By Tim Rogers, NOPGA Media
Pepper Pike: CRACK!
Because there is no audio with this story just pretend that is the sound you would hear if standing close to a Sean McGuire tee shot.
It is loud. It can be chilling, as it resonates from the tee through the trees surrounding him and echoes throughout the hills and valleys in front of him. When the ball gets airborne it majestically climbs to the sky like some kind of missile.
McGuire hit plenty of those big shots on Tuesday but the 31-year-old assistant professional at the Pepper Pike Club did not win the 24th annual Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship at The Country Club by driver alone.
There were other shots. Exquisite escapes from bunkers and bad lies. Long distance putts from distant zip codes. Recoveries that saved par. Intelligent plays that erased the risk from the risk vs. reward equation.
McGuire had it all on Tuesday as he rolled to a three-shot victory on a delightful day on delightful golf course in one of the NOPGA’s most prestigious events. He shot a final round final round 4-under 68 to win his third major in as many years, going wire-to-wire to win the Regular Division title with a 36-hole score of 7-under 137 (69-68).
His win follows the victory in the Assistant’s title he won nearly 12 months ago in the Denny Shute Match Play Championship and the Assistants Championship he won at Avon Oaks in 2023.
“This is good, it feels great,” said McGuire, who needed just 59 putts over the 36 holes on Country’s meticulous greens. “This is an event, that when you’re a younger Associate you kind of get here and when you do you see how cool it is. Then you play and you quickly realize that you want to win it. So, it feels good to do so.”
McGuire was not alone in relishing victory.
Jon Jones, the long-time assistant professional at Youngstown Country Club, went two extra holes before a par on the 437-yard 18th defeated Belmont Country Club Director of Instruction Mike Stone in the Senior Division after both had finished regulation at even par 144.
It was the first Tour Championship – recognized as one of the NOPGA’s major events — for both McGuire and Jones.
It has been a season of near misses for Jones, 50. He was in the final pairing in the Ohio Senior Open Championship at Firestone, the Senior Section Championship at Chagrin Valley and the Professional Championship at Tippecanoe but couldn’t finish.
“I have always wanted to win this tournament,” said Jones, who has won the Denny Shute Match Play Senior Championship four times and has earned a spot on the Senior lineup in next week’s Ohio Cup. “I love the tournament, and I love the golf course so it means a lot to win it.”
Jones credited Houston teaching pro Jim Hardy for his present state.
“He has done some wonderful things,” he said. “This is the most excited I’ve felt about my golf swing in a long time. It was as good as I have struck the ball all year. It’s the most confident I have been in quite a while.”
Brandywine Country Club Assistant Professional Michael Balcar turned in the lowest round of the tournament at 5-under 67 with six birdies and an eagle to finish second to McGuire at 4-under 140 and Brookside Country Club Director of Instruction Blake Sattler was third at 70-73=143.
McGuire, 31, began the day with a one-shot lead over Sattler and Jones, who entered the tournament in both the Senior and Regular divisions.
He wasted no time extending the lead with a birdie on the first hole and an eagle on the 508-yard second when he made a 55-foot putt. He was comfortably in front the rest of the way as no one could mount a challenge over Country’s stunning and lengthy 7,154 yards.
McGuire pointed to several round-pumping holes that probably made a difference. He birdied the sixth hole from 10 feet and when his 8-iron tee shot on the par-3 ninth fell short of the green he saved par by chipping to six feet and making the putt. His 7-iron tee shot on the 11th settled at four feet setting up his third birdie of the day and he made terrific recovery to save par on the 614-yard 12th.
“The 7-iron on 11 might have been the best shot I hit all day,” he said. “The birdie putt on six was one of those that you knew you really needed to make. That was a good birdie.”
Evidence of McGuire’s length came on the 614-yard, dogleg right 12th. Hitting 3-wood off the tee he was 10 yards in front of Sattler, both in the left rough.
“I wish I could hit the ball as far as him,” said Sattler, who had hit driver.
McGuire’s second shot with a 6-iron cut over the large tree on the right and nearly cleared the pond behind it, just to the right of the green. The penalty shot caused no harm as he hit his fourth to 10 feet and he made the par-saving putt.
More proof came on the 605-yard 16th. He hit his drive 355 yards down the right side, leaving him 250 yards to the hole. His second with a 6-iron clipped the leaves of a tree but was hit solidly enough to get him to within pitching wedge distance.
At this point he knew he had a comfortable lead over Balcar so he played to the fat part of the green. He made a downhill, right-to-left putt from 35 feet for birdie.
Big drive. Big putt. Big win.
Two routine pars followed, with Pepper Pike Head Professional Rob Moss and General Manager Steve Carter in attendance for support.
The victory earned McGuire $1,400 and Jones made $1,000 for winning the Senior Division and $800 for finishing fourth in the Regular Division.
Stone, recovering from recent surgery on his right thigh, began the day three shots behind Jones and overcame a rocky start in which he bogeyed two of the first three holes. He played his final 14 holes in three under, including a birdie on the penultimate 17th that made him the leader in the clubhouse.
Jones, playing four groups behind, also birdied the 17th to force the playoff. Both parred the 17th in the playoff but Stone missed the 18th green to the left and made bogey while Jones split the fairway and cozied a wedge to 15 feet.
“The big thing is that I had been playing from the back tees during the first 36 holes but when it came time for a playoff in the Senior Division I was allowed to play from the forward tees,” Jones said. “It made a difference.”
The Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship is the final stroke-play event of 2025 but the season is far from over. Following the Ohio Cup next week the Denny Shute Match Play is in two weeks at Portage Country Club. McGuire and Jones have won there before.
##