Sattler Rallies, Rusnak Takes Charge Early to Win Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship
By Tim Rogers
NOPGA Media
Pepper Pike: The Regular Division was a two-horse race from start to finish and what a finish it was.
The Senior Division had a few more contenders but a terrific start to the finish made it one-man show at the end.
The Northern Ohio PGA’s 23rd Mitchell-Haskell Tour Championship ended the way all championships should end, with clutch play, terrific shot-making and lights-out putting.
Oh, did we mention a severe dose of drama?
For Blake Sattler and Gary Rusnak, Tuesday’s final round at The Country Club will be remembered for a long time. While the respective finishes were much different, they were memorable just the same.
Sattler, a 40-year-old teaching professional from Dover, put the finishing touches on a terrific season over the final three holes to win the Regular Division championship in dramatic fashion.
Rusnak, a 61-year old instructor at 1899 Indoor Golf in Twinsburg, began the day as one of four players tied for the Senior Division lead after Monday’s first round.
The two-time NOPGA Senior Player-of-the-Year distanced himself early when he played his first nine holes in a stunning 5-under 31, which led to a 67 and a 36-hole total of 4-under 140 and his second Mitchell-Haskell title since joining the Section five years ago.
Talk about lights-out putting. Rusnak, from Painesville, made birdie putts of 30, 10, 30, 12 and 8-feet on his opening nine. He birdied three holes in a row and five of his first six.
“I felt like I was in my 20’s all over again,” he said. “I haven’t had a great year and haven’t putted that well for several years. It was a feel thing. I had become short and jabbing with my putter so I focused on taking it back longer and having a shorter follow through.”
Obviously, it worked.
Tony Milam, proprietor of the North Coast Junior Golf Tour and the 2017 Senior Mitchell-Haskell champion and the 2019 Ohio Senior Open champ, gave Rusnak a run with a final-round 69 for a final score of 2-under 142.
Milam went 15 holes without making a bogey and Rusnak went 14. Those two and NOPGA Hall-of-Famer Mitch Camp led the field with nine birdies.
Sattler, who is having his best NOPGA season with seven victories and 19 top-10 finishes, birdied two of his final three holes – highlighted by a stunning 45-foot putt on the final hole that led to a 6-under 66 gave him his first Tour Championship win with a two-day total of 8-under 136.
Sattler and first-round leader Michael Balcar, 31, staged a magnificent duel throughout the final round, which began with Sattler two shots back.
Balcar, also having a terrific season, played beautifully for 31 of the 36 holes. He eagled the second hole by making a 25-foot putt. His second shot from inside 100 yards on the 411-yard fourth hole hit the pin but caromed backward and almost fell into the greenside bunker. He made par but it was the first of two unfortunate occurrences.
He made birdie putts of 20 and 15 feet on the 10th and 12th and stood at 8-under with a two-shot when he walked to the 15th tee. He finished with nine birdies and the eagle.
However, a wayward driver led to three bogeys over his final four holes and the Brandywine assistant professional — a 3-time NOPGA Assistant of the Year — closed with a two-under 70 for a 36-hole score of 138.
He agreed it was a tough way to finish and complimented his opponent.
“Blake played really well,” he said.
Sattler, who finished second to Balcar in the Assistants Championship, played patiently and steadily on both days. As an added bonus, his father, Rick, was along for the ride, serving as a caddy.
“The game-plan was the same as all year,” he said. “Keep the ball in play and keep it simple. It was great having my dad there. I was going to go to the Guardians game tonight so I asked him if he wanted to tag along. He’s glad he did.”
Sattler finished with a tournament-best 10 birdies and played his final 22 holes without a bogey. He played his final 13 holes in seven-under, including four birdies on the back nine. Over the two days he birdied the eight par-5 holes six times
.
Two birdies on the final three holes wasn’t a bad way to finish.
“I needed them,” he said, smiling and indicating the closeness of the match.
Sattler, an instructor at Willie’s Custom Golf Center in Strasburg, trailed Balcar all day until the 17th hole. His birdie attempt from 10 feet lipped away but he made par to Balcar’s lip-out bogey and the two were tied headed to the 514-yard 18th.
Sattler’s drive settled in the middle of the fairway while Balcar hooked his drive into the rough and about five yards directly behind a tree about 170 yards out.
Three feet either way he would have had a clear shot to the green. As it was, he needed to hit a cut shot around the obstructing tree and under the branches of another. He tried gallantly but his 7-iron shot caught a flier out of the rough and sailed well beyond the green, leaving him with a near-impossible shot from about 50 yards to a down-sloping pin. His third rolled to a stop about 45 feet from the pin. Two-putt bogey.
Meanwhile, Sattler’s second shot from about 185 yards reached the front edge and below the hole. He hit a marvelous putt with perfect speed. It fell for birdie.
“It was a pretty straight putt,” he said, while admitting he would have been satisfied with a two-putt.
He also admitted that winning the Tour Championship was a long-time goal.
“This is definitely one that is circled,” he said. “It’s a premier event and especially the venue. The venue changes things and you want to win here. It’s great. It’s perfect.”
So, too, was Sattler’s play. And his company.
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