By Tim Rogers
NOPGA Media
SHAKER HEIGHTS: It wasn’t so much about the finished product as it was about the process that led to the finished product.
That’s according to Brookside Assistant Professional Blake Sattler.
“For me, it’s not necessarily about winning as it is about not losing,” Sattler said Tuesday after winning – and not losing – the NOPGA’s 57th Assistant’s Championship at idyllic Shaker Heights Country Club on an ideal day for golf. “I hate to lose. I want to win them all. I hate to lose more than I like to win. If I play well and don’t win, I can be somewhat satisfied.”
Sattler, 42, didn’t face that dilemma and dispelled a variation of the saying that you can’t win a tournament in the first round. Tying the course record with an opening 8-under 62 can go a long way, even in a 36-hole event.
Of course, it helped that Sattler backed his opening 62 with a closing one-under 69 for a winning total of 9-under 131 and an eventual 3-shot victory.
So, the process and the finished product were in sync.
Sattler, winning this event for the first time in two appearances, needed that 69 because Pepper Pike Assistant Sean McGuire and Brandywine Assistant Michael Balcar were able to challenge throughout the late stages. Both shot back-to-back 67s to finish at 6-under 134.
The tie required a playoff, and McGuire emerged the winner after five holes in which both players pulled off some high-drama, clutch shots.
The playoff was needed because the winner and runner-up of this event advance to the 50th PGA Assistant’s Championship at the PGA Golf Club in Port St. Lucie, Fla., in November. It was a déjà vu moment as McGuire beat Balcar in a playoff to win the Assistant’s Championship in 2023 at Avon Oaks.
Balcar becomes the first alternate, followed by Glenmoor Assistant Kyle Buzaki (67-70=137) and Canterbury Assistant Anthony Panepento (71-69=140).
Shaker’s pristine 6,701-yard layout was equal to the challenge. Of the 98 total rounds, only 10 were under par and six were even. Only five players were under par for the 36 holes.
After a somewhat boring front nine, Balcar, a four-time winner of this event, got extremely hot. He birdied five of his last six holes and came within two shots of Sattler through 15 holes.
McGuire was equally as persistent.
While Sattler was making pars – he made 14 during a 15-hole stretch – McGuire erased what had been a 5-shot deficit and eventually pulled into a tie after 32 holes at 7-under with birdies on three of his first five holes on the closing nine.
“I knew Sean was playing well, but I wasn’t really watching,” Sattler said. “I didn’t want to watch.”
Sattler broke the tie on the 116-yard 16th hole as both hit marvelous tee shots, along with playing partner Panepento. All three were within six feet.
Playing last in the threesome, Sattler’s tee shot landed on the green’s hilly right side and drew down the slope to within four inches for a tap-in birdie and perhaps the shot of the tournament. McGuire’s birdie attempt from almost the same angle slid by the hole.
“In the morning I didn’t get the ball high enough up the hill and it hung up to about eight to 10 feet,” Sattler explained. “I didn’t want that, so I tried to hit it a little bit higher up the hill with a hook-spin and hoped to get it below the hole.”
Sattler iced the title with another birdie on the 383-yard 17th when his second shot from about 110 yards cleared some trees and stopped about 12 feet left of the hole, and he rolled in the putt.
Sattler’s opening 18 was astounding, especially his final nine holes. Starting the day on the 10th hole, he made the turn at 3-under and parred the first. Then came four consecutive birdies and a closing birdie on the 173-yard ninth for a nifty 30.
He made one bogey over 36 holes.
Balcar, 33, had his moments. His opening nine started on the back and had more ups and downs than the LIV Tour (RIP?). He had one par, five birdies and three bogeys en route to a 2-under 33.
His second time around the back nine was almost as scrambled. He had two pars, two bogeys and five birdies.
Combining the nines: On the front nines, he had 13 pars, three birdies and two bogeys. On the back nines, he had three pars, 10 birdies and five bogeys.
McGuire, acknowledged as the Section’s biggest hitter, now has eight top-10 finishes in 2026. He was steady and remained in contention all day.
He pulled into the tie with a birdie on the par-5 14th. His drive found the right rough, but his second shot finished just short of the green. He hit a splendid chip shot over a hump to about five feet and made the putt.
The victory was Sattler’s fifth of the season – along with eight top-10s – in non-partnered events and padded his standing as the top point-getter in the Rolex Associate Player-of-the-Year standings.
The McGuire-Balcar playoff began on the first hole and featured several outstanding shots, none more dramatic than on the 420-yard second.
Balcar’s drive faded into the right rough and came close to going out of bounds with about 133 yards to the hole. McGuire sat pretty on the left side of the fairway and about 140 yards out.
Balcar hit first, clearing some trees. For an instant or two, it looked like his shot was going in, only to stop an inch away. Advantage, Balcar? It seemed that way when McGuire’s second left him with a difficult 20-footer. The 32-year-old reacted by boldly rolling in the putt, the ball rattling the cup.
Both shots were emblematic of the event. Great shots on a great day on a great golf course are inevitable with that many holes and so many talented players.
The finished product met all the standards.