WRITTEN BY: Jack Rubin

AKRON, OH --   The Ohio Senior Amateur Championship includes two divisions, played from different tees. The Senior Division includes players ages of 55 and up, while the Super Senior Division is set at ages 65 and above.

The champion of the Senior Division will be exempt for the 2024, 2025, and 2026 Ohio Amateur Championship's.

ABOUT THE COURSE

Portage Country Club was founded in 1894 and is one of the oldest clubs in America.

In 1936, A.W. Tillinghast, the famous architect who designed Winged Foot Golf Club, Baltusrol Golf Club, Bethpage State Park, San Francisco Golf Club, and many other renowned golf courses, did reconstructive work to Portage’s course. In 2014, Portage hired Schreiner Golf, Inc. to reconstruct its bunkers, improve drainage and do other renovations to the golf course. Otherwise, the course has more or less remained in its original state since inception.

Former Portage golf professional Denny Shute won the 1927 Ohio Amateur title, 1933 British Open, was a 2-time PGA Championship winner, and a member of four Ryder Cup teams.

EVENT SCORECARD(s): https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/4863625

FIELD NOTES

A pair of two-time Ohio Senior Amateur champions will tee it up at Portage this week:

Defending champion Buck Baumann, who won last year at his home club (Fremont CC), also won in 2011.

Columbus' TJ Brudzinski won the 2022 edition at Youngstown CC and the 2018 Senior Amateur at Denison.

Tom Laubacher (Aurora), Ken Kinkopf (Dublin), and Jim Durr (Silver Lake) will look to join them as two-time winners of the event.

In the Super Senior division, Randy Reifers (Milford) headlines the field as a three-time winner of the Ohio Senior Amateur Championship.

Powell's Ray Sovik is in the field as a past champion of the Super Senior Division. Sovik took home medalist honors in the Super Senior Division at Youngstown CC in 2022.

Ralph Guarasci (Powell) will look for his first Ohio Golf Association trophy in 50 years. Guarasci won the 1972 and 1974 Ohio Junior Championship's, which bookended his three-peat of the OHSAA high school indiviudal and team state championships.

ROUND 1 PAIRINGS: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/4687430


 HOW TO FOLLOW

X: @Ohiogolf
Instagram: @ohiogolf1904
Facebook: Ohio Golf Association
Live Leaderboard: https://www.golfgenius.com/pages/4687433