John Napoli Wins Northeast Ohio Open by Six Strokes Over Scott Buddie
Jeff Brown Holds on to Win APA Division
John Napoli playing course #1 at the Warren, OH Course.
Jeff Brown and John Napoli
(left to right).7 September 2002 - Warren, OH - John Napoli of Sagamore Hills recently returned to Northeast Ohio from Clearwater Beach, FL, just in time to record his first 2002 GLT victory in the Northeast Ohio Open. The GLT debut of Course 1 at the Putt-Putt on Youngstown Blvd. facility turned out to be much to Napoli’s liking, as he shot a brilliant 48 for his final 36 holes to finish with a score of 75. Napoli recorded individual rounds of 27-24-24.
Napoli found himself a stroke behind the foursome of Scott Buddie of Westlake, Bill Thompson of Olmsted Falls, Jim Engel of Canfield and John Bambling of Pittsburgh, PA at the completion of the first round. But no one could keep pace with Napoli’s back-to-back 24’s in the final two rounds. Buddie finished a distant second at 81, but received a GLT spot for his performance. Bambling finished third at 82, while Thompson and Columbus’ Brandon Yee tied for fourth at 83.
Scott Buddie then went on to win the pro match play, defeating Pittsburgh’s Mike O’Rourke in sudden death in the final match. No players seeking spots advanced beyond the quarter finals, so a three-way playoff for the GLT spot was won by Cincinnati’s John Ventura, defeating Paul Pastilong of Maple Heights and Tom O’Brien of Cleveland.
Jeff Brown, APA winner of the Northeast Ohio Open.In the APA division, Jeff Brown of North Olmsted fired an opening round 26 and had positioned himself into a two-shot lead after two rounds over Bill Wahls of North Ridgeville. But Brown’s costly triple-bogey 5 at No. 17 early in the final round allowed Wahls to catch up, along with James Weber of Cincinnati. But neither Wahls nor Weber could take advantage of the opportunity, and Brown held on for a one-stroke victory, his third on the 2002 GLT. No APA player shot lower than 31 in the final round.
Anthony Amick of Canal Winchester continued his dominance of GLT amateur match play by defeating Bill Wahls in the finals. Amick has won five match play events on the GLT this year.
Scores provided and tournament recap provided by Bill Thompson.
Professional Division of the Northeast Ohio Open
(Warren, OH - Course #1 - 7 September 2002)
Round Prize GLT Match GLT Player 1 2 3 Total Money Points Play Spots 1 John Napoli 27 24 24 75 $150.00 110.00 1-1 2 Scott Buddie 26 27 28 81 $165.00 110.00 4-0 MATCH 3 John Bambling 26 28 28 82 $90.00 80.00 0-1 4 Bill Thompson 26 30 27 83 $90.00 82.50 2-1 Brandon Yee 30 27 26 83 $75.00 72.50 0-1 6 Craig Williams 28 29 27 84 $71.00 70.00 2-1 Ken Hastings 29 29 26 84 $56.00 60.00 0-1 Jim Heikkinen 30 27 27 84 $56.00 60.00 0-1 9 Mike O'Rourke 31 27 27 85 $80.00 61.00 3-1 10 Jim Engel 26 31 29 86 43.33 0-1 John Ventura 27 33 26 86 43.33 1-1 MATCH Rick Alessi 28 27 31 86 40.33 0-1 13 Jay Hadsell 27 30 30 87 37.00 1-1 14 Tom O'Brien 27 33 28 88 37.50 2-1 Paul Johns 31 29 28 88 29.50 0-1 16 Roger Beckerman 28 29 32 89 23.50 0-1 Dave Nutini 32 29 28 89 26.50 1-1 18 Bill Baus 30 33 28 91 22.00 1-1 Harry Sykes 32 28 31 91 19.00 0-1 20 Dom Perry 34 29 29 92 16.00 0-1 21 Paul Pastilong 31 31 32 94 21.00 2-1 Jim White 30 32 32 94 13.00 0-1 Amateur Division of the Northeast Ohio Open
(Warren, OH - Course #1 - 7 September 2002)
Round Expense GLT Match GLT Player
1
2
3
Total
Money
Points
Play
Spots
1 Jeff Brown 26 28 32 86 $30.00 47.00 0-1 2 Bill Wahls 29 27 31 87 $35.00 43.00 2-1 3 James Weber 31 26 31 88 $25.00 37.00 1-1 4 Barb Mingo 28 31 33 92 33.00 0-1 5 Anthony Amick 31 30 32 93 $20.00 38.00 3-0 6 Andy McCoy 27 37 32 96 29.00 0-1 7 Bill Combs 35 32 36 103 27.00 0-1
