Oh Deer, 2012 Golf Channel Am Tours of Cleveland and Pittsburgh Open Season

     Wheeling, West Virginia- The 2012 Golf Channel Am Tours of Cleveland and Pittsburgh got their season kicked off on Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 with the inaugural Oglebay Fall Classic held at the Oglebay Resort's Robert Trent Jones Course at Spidel Golf Club.  The event was held on an overcast cool morning with temps only in the 40's to low 50's as the crowds of grazing deer were an interesting gallery addition.  23 players battled the cold temperatures and little to no roll on very wet grounds to see who would win the 4 flights in competition.

     In the Palmer Flight, it was Jeff Mast who picked up where he left off in the 2011 season as he won his 1st event in the Palmer flight by 6 shots over D. J. Shaffer.  Mast shot an 11-over par 83 to Shaffer's 89.  Jeff Mast took an early lead on the par-3 4th hole by making birdie and gained a quick 4-stroke advantage as Shaffer made a triple-bogey.  Mast then held on to the comfortable lead throughout the remainder of the round.  Tom Betras finished in 3rd place with a 91. 

     The Sarazen Flight, saw a most entertaining finish as 4 different players had at least a share of the lead at some point during their round.  The 4 players battled to the last hole as they all finished only 2 strokes apart at the end.  Daniel Wood and Ben Hall ended up tied at 13-over par 85 and headed to a playoff for the championship.  Charles Blasdel finished in 3rd place 1 shot back at 86.  Charles held the lead going into the last hole, but was unable to par the par-5 18th.  Blasdel triple-bogied the last hole and that slipped him to his 3rd place finish.  Jeff Esper finished 4th with an 87, but he cleaned up on the skin money as he won 2 of the 3 flight skins and also one of only two giant skins awarded on the day.  And after a playoff... Daniel Wood was the winner of the Sarazen flight over Ben Hall.

     In the Jones Flight, Jerry O'Brien was trying to start the new season off on the right foot as he had built a 4 stroke lead well into his round.  John Neff however, had other ideas as he stood on the 15th tee.  Neff down by 4 on the 15th hole chipped away at O'Brien's lead by winning the 15th and 16th holes by 1 stroke each.  Then on the par-4 17th hole Neff made par to O'Brien's triple bogey and that 3 shot swing was all that was needed to give Neff the 1 stroke victory.  John Neff won with an 87 and Jerry O'Brien finished 2nd with an 88.  Mark Bobak finished in 3rd place with a 93. 

     And in the Snead Flight,  Ron Shoemaker and Charles Burger resumed their friendly rivalry on the course as the two battled out for the top 2 positions in the Snead flight.  It was Shoemaker (96) who bettered his friend Burger (101) by 5 shots.  Jim Laprade finished in 3rd place with a 106.

     It was a great day to start off the 2012 Golf Channel Am Tour season for the Cleveland and Pittsburgh tours.  We hope to see you soon when the full schedule is announced and local play will resume in April.  Please enjoy the winter season majors which are scheduled between now and then. 

     They are: December- Innisbrook Resort Island and Copperhead Courses (Home of the Transitions), January- TPC Sawgrass Stadium and Dye's Valley Courses (Home of the Players Championship and Winn-Dixie Classic), February- Duel in the Desert in Las Vegas, March- Myrtle Beach Regional at Caledonia and True Blue Golf Courses.

Please check out www.gcamtour.com/cleveland or www.gcamtour.com/pittsburgh for all the schedule information and scores.