1st Annual Buckeye Cup
The Buckeye Cup at Oglebay
Oglebay, WV, November 8th, 2021 —BJGT held its 1st ever Buckeye Cup this weekend. This tournament has been a year in the making and it turned out exactly as we had planned. Close matches coming down the wire and a total point score that was not decided until the final Singles Matches on Sunday evening. This Ryder Cup style tournament featured teams from Western PA, Eastern PA, Maryland and Virginia/DC Metro/Wild Card. Dig into all the fun from this past weekend’s tournament in the Press Release below.
Round 1 – Saturday, Novemebr 7th, — A little frost delay never hurt anyone. Being November we had planned for some frost in the morning but after it burned off the day ended up being beautiful for our players.
Instead of our usual Division-by-Division breakdown we are going to talk about some of the premier matches of the tournament. Saturday Morning, we started off with Fourball. Fourball is a Match Play game where you and your partner both finish the hole and take the best score between you two against your opponent’s best score. The matches started off on a fantastic note, with our first pairing going to hole 17. Lane Krosse/Tanner Fackler representing team Eastern PA versus Noah Segui/Adam Green representing team Maryland. Krosse/Fackler made Par on Hole-17 to Segui/Green’s Bogey to take the Hole and win the Match 2&1. An even better match was taking place right behind these Boys. With Shiv Bhaskar/Max Houck representing team VA/DC/WC versus Blake Bertolo/Matthew Karpeal representing team Western PA. Bertolo/Karpeal’s amazing Par on Hole-18 cemented the match in a 1-Up for team Western PA. Wow, what a crazy start to Fourball the pairing right behind the first two went into Hole-17 as well. Mason Tucker/Alistair Demko representing team Eastern PA were playing Ethan Rice/Kyle McClintock representing team Western PA. Ethan and Kyle’s Par on Hole-17 sealed the deal to end the Match 3&1. Another great match that went to Hole-17 was the pairing of Branden Palen/Nolan Vogel representing team Maryland versus Patrick Bush/Griffin Hansberry from Western PA. This match was back and forth all morning and was All Square going into Hole-16. A Bogey on Hole-16 and a Par on Hole-17 were enough for Bush/Hansberry to win the match 2&1. Maybe the most exciting matchup of the day was the pairing of brothers Aidan Tudor/Landon Tudor representing team Maryland taking on good friends Jesse Shue/JP Radwanski representing team Eastern PA. The Tudor’s took a commanding lead early going 3-Up by Hole-5. Jesse and JP clawed their way back making the match All Square after 9-Holes. The match was All Square heading into Hole-14. Jesse and JP were clinging to a 1-Up leading going into Hole-18 and knew a tie on the hole would secure the win. Jesse and JP both ended with Pars and Aidan did as well finishing this extremely tight match in a 1-up win for team Eastern PA. In the final premier matchup of our Fourball games it was the pairing of Callahan Harrell/Annalie Tutt representing team Eastern PA taking on Alexander Eckstein/Ben Miller representing team VA/DC/WC. This match was All Square after 10-holes. After Harrell/Tutt took the lead on Hole-12 they would not give it up the rest of the way finishing the match 2&1. After the Fourball matches we moved into an afternoon 9-holes of Foursomes to end Round 1.
Round 1 Team Leaderboard
|
Team |
Fourball Points |
|
Eastern Pennsylvania |
5 |
|
Western Pennsylvania |
4 |
|
Maryland |
3 |
|
Virginia/DC/Wild Card |
0 |
Round 2 – Sunday, November 7th – It was another chilly morning with a frost delay. The frost delay actually ended up being welcomed as we were able to get all the teams together to sign their large state flags and get team pictures. Everyone was wearing their team-colored hats and we there was a lot of eager faces during pictures that were preparing for Round 2.
In Round 2 we were finishing up the Foursomes matches from Saturday Afternoon Rounds. Foursomes is a game where you alternate shots with you and your partner taking on another team doing the exact same thing. You alternate taking tee shots with one partner taking even holes and another taking odd holes. Here are some of the premier matchups of our Foursome Pairings. The pairing of Blake Bertolo/Ethan Rice were locked in another tight battle against Noah Segui/Zachary Wilcox representing team Maryland. This one ended up going all 18-Holes. With Bertolo/Rice needing to snag a hole in the final 2 they delivered on 17th-hole of the match making Birdie and sending the match to All Square. Both pairings ended 18 with a Par earning well deserved half points for both of their teams. Shiv Bhaskar/Mac Arida representing team Virginia/DC/WC were also locked in a tight contest against Lane Krosse/Mason Tucker. After Krosse/Tucker went 4-Up early in the match Bhaskar/Arida made a huge comeback on the Back-9 but it wasn’t enough after they Double Bogeyed Hole-17 allowing Krosse/Tucker to take the match 2&1. Team VA/DC/WC were locked in tight matches the entire tournament they were just having trouble pulling them out. Max Houck/Joseph Thoburn representing team VA/DC/WC took a solid pairing of Seth Callaway/Patrick Bush representing team Western PA to Hole-17. Unfortunately, just like their teammates ahead of them a critical Double Bogey on Hole-17 allowed Bush/Callaway to take the match 3&1. Another great matchup was Tanner Fackler/Alistair Demko taking on Brandon Palen/Aidan Tudor. This was probably the best Foursomes match of the tournament. Neither one of these pairings for more than a 1-Up lead and the match ended at All Square after all 18-holes. The final premier matchup of Foursomes was Nolan Vogel/Nicholas Mantzouranis representing team Maryland and Jackson Baxter/Jonah Schollaert representing team Western PA. Vogel/Mantzouranis got off to a torrid start taking a 2-Up lead going into the Back-9. They stretched their lead to 4-Up after Hole-13. But, with 3 straight Pars Baxter/Schollaert took 3 straight holes and the match sat at 1-Up going into 17. Unfortunately for them a Bogey on Hole-17 led to a failed comeback attempt and Vogel/Mantzouranis ended up winning the match 2&1.
Round 2 Team Leaderboard
|
Team |
Foursomes Points |
Fourball Points |
Total Points |
|
Eastern Pennsylvania |
3.5 |
5 |
8.5 |
|
Western Pennsylvania |
4.5 |
4 |
8.5 |
|
Maryland |
4 |
3 |
7 |
|
Virginia/DC/Wild Card |
0 |
0 |
0 |
Just like it should it was going to all comedown to Round 3 Singles Match Play. Singles Match Play is just like it sounds. It is you versus one other person trying to win more holes than your opponent. It was an extremely tight battle between the Top 3 Regions so we knew these were going to be fun to watch. Below are some of the premier matchups of Singles. Noah Segui and Shiv Bhaskar were locked in tight battles through Foursomes and Fourball so why not have their Singles Match Play go into Hole-18. Shiv owned the Back-9 while Noah owned the Front-9. Noah took a 1-Up lead after 13-holes and rode that wave all the way to the finish line for 1-Up victory. 2 great team Virginia matches in a row. Maxwell Houck was battling Ethan Rice throughout their entire match. Max ended up Parring Hole-18 while Ethan took a Bogey. Max earns Team Virginia/DC/Wild Card their first point of the Buckeye Cup, early in Singles Match Play! Another close match for Team Virginia. Alistair Demko was taking on Ethan Bartlett representing team Virginia/DC/WC, as he was trying to keep Eastern PA in the running for the Cup. The match was close all day but Alistair hung on the final couple of holes to take the Win 3&1 earning team Eastern PA a crucial point in the process. In the opposite scenario Patrick Bush was taking on Jimmy Goldsborough representing team MD. This was a huge match as a win for Bush would have given team Western PA an extremely good chance at taking the Cup in the middle part of Round 3. Patrick unfortunately had a couple of Bogeys down the stretch as Jimmy was Parring. Goldsborough ended up taking the match on the 17th-hole, 2&1. By this point in the Buckeye Cup things were getting very tight with Eastern PA, Western PA and Maryland all still having chances at the Win late into Singles Match Play. Aidan Tudor was locked in another tight battle in his Singles Match taking on Nicholas Caggiano representing team VA/DC/WC. This match went to the 18th-hole with Caggiano getting a crucial Par and taking the hole to win the Match 1-Up. Team VA/DC/WC earns their 2nd point of the Buckeye Cup! Ben Miller representing team VA/DC/WC and Chase Loden representing team Maryland were our final group out there in Round 3. Giving everyone a good show to end this match went All Square 5 times in 18-Holes. Loden eventually took a Par on 18 to win the Match 1-Up. In the most pivotal match of the entire tournament, it was Tyler Mocello representing team Western PA taking on Lawson Leeper representing team Eastern PA. This match was huge as it was the 2 regions that still had a chance at the Cup late into Singles Match Play. A point for either team was going to be huge. The match went All Square 5-Times, neither of them wanted to giveaway any holes. The pairing went into Hole-17 with Mocello taking a Bogey to barely win the match 2&1. It was bedlam for Team Western PA, who clinched the Buckeye Cup with that point. The comradery and cohesiveness that team Western PA showed throughout the tournament may have been the turning point. They were cheering each other on as they watched teammates finish their matches, high-fiving and celebrating. What a victory! Every single region fought hard for their teammates throughout the entire tournament and the final scores show that.
Final Buckeye Cup Results
|
Team |
Singles Points |
Foursomes Points |
Fourball Points |
Total Points |
|
Western Pennsylvania |
9 |
4.5 |
4 |
17.5 |
|
Eastern Pennsylvania |
6 |
3.5 |
5 |
14.5 |
|
Maryland |
7 |
4 |
3 |
14.0 |
|
Virginia/DC/Wild Card |
2 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
What a fantastic end to the 2021 Season! This Ryder Cup style tournament was something that our Executive Director Arick Downard had been working on for almost a year. It ended up exactly how we intended with great competitiveness, extremely fun matchups, some great friendships and team comradery and a final score that would come down to the wire. We will for sure be doing this again next year and with how well it went spots are looking like that may be extremely competitive. Thank you so much to everyone who participated. The junior golfers are the reason we do this and we hope that you had as much fun as we did.
We want to thank every single one of you for making our 2021 Season the best yet. We might be biased but we think we have the best Members of any junior tour in the country. You all inspire us on a weekly basis. Our players keep getting better every year as almost every single BJGT scoring record was broken in 2021. Our field sizes continue to get bigger as our players and parents spread the word. The dedication we see for the game in our junior golfers is unmatched and you all deserve a round of applause for your effort and all around awesomeness. We want to thank all of our parents and spectators for their fantastic support this year. We know that being a parent is a thankless job, but seriously from the bottom of our hearts thank you for the support, recommendations, compliments, cheering, driving, salsa (you know who you are) and great attitudes. 2022 will be even better than 2021. We will continue to offer competitive nationally ranked junior golf at the best rates in the nation. We will have better courses on the schedule. We are here for you and want BJGT to be tour where kids not only can play great golf at great courses but make some great friends in the process. Look for our 2022 Schedule sometime in December 2021. Sincerely Arick Downard (Executive Director) & Daniel Schwenkel (Director of Marketing)
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