I am going to take a quick break from covering high school golf to share something that is really special to me. This past Sunday, I gathered some of my best friends, family members, fellow coaches, and Hudson golf alumni and we played in a fun, and slightly competitive, golf tournament at Manakiki Golf Course. I called it the Golden Age Classic to pay homage to my passion of golf course architecture but also because I truly feel that I am living in a golden age of my life. I have so many relationships that I hold so dear and it’s great to see those paths cross while doing something we all love and enjoy. Fittingly, we held the tournament at Willoughby’s Donald Ross gem, which fits right into my favorite era of golf course design.

The weather at Manakiki was perfect and the course showed its muscles for most of the players in the field. The par fives played formidable and the par threes actually were gettable. Michael Schuller overcame the difficult conditions by winning the men’s Black Division with an impressive +3 75, beating his closest competitors, Jerry Du and Brandon Sopko, by nine shots. Schuller birdied the first hole and didn’t drop a stroke until number 8. He finished +1 on the front nine and got some strokes back by getting birdie on the back-to-back par fives, 12 and 13. He played consistent golf from beginning to end, posting no score worse than bogey. High school phenom Jerry Du finished with an 84 and Brandon Sopko tied that score as he came in with the last group. Bobby Bolin and Devin Cunningham, one of four sibling rivalries on the course, ended up tying at 88, followed by Darren Butler and Ryan Sopko with 91.

In the men’s Blue Division, Fangming Du held off John Schuller by two shots and his 80 was good enough to take the title. He used a stellar short game to recover from a tough start. After bogeying three of the first four holes, Du turned it on and was five over par throughout the rest of the round. Having five scores of three on the scorecard always help keep scores down, and Du did just that as he parred all four par threes and birdied the dogleg right 16th hole. John Schuller played well but fell just short as he ended up with 40 on the front and 42 on the back. Sam Smith put up matching 43s on both nines to finish in third place. Gil Van Bokkelen had a strong front nine with 41 but a 47 on the back took him out of contention late. He tied with Cole Chluda, who played better on the back than the front.

The Du family was not done quite yet. 2023 high school graduate Sherry Du won a very competitive Women’s Division as she posted a six over par 78 to take home the trophy. She did not score worse than bogey and had an eight hole stretch of holes where she played even par with eight consecutive pars. Like her dad, Sherry also had par on each of Manakiki’s memorable par three holes. Finishing second was Julia Van Bokkelen with a very strong score of 80, followed by Ally Siewert’s 82. Lucille Petkac had a good showing with an 85 while Mallory Zammataro and Krystine Frisch finished in 5th and 6th place.

There are so many people to thank for making this tournament a success. First, the participants. You are some of the most important people in my life and some of my best friends. I am so happy we were able to spend a day together on the golf course doing something we can all bond over. A huge thanks goes out to Ryan and Emily Bolin and my amazing wife, Megan, for helping out with logistics and taking all the pictures that you see below. I’d also like to thank Ben Ladaika and Milt Johnson along with the entire staff at Manakiki for helping make this a reality. Also a huge thanks to all those who could not attend this year but were supportive of this venture. We hope to have even more participants next year!

Final Results

Women’s Red Division
1. 78 Sherry Du, Hudson High School Girls Golf ’24, University of Pennsylvania
2. 80 Julia Van Bokkelen, Hudson High School Girls Golf Senior
3. 82 Ally Siewert, College of Wooster Sophomore (Nordonia High School)
4. 85 Lucille Petkac, Padua High School Girls Golf, Ursuline College ’24
5. 101 Mallory Zammataro, Hudson High School Girls Golf ’22, Miami University
6. 108 Krystine Frisch, Avon Lake High School Girls Golf Coach

Men’s Blue Division
1. 80 Fangming Du, China
2. 82 John Schuller, Midpark High School, Bowling Green State University
3. 86 Sam Smith, Normandy High School, Miami University
4. 88 Cole Chluda, Hudson High School, Ohio University
4. 88 Gil Van Bokkelen, Skyline High School, University of California Berkeley, Stanford University
6. 90 Luke Harris, Avon Lake High School, Cleveland State University
7. 91 Mike Dame, Greater Lowell Regional High School, Cossett Creek Golf Course
8. 98 Al Evangelista, Strongsville High School, Kent State and Cleveland State University, Olmsted Falls Girls Golf Coach
8. 98 Ken Frisch, Brookside High School, Bowling Green State University
10. 100 Mike Hayes, Valley Forge High School, John Carroll University
11. 101 Tim Maddocks, Midpark High School, Kent State University
12. 109 Doug Benzel, Amherst Steele High School, Bluffton University
13. 110 Brandon Harris, Avon Lake High School, Case Western Reserve University
13. 110 Kevin Van Bokkelen, Walsh Jesuit High School, Lebanon Valley College

Men’s Black Division
1. 75 Michael Schuller, Berea-Midpark High School, Heidelberg University
2. 84 Jerry Du, Hudson High School Sophomore
2. 84 Brandon Sopko, Valley Forge High School, Geneva College
4. 88 Bobby Bolin, Buckeye High School, Baldwin-Wallace College
4. 88 Devin Cunningham, Cloverleaf High School, Kent State University
6. 91 Darren Butler, Reynoldsburg High School, University of Akron
6. 91 Ryan Sopko, Valley Forge High School, Muskingum University