Recordpub.com - Distinguished qualifiers

By Susan Jenior
Record-Courier correspondent
It was 5 p.m. and the final group of junior golfers in the Kenny Novak qualifier at Raccoon Hill Golf Club were just making the turn after nine holes.
Juniors, ages 10 to 19 had populated the course since the opening tee time at 7 a.m.
Competing in the largest of 10 qualifiers leading up to the Northern Ohio PGA Kenny Novak Championship, many of the junior golfers felt a sense of urgency, as this was only one of their final two opportunities to qualify for the prestigious championship.
Boys 16 to 19
When the last ball had fallen in the cup in the boys 16 to 19 age division, Tommy Arison of Fairlawn and Mark Scott of Bolivar had tied for first place, firing a 1-over 72.
Scott Hamlin of Stow, a member of the Mount Union varsity men's golf tem, finished in sixth place, carding a 76, while Michael Beal of Deerfield, finished his round with two pars and two birdies on his way to a 79.
Girls 16 to 19
Heather Arison of Copley captured the girls 16 to 19 division by two strokes, as she turned in a 77 for the day.
Katie Jenior of Rootstown and Tricia Maloney of Hudson tied for second place, each carding 79s.
Heather's twin sister, Carly, carded an 85, good for sixth place. The twin sisters are headed for Brown University to play golf in the fall.
Ashley Gubser of Twinsburg tied with Carly for sixth place.
Gubser, headed to play for the University of Findlay in the fall, was followed by her golf instructor, PGA professional Faith Egli of Brimfield.
Emilee Woolf of Ravenna struggled during the first nine, but shot three pars on the back nine for an 88.
Boys 13 to 15
The Portage County Junior Amateur champion in the boys 13 to 15 age division continued to enjoy the layout at Raccoon Hill.
Stephen Sinchok of Ashland came to visit his grandfather, John Sinchok of Kent again, and thought of Raccoon Hill as his home course as he won the boys 13 to 15 age division with a 73.
David Hinton of Aurora did his best to beat Sinchok, firing 4-over and finishing his final four-holes at even par.
Cody Nickson of Kent finished in sixth place at 7-over, carding a birdie on the Par 4, 12th hole.
Rootstown's Kyle Barkhurst looked to make a run at first place after carding a 37 on the front nine and ended his day at Raccoon with a 79, just 8-over.
Girls 13 to 15
Angela Codian must have enjoyed her trip home to Massillon after carding a 90 to win the girls 13 to 15 age division.
On Angela's heels was Sierra Billhimer of Stow, 98, and Gina Battistone of Northfield Center, 99.
Meghan Finley of Kent had missed several tournaments this season because of an injury and was just glad to be back on the course.
Boys 12
Trevor Lewis of Copley was the best of the youngest age group of boys, firing an 85 to win the division.
Jacob Brown of Akron finished second with an 89, while Ashton Blake, also of Akron, concluded his afternoon in third place.
The 12-year-old age division was struggling as they made the turn. Teeing off around 2 p.m., the boys were playing in the hottest part of the day, golfing in temperatures hovering around 90 degrees.
As the final boys teed off, Jim Beers, PGA professional at Raccoon Hill reminded them the final tee-off spot was the coveted position in PGA tournaments.
NOTEBOOK
Faith Egli offered that she will be the coach at Hiram College this season as the university will introduce women's golf this fall for the first time.
Egli said she is excited about the new program " and hopes it can encourage girls golf to expand in the greater Portage County area.
With Hiram starting a women's golf program, that is two women's programs enjoying their inaugural season in 2009 " Hiram and The University of Akron with coach Jenny King, a former player for the University of Kentucky.
Mike Jenior, Raccoon Hill assistant pro, and Jim Beers, spent the entire day roaming the golf course, making themselves available to the more than 150 golfers competing in the tournament.
Helping junior golfers with rules decisions, Beers offered the tournaments should be called "learning experiences" so that all junior athletes realize the importance of knowing the rules and keeping the correct scores.
Dan Arison of Akron and Hannah Lambert, NOPGA interns, were busy checking youth golfers in to the tournament and tabulating scores at the end.
The two interns are the representatives of Eileen Antenucci, youth coordinator for the NOPGA, at local events and also spent some time roaming the course to help the youngest age group find golf balls and fill out their scorecards.