2026 Golden Age Classic Results

July 27, 2026 Bobby BolinLeave a comment

As the sun was setting over Manakiki Golf Course in Willoughby Hills, Ohio, I stood in the parking lot as one of three remaining Golden Age Classic competitors still left at the course. Cole Chluda was texting on his phone and his brother Luke was frantically zooming around the already traversed 18 holes looking for his 56 degree wedge. Little did he know, that it was already waiting for him at the cart barn and he would finally be able to celebrate his victory in style. “Which was more important?” I asked, “The tournament victory or finding your wedge?” Obviously the wedge. “I’m going to need that for Wednesday,” the junior at Hudson High School responded, alluding to the beginning of the high school golf season.

Chluda shot a stellar 77 at the Donald Ross course, two shots ahead of his brother, to win the 3rd annual Golden Age Classic. The course was in immaculate condition and the superintendent apparently knew we were coming. We knew we would be in for a treat when the first hole was tucked three paces on the front right corner of the green. I hit three putts beginning from just off the green on the collar, each putt seemingly longer than the previous. I managed to hold things together and shoot an 83 with no three putts, but it was clear from the beginning of the day that it would not be good enough to win the tournament. Cole Chluda’s 79 was good enough for second while Joe Welsch shot an 81 to finish in 3rd place.

Brad Zahar put together a solid 87, despite a little fizzling at the end, and he was able to capture the B flight championship. Doug Benzel played well all day but left a few too many shots out there as his 93 was good enough for second place while Kevin Collins took third place with a 97. Everyone raved about the conditions of the golf course and the picturesque setting on the finishing green.

In the women’s division, it was Cloverleaf senior superstar Quinn Malarkey taking home the trophy with a really good round of 83. She held off Julia Van Bokkelen, the only veteran of the tournament on the women’s side, by three strokes as they made their way around the historic layout. St. Joseph Academy senior Willa Streeter got off to a rough start but composed herself and finished strong to take third place.

In the end, the tournament isn’t one with a “win at all costs” mindset and the thing I appreciate most about it is that the players take that attitude when they come in. Everyone wants to win but they understand the more important side of the game of golf, and all competitive sports, and that is the desire to get better at what you do, show you are a good person, and compete with dignity, honor, and respect. There is a certain type of person that is drawn to a tournament like this, and I am proud to say that 21 of those people showed up on Sunday, had an amazing time, and left with all the golf clubs they came with.

See you next year!

Women’s Division

Quinn Malarky	83
Julia Van Bokkelen	86
Willa Streeter	97
Izzy Streeter	119
Lily Dluzynski	124

Men’s B Division

Brad Zahar	87
Doug Benzel	93
Kevin Collins	97
Matt Najdovski	104
Jarrod Shelton	105
Kevin Van Bokkelen	110

Men’s A Division

Luke Chluda	77
Cole Chluda	79
Joe Welsch	81
Bobby Bolin	83
Devin Cunningham	85
Gil Van Bokkelen	85
Jackson Choi	87
Fangming Du	89
Michael Martin	99
Ryan Sopko	109

2025 Golden Age Classic Recap

July 21, 2025 Bobby BolinLeave a comment

On Sunday, 23 golfers descended upon Manakiki Golf Course in Willoughby, Ohio and competed in the 2nd edition of the Golden Age Classic. The weather was a little sketchy at first but it turned out to be a perfect day for golf. The course was in incredible condition and allowed for some very low scores.

No one went lower than Ryan Yoder from Amherst, Ohio, who fired a tournament low three under par 69 in the Men’s A flight. Yoder was in good shape after shooting 37 on the front, but he caught fire on the back and removed all doubt as he signed for 32. He had bogey on the very difficult 10th hole and did not drop another shot for the remainder of round. After a par on number 11, he birdied both of the back-to-back par 5s, parred holes 14 and 15, and finished with three straight birdies. Gil Van Bokkelen of Hudson had a terrific round of 75, including two birdies, to take second place. Jerry Du’s 79 was good enough for third place. Du is an incoming junior at Hudson High School.

Low scores were the norm in the Women’s flight. Julia Gulla, a recent graduate of Nordonia High School, took home the trophy as she shot a one over par 73. Gulla’s front nine included a birdie on hole 6, mixed in with five pars and three bogeys. Similar to Yoder, she tore up the back nine, shooting a one under par 35. She bogeyed the 10th hole, birdied both of the short par 5s, then finished with par on the final five holes. Emmy Burling, a Hudson graduate who will be Gulla’s teammate at John Carroll University, finished in second place with a solid round of 77, which included two birdies in the first five holes. Julia Van Bokkelen, also a 2025 Hudson graduate, shot even par 36 on the front nine and ended up shooting an 80 to take the bronze.

In the Men’s B flight, Phil Burling of Hudson was the champion. Burling shot 41 on the front and 44 on the back to total and 85 and win by six shots over the 2024 champion Fangming Du, also of Hudson. Burling made five pars and did not score worse than double bogey on any hole. Du’s 91 was good enough for second place and Al Evangelista of Cleveland finished third with a 93.

It was a terrific day for golf as usual at Manakiki. We are looking forward to the 2026 Golden Age Classic!

Scores

Women’s Red
First Name	Last Name	Front	Back	Total	Place
Julia	Gulla	38	35	73	1
Emmy	Burling	38	39	77	2
Julia	Van Bokkelen	36	44	80	3

Men’s A
First Name	Last Name	Front	Back	Total	Place
Ryan	Yoder	37	32	69	1
Gil	Van Bokkelen	37	38	75	2
Jerry	Du	39	40	79	3
Bobby	Bolin	40	40	80	4
Michael	Ambrosino	42	39	81	5
Michael	Labenz	41	40	81	5
Alex	Shaw	42	39	81	5
Cole	Chluda	41	43	84	8
Jackson	Choi	44	41	85	9
Tim	Ali	46	40	86	10
Luke	Harris	49	41	90	11
Jim	Ali	46	47	93	12
Jake	Varga	46	47	93	12

Men’s B
First Name	Last Name	Front	Back	Total	Place
Phil	Burling	41	44	85	1
Fangming	Du	46	45	91	2
Al	Evangelista	46	47	93	3
Doug	Benzel	48	47	95	4
Brandon	Harris	54	43	97	5
Kevin	Van Bokkelen	51	54	105	6

2024 Golden Age Classic Recap

July 25, 2024 Bobby BolinLeave a comment

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