at 6,765 yards from the blue tees. Meek turned in a 68, which was 3 under par with Moraine’s 17th hole – normally a 470-yard par 5 – playing as a par 4. The championship yardage is 7,270.

Meek had Moraine member and WSU teammate Austin Sipe caddying for him, and he did some excellent putting as he led the field.

Two entrants, Paul Day of Kettering and Christopher Reese of Cedarville, shot 72. There were three 73s, three 74s and three 75s. Three players got in at 78 after a playoff that discarded four others.

“If we had the tees all the way back,” Moraine golf professional Brent Sipe said Wednesday, “we’d still be playing.”

The most difficult hole was the par 3 No. 2 with an average of 3.914 strokes. It was followed by the 17th (4.778), the par 4 No. 3 (4.741) and the re-designed par 3 No. 15 (3.704) Golfers were playing into the wind on Nos. 2, 3 and 15.

Twenty-six players qualified for the Ohio Am July 11-14 at Springfield Country Club. Qualifiers from the Miami valley are: Day, Reese, Cameron Willis of Eaton, Luke Wells and Colin Laszio of Springfield and Jeffrey Scohy of Bellbrook.

Also: Jake and Josh Gilkison of Springboro, Chris Coleman of Waynesville, Pete Samborsky II and Brady Marinangeli of Dayton, Alex Flick of Beavercreek, Bill LeBoeuf of Oakwood, John Burke of Minster and Brandon Weiss of Vandalia.

Exempt from qualifying are: Sipe of Centerville, Ryan Flick of Beavercreek and Ryan Wenzler of Dayton who finished in the top 20 last year.

Ben Hogenkamp of New Albany qualified at Moundbuilders Country Club in Newark while Andy Mayhew of Oakwood and his former UD teammate, Nicolas Paxson of Cincinnati, were among 15 qualifiers in a field of 48 at Coldstream Country Club in Cincinnati.

Four Dayton-area players are entered in the final qualifier Thursday at Red Hawk Run Golf Club in Findlay. They are: Austin Greaser, Rick Cherubini and Rick’s sons, A.J. and Eric Cherubini.

U.S. Open Sectional competition will be held tomorrow in Columbus and Springfield.

Many touring pros who played in the Memorial Tournament will try to qualify in Columbus by playing 18 holes each at Brookside Golf & Country Club and The Lakes Country Club.

The field at Springfield Country Club includes long-hitting Tony Finau, the medalist at SCC two years ago when he tied for 14th in the Open at Chambers Bay, Oregon.

Chip shots

• The Optimist Ohio South Junior Championship will be held Monday at Yankee Trace Golf Course. The tournament is dedicated to Tom Frazier, who started the Ohio Optimist event 36 years ago.

• The City of Dayton’s Men’s Match Play Championship will be played at Madden Golf Course Thursday through Sunday.

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